Introducing project “Military Insignia”, featuring top quality military heraