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U.S. Marine Corps MarksmanshipBadges from 1912 to the Present

HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISIONHEADQUARTERS, U.S. MARINE CORPS

WASHINGTON, D.C.

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'U. S. Marine Corps MarksmanshipBadges from 1912 to the Present

byMichael D. Visconage

Marine Corps Museum Monograph

HISTORY AND MUSEUMS DIVISION

HEADQUARTERS, U S. MARINE CORPS

WASHINGTON, D.01982

Other Volumes in the Marine Corps MuseumMonograph Series

Colonel John A Driscoll, USMCR The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor,1858-1969 (1971, reprinted 1977)

Jack B Hilliard and Doris S Maley, compilers Making a ContinentalManne Uniform. (1975).

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The Museums Branch of the History and Museums Division has extensive collectionsof military artifacts which excite the interest of historians, curators, collectors, and thewide general audience of Marines and others who are fascinated by anything connectedwith the heritage of the United States Marine Corps. To make the fullest use of theresources of these collections of aircraft, weapons, vehicles, uniforms, insignia, etctechnical monographs are needed which draw together the information available in aconcise and meaningful manner The Museums Branch staff can occasionally puttogether such a publication, as The Making of a Continental Manne Uniform, but ingeneral such work has to be done by concerned and knowledgeable volunteers such asColonel John A Dnscoll, USMCR, who authored our monograph, The Eagle, Globe,and Anchor Now, qualified college students, working for academic credit as internswith the Museums Branch, also have the opportunity to research and prepare such usefulworks

This monograph, by Second Lieutenant Michael D Visconage, USMC, is an excellentexample of this exciting trend which finally will exploit the valuable resources ofour col-lections. Lieutenant Visconage worked on this study in the wmter-sprmg 1982 semesterat the University of Maryland where he then was a senior ma;onng in history Hegraduated in mid-May and, having completed the Platoon Leaders Class in 1981, wascommissioned upon graduation and attended the Basic School in June LieutenantVisconage submitted the monograph as partial completion of course work in generalstudies In addition he entered part of the marksmanship badge collection into ourcomputer-based Marine Corps Museum Catalog and Inventory Control System employ-ing the Historical Center's Sperry Univac BC-7 minicomputer

The History and Museums Division welcomes any comments on the text of thismonograph which could enhance its value in a future edition, as well as any donations toits collections which will increase their value as resources in Marine Corps history for theuse of all interested persons.

Foreword

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4vcEDWIN H SIMMONS

Brigadier General, U S Marine Corps (RetDirector of Marine Corps History and Museums

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Preface

Vast areas of Marine Corps material history, contamed in the reserve collections of theMuseums Branch, remain unexploited through the sheer magnitude of the task. Thecuratorial resources of the staff, largely committed to recording and caring for collec-tions, are insufficienr for full exploitation This deficiency is beginning to be overcomewith the use of volunteers and student interns.

Lieutenant Visconage's monograph touches on a subject close to the Marine Corpsmystique - proficiency at arms as evidenced by recognition of skills through award andmandatory wearing of marksmanship badges The Marine Corps entered seriousmarksmanship tratning and competition late in the game, in the opening years of the20th century However, the Corps quickly caught up with and in many respects passedothers in this field, winning more than its share of competitions and requiring higherstandards more training time, longer ranges, and higher scores for qualification Theaddition of $5 a month to the Marine's pay-25 per cent of a private's payforqualification as an expert rifleman meant serious individual application on the rangeand in preliminary marksmanship training. The proud wearing of the badge marked atrained warrior whose skills could be counted on by his fellow Marines and his leadersThus we see in company photographs taken during World War I nearly every Marinewith a qualification badge on his chest In World War lias well as today the same obser-vation can be made. The deadliness of Marine small arms fire in four major wars andnumerous smaller conflicts attests to the excellence of Marine Corps marksmanshiptraining and the emphasis placed upon it Mike Visconage's study recounts the story ofthe changing patterns of Marine Corps marksmanship badges from 1912 to the presentand identifies the various badges for milseologists and collectors

The Museums Branch looks forward to working with other student interns orvolunteers in researching and exploiting by publication other portions of its extensivecollections

F B NIHARTColonel, U S Marine Corps (Ret)

Deputy Director for Marine Corps Museums

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Table of Contents

vii

Foreword iiiPreface - - - V

1912 - - 1

1922 5

1924 - 7

1929 - 7

1935-1937 - - - 8

1937-Present - - -. - -. 8

Notes - 13

Bibliography - - - 15

1912Shortly after the turn of the century, the U S,

Marine Corps began to encourage skill with the rifleby awarding different badges to Marines whoqualified in one of three levels of marksmanshipSince the inception of these original badges, manychanges have occured Awards have been institutedfor marksmanship with other weapons and che basicdesign of these proficiency badges has changed manyrimes in the last 75 years

The first mention of the three basic marksmanshipbadges does not appear clearly until the 1912 MarineCorps Uniform llegulations In the 1912 regula-tions, the first illustrations of the new awards pro-vide the most information on the design and size ofthe badges Some marksmanship badges were ap-parently retroactively awarded for dates prior to1912, but there is little evidence available to clarifythe exact date thac Marine Corps marksmanshipbadges were first conceived, authorized, and award-ed

Those who fired in the highest catagory of scorewith the rifle received the Expert Rifleman badgeThe badge consisted of a bar (1 3 /4" x 114") withdecorated ends and the words, "Expert Rifleman,"from which a wreath on which two crossed M 1903Sprjngfield rifles were superimposed and hung bymeans of two small rings. The next rating formarksmanship consisted of a four-branched Maltesecross with a three-ringed target in the center, hungbelow by a single small ring from a rounded end barwhich read, "Sharpshooter " Lowest on the scale ofmarksmanship skill was a single somewhat larger bar(2" x 1/2") with rounded edges and the word,"Marksman" bracketed by two small, ringed targets

Although there is little evidence, it is believedchat these badges were officially sanctioned in 1912and retroactively awarded to those who had qualifiedsince 1905-1906 Requalifications were also awardedand attached to the Expert Rifleman badge betweenche bar and the wreath via a bar with fishtail typeends. On the Sharpshooter badge a rounded end barwas attached between the bar and che cross. Theserequalification bars were engraved with the full dateof requalification, or more often with lust the year,or years, of requalificanon (i e , "1916" or"1919-20-2 1")

Tbrs Expert Rifleman badge M1912, with its im-pressive display of seven requalijlcarion bars, pro-vides a sampling of the several styles of constructionand engraving used for the bars through 3942

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Marksman badges, top picture, underwent minutechanges in design fmm the M1912, above, to theMl 922, below, note the height of letters andnumber of nngs Bottom picture shows that somebadges were engraved and that all had pin clasps

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Among the badges in the collection of the MarineCorps Museum there are several Expert Riflemanbadges with requalification bars of interest Onesuch badge is dated December 13, 1907 2 Anotherbadge which seems to prove the existence of thequalification badges before 1912 is a Sharpshooterbadge dated April 4, 1908 3 Since the Manne CorpsUniform Regulations and the Manne Corps Ordersmake no mention of the badges before 1912, there isvirtually no way to tell whether these two badgeswere originally awarded in 1907 and 1908 or whetherthey were simply engraved with the date of qualifIca-Hon retroactively

At the same time that the Marine Corps began is-suing its badges, the U S Army awarded a similarset of qualification badges and bars There were agreat variety of badges and they were oftenof variousmetals, silver, gold, or bronze, depending on thestatus of the individual awarded the badge (usually adistinction was made between active and reserveelemenrs).4 The Marine Corps, however, continuedwith only the three basic designs, all "of silvermetal," until 1922. It is interesting to note thatsome Marine Corps uniforms from World War Ireflect the wartime disregard of regulations and theuse of whatever were available, including some Ar-my bronze Marksman badges

Two examples of the M1912 Sharpshooter badge illustrate a first award, nght, and thecontemporary method of attaching the re qualification bar above the badge itself left

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1922

The 1922 Uniform Regulations show severalchanges useful in dating badges of this periodMarines wore two slightly varied types of expertbadges during this time On one type, the crossedM1903 Springfield rifles are more defined and therifles are separately attached ors top of the wreath topresent a three dimensional look, while the secondtype was a badge of single construction which con-tains wreath and rifle cast in a single flat piece

On the Sharpshooter badge, the most obviouschange is the deletion of rings on the target Whathad formerly been three raised rings and a small dotchanged to two broad raised rings. Changes to theMarksman badge involved reducing the number ofrings on the two small targets on the ends of thebadge to two broader rings, instead of the previousbadge with three rings and a small dot in the center

In 1922 the authorization of two pistol badges in-creased the scope of basic marksmanship qualifica-tion in the Marine Corps The Pistol Expert badgeconsisted of a smaller bar (1 1/3" x 1/4") reading,"Pistol Expert," from which hung, from two smallrings, a wreath with two M1911 45 caliber pistolscrossed over it. The Pistol Expert badge may havebeen informally approved before 1922, judgingfrom some badges dated prior to that year There arealso examples of Pistol Expert badges with re-qualifiration bats (with rounded rather than fishtailstyle ends) dating as far back as j9j75 which mayhave been retroactively added.

