10/26/2004 Entry: "Why don't these guys get the CIB?"
Posted by Maynard @ 10:03 AM MST

Why don't these guys get the CIB?

The Donovan had a question up a few days ago, asking why Armored Division troops doing the job of Infantrymen don't earn the Combat Infantryman's Badge. You could extend the question to the Air Force. Contrary to popular perception, the zoomies do more than just fly around and look good. They also have a large hand in defending their own bases. Thousands of airmen are trained in the ways of the Infantry to repel attacks against Air Force bases. They even have their own snipers.

Air Force Link recently ran a series of pictures of the Air Force Base Defenders training for the 2004 Defender Challenge.

"Members of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Defender Challenge team are spending three weeks here [at Fort Huachuca, AZ] in preparation for the 2004 Defender Challenge competition. Defender Challenge held at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is an annual security forces competition."

I don't think that everyone who runs around like an infantryman should get the CIB. I think that everyone should be trained as expert riflemen (like the Marines) and let the infantry specialize. Not that the infantry is or should be marginalized. When the Air Force has its own security force it frees the Army to go on offense, instead of being tied up in defense.

The issue Donovan brings up is rooted in the fact that we are fighting a different kind of war, one where we brought our old tools to the fight. Nation building, such as we are in right now, is inherently an infantryman's job. Peace must be kept, and you just aren't as mobile in a tank as you are on foot.

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