Combat Recognition Ribbon
Encyclopedia
The Combat Recognition Ribbon was a tentative military award
Awards and decorations of the United States military
Awards and decorations of the United States Military are military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces...

 of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 which was first proposed in the mid 1980s as an Army equivalent to the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

’s Combat Action Ribbon
Combat Action Ribbon
The Combat Action Ribbon is a personal military decoration of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard which is awarded to those who, in any grade including and below that of a Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard , have actively participated in ground or...

.

The primary justification for the creation of the Combat Recognition Ribbon was that the Department of the Army recognizes combat service with the Combat Infantryman Badge
Combat Infantryman Badge
The Combat Infantryman Badge is the U.S. Army combat service recognition decoration awarded to soldiers—enlisted men and officers holding colonel rank or below, who personally fought in active ground combat while an assigned member of either an infantry or a Special Forces unit, of brigade size...

; however, this decoration is closed to all but infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 personnel or special case requests
from members of other Army branches, provided a special order is issued for the Combat Infantryman Badge. The Combat Recognition Ribbon was initially proposed as an award for Army personnel who had served in combat situations, but for a variety of reasons had failed to meet the criteria for the Combat Infantryman Badge.

The National Defense Authorization Act
National Defense Authorization Act
The National Defense Authorization Act is the name of a United States federal law that has been enacted for each of the past 48 fiscal years to specify the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense.-See also:...

 (NDAA) of 2005 required that the Secretary of the Army establish the Combat Recognition Ribbon (CRR). As of February 2005, the Department of the Army began the very initial stages of developing the Combat Recognition Ribbon. The proposed ribbon was eventually renamed and reclassed as the Combat Action Badge
Combat Action Badge
The Combat Action Badge is a military badge worn in the U.S. Army. The emblem features both an M9 bayonet and M67 grenade. The Combat Action Badge may be awarded to any soldier after the date of September 18, 2001 performing duties in an area where hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay is...

. The Combat Action Badge creation was approved by the U.S. Army on May 2, 2005 and can be retroactively awarded to soldiers who engaged in combat after September 18, 2001.

With the creation of the Combat Action Badge, the proposal for the Combat Recognition Ribbon was dropped by the United States Army and the ribbon is now considered obsolete. The award itself was never actually officially created and a physical ribbon design was never proposed by the Institute of Heraldry.
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