The second badge, and only other rating for pistolmarksmanship, consisted of a bar (1 1/2" a 1/4")with the words, "Pistol Shot First Class" printed intwo lmes. This was similar to the Marksman badgeand also had cut and indented cornets The pistolbadges were also of silver metal

The Sharpshooter badge with two broad rings at left ir the M1922, officially in use untilreplaced by Army-style badges in 1924 Many Marines continued to wear it, however,until it was replaced by the badge with four rings at right, adoptedin 1937 and con-tinued until 1958,

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M1924 Marksmanship badges in use by the Manne Corps from 1924 to 1937 were madeto a U. S Army design and often worn concurrently with earlier models From left, thebadges are Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expen. The Expert badge includes qualifica-hon bars for pistol and automatic nfle as well nfle.

1924

On 12 November 1924, the Marine Corps madethe following change by adopting the threemarksmanship badges which the Army originated in1921v and still uses today. "The Expert Rifleman,Sharpshooter, Marksman, and Expert Pistol-Shotbadges have been superseded by new badges Thenew badges, in three basic designsExpert, Sharp-shooter, and Marksmanare prescribed for both ri-fie and pistol, the arm with which qualification ismade being denoted by the appropriate barsuspended from the basic design

These changes to the 1922 Uniform Regulationsauthorized the issue of the former badges until nolonger available Those who had been originallyawarded the 1912-1924 badges continued to be

authorized to wear them for the next 11 years Dueto this continued sanction of the old marksmanshipawards, the next decade saw continued attempts toobtain the old marksmanship badges throughprivate purchase, and the old type Rifle Expertaward was especially popular due to the dated re-qualification bars which were often accumulated inlong "laddered" strings The only old award whichseems to have been definitely terminated was thePistol Shot First Class badge; the 1924 changes to the1922 Uniform Regulations stated that it was "nolonger issued"9

1929

In 1929, the Marine Corps adopted a largenumber of specialty bars to denoting skill with the

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following weapons, Rifle-A, Rifle-D, Rifle, SmallBore, Pistol-D, Auto Rifle, Machine Gun, Bayonet,and mf Howitzer Each qualification indicated ex-pert, sharpshooter, or marksman levels of skill, ex-cept the bayonet bar which was awarded as an expertrating only- The letters following rifle and pistolqualification bars denote the type of course on whichthe Marine earned his qualification rating (i e"Pistol-D" is the pistol coutse dismounted, while"Rifle-A" was the full course to 600 yards) Regula-tions in 1929 describe the badges as being of "whitemetal" and also continue to authorize the wear andissue of the former badges "until no longeravailable"iO

1935-1937

Between 1935 and 1937 the Marine Corps issued aseries of orders which readopted the old type badgesand phased out the Army-type badges)i A June1935 order first announced the change for qualifica-tion awards with the rifle only and the issue of theold type badges to all men whose original enlistmentwas subsequent to 1 August 1935 I

Bars suspended from a reissued version of theArmy-style Expert badge indicated qualification asan expert or sharpshooter with weapons other thanthe rifle. The new special weapons qualification barscarried "EX" or "SS" to determine the level ofqualification, followed by the name of the weaponwith which qualified. Only one qualification bar wasto be worn for any one weapon A new list of weaponqualifications (and bars) appeared in the regulationsat this time, for expert- automatic rifle ("AutoRifle"), Thompson submachine gun ("T S M G "),pistol, and bayonet Sharpshooter qualifications forthe same weapons, with the exception of the pistoland bayonet, received approval

In February 1937, the reissued Army-style Expertbadge being used as the device from whichqualification-bars other than for the rifle were hung,became the "Basic Badge "13 Officers and men whooriginally had been issued the Army-style badges formarksmanship, with their various combinations ofqualification bars, could still wear them, providedthey wore only one bar for any one weapon Thosewho received the Pistol Expert badge prior to 1924could continue wearing them

Eight months later, Headquarters, Marine Corps-clarified this series of rather confusing changes byadopting a newly designed Marine Corps "Basic

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Badge " To help eliminate the confusion of in-dividuals wearing the old Army type badges, theorder discontinued them and directed the Quarter-master to exchange them for the new Basic BadgeThe Basic Badge soon became an easily recognizableaward for those Marines who had shown skill as ex-peris or sharpshooters with the pistol and specialweapons. The Basic Badge survived for over 30 years,until declared obsolete in December 1968 i3

The design of the Basic Badge was in keeping withthe style similar to the Expert Rifleman badge Thebadge consisted of a bar with arrowhead endsreading, "U S Marine Corps" and a two nng hangerdevice from which hung a wreath centered under asquare, three ring target with an eagle, globe, andanchor centered m the upper third of the target.Qualification bars continued to have the "EX" and"SS" preceding the weapon name, as ordered in1935 The only change to the list of authorizedqualification bars was the addition of a pistol sharp-shooter rating ("55-Pistol") augmenting thepreviously authorized pistol expert rating ("EX-Pistol")

The changes to the Marine Corps marksmanshipbadges in 1937 also applied to reserve unitsMembers of the Marine Corps Reserve units wore aseries of special rifle qualification bars Qualificationas an expert or sharpshooter with the 22 caliber riflewarranted a bar reading, "EX-" or "SS-Small Bore"Expert, shatpshooter, and marksman qualificationwith the 30 caliber rifle course D also earned thereservist a bar reading, "EX-," "SS-," or "MM-Rifle-D"

With the changes of 1937, the Marine Corps in-stituted a more consistant and distinct series ofbadges recognizing proficiency in marksmanshipThe Rifle Expert, Sharpshooter, and Marksmanbadges recognized skill with the rifle while the Basicbadge with appropriate bars recognized skills withthe pistol and other weapons Requalification bars(still of the fishtail design with the years of re-qualification engraved on them) came only for thegrade of expert, and no longer for requalification asa sharpshooter, Still authorized, but not issued dur-ing this era, was the Pistol Expert badge which ap-peared originally in 1922,

1937-Present

The series of marksmanship badges adopted in1937 remained essentially unchanged until July

As seen in these two reversed badges, Marksmanship awards have been attached toMannes' uniforms at least two different ways' at left, the M1922 Pistol Expert badge,and at right, the M1958 version of the same badge. Both are silver and the older badgeof two-piece construction

1958 Several additions and deletions to the specialweapons bars of the Basic Badge came in 1949 and1954. The 1949 Uniform Regulations also picture aSharpshooter badge with four rings, and aMarksman badge bordered with three ring targets

Variations in the construction of the badgesbecame prevalent during this time, especially duringWorld War II. Some Basic Badge designs consistedof a three dimensional structure, with a raisedMarine Corps emblem and separately solderedwreath and target square, while others were of asingle, flat die cast style Pin backings also varied,some were simple safety-type pins and with othershaving actual locking clasps. During the 1950s thepin back began to be replaced by the two "frog clips"prevalent today

Private purchase of the Pistol Expert badge, andother non-issue badges, also continued This is

especially noticeable in examining unit photographsof World Wash In these photos, young officers ap-pear wearing Pistol Expert badges while others wearwhat appear to be Pistol Sharpshooter badges'6 (asmaller version of the rifle Sharpshooter badge)which were apparently privately purchased from out-side sources.

Weapons bars for the Basic badge authorized inthe 1949 Uniform Regulations dropped the InfHowitzer bar (from 1929) in favor of a bar whichread simply, "Howitzer " The regulations furtherrecognize Artillery qualifications by the addition of

expert and sharpshooter ratings for "D-" and"L-Arty"

The 1954 changes to the regulations, eliminatedseveral bars, including those for artillery, themachine gun, Thompson submachine gun, andbayonet. Bars authorized for the Marine CorpsReserve for "Rifle-D" and "Small Bore" changed toEX, SS, and "MM" rating for the "Rifle-B"

course, and "EX" and "SS" rating for the"Auto -Rifle-B" course In the regular Marine Corps,an expert and sharpshooter bar for the "Carbine"and "S M G" (submachine gun) served to replacesome of the weapons ratings that were eliminated

In July 1958, changes to the 1949 regulationsbrought the Marine Corps into the current series ofmarksmanship badges The Basic Badge continuedon, despite the deletion of expert and sharpshooterrating for "Pistol" and "Carbine" and the marksmanrating for the "Rifle-B" course The Corps adopted aseries of three awards for both pistol and rifle, in ad-dition to new rounded end requalificatton bars forboth rifle and pistol badges of all qualificationgrades.

Wording changed from "Expert Rifleman" to "Ri-fle Expert," and simple rounded edges were addedto the expert rifle badge Crossed M-1 rifles with sl-ings replaced the M1903 Springfield rifles TheSharpshooter badge was slightly modified also Thenew bar now reads, "Rifle Sharpshooter," and theta4et was eliminated in favor of a raised Marine

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Officially adopted in 1958, these are the badges currently autbonzedby the US ManneCorps for Rifle Expert and Pistol Expert qualifications

Corps emblem centered on the cross A dual ringhanger replaced the single ring hanger A squarewith a three ring target, hanging by two rings from arounded end bar reading, "Rifle Marksman," replac-ed the old Marksman badge. The original designPistol Expert badge of 1922-1924 reappeared in1958, in addition to Pistol Sharpshooter and PistolMarksman badges which are simply smaller versionsof their rifle award counterparts and read 'Pistol" in-stead of "Rifle

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The United States Marine Corps historically hascontinued to recognize and encourage proficiencywith small arms and infantry weapons During thecourse of this century, this encouragement has takenthe form of many badges and bars which providedMarines with tangible recognition for their skill Theevolution of these badges reflect the pride in, andencouragement of, excellence in marksmanship forwhich the Marine Corps is famous

I U S Marine Corps. Uniform Regulations, United StatesManne Corps, 1912 (Washington Government Printmg Office,1913), photo plate 452 U S Marine Corps Museum Activities (Quantico, Virginia),

'Expert Rifleman" badge. Artifact No. 771967-OR3 Ibid . "Sharpshooter" badge, Artifact No 771858-OR4 William K Emerson. "Basic Army Marksmanship Badges,"

Man At Arms 2 Uan/Feb 1980). pp 48-51U S Marine Corps, Uniform Regulations, United States

Manne Corps, 1922, (Washington Government Printing Office.1922). p 596 U S Marine Corps Museum Activities (Quantico. Virginia).

"Pistol Expert" badge, Artifact No 7713747 Emerson, op cit 'pp 48-518 U S Marine Corps, "Changes in Uniform Regulations. U S

Marine Corps, 1922" (changes No 3). 12 November 19'24, p 59.with Uniform Reg ulattons, U S Manne Corps, 1922,

Notes

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(Washington Government Printing Office, 1922), p 59

9 Ibid . p 6010 U S Marine Corps. Uniform Regulations, United StatesManne Corps, 2929, (Washington Government Printing Office,1929), p 4811 U S Marine Corps. Marine Corps Order No 88, lI June1935. No 99, 19 November 1935. No 120, 12 February 1937,No 130, 8 October 1937, in Manne Corps Orden 1932-1948,(Library. MCHC. Washington. 1) C)12 Ibid No 88, 11 june 193513 Ibid , No 120. 12 February 193714 Ibid , No 130. 8 October 193715 U S Marine Corps. Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,1937 (Washington Government Printing Office, 1937). p 5416 U S Marine Corps. Twenty-Fouflh Mannes, USM C.(Camp Pendlecon, California. 1943), p 68 (Library. MCI-IC.Washmgton. D C)

U S Marine Corps, Manne Corps Orden 1919-1922 Library,MCHC. Washington. D C

U S Marine Corps, Manne Corps Orden 1933-1948 library.MCI-IC, Washington, D C

U S Marine Corps, Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,¡904 Washington, D C Government Printing Office, 1904

US Marine Corps. Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,1912 Washington, D C Government Printing Office, 1913

U S Marine Corps, Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,1922 Washington, D C - Government Printing Office, 1922

U S Marine Corps. Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,

Bibliography

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1929 Washington, D C Government Printing Office, 1929U S Marine Corps. Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,

1937 Washington, D C - Government Printing Office, 1937U S Marine Corps, Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,

1949 Washington. D C Government Printing Office, 1949U S. Marine Corps, Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,

1962 Washington. D C Government Prinnng Office, 1962U S Marine Corps. Uniform Regulations, US Manne Corps,

1966 Washington. D C Government Pnnting Office, 196GEmerson, William K , 'Basic Asmy Marksmanship Badges." Man

At Arms 2 (Jan/Feb 1980)

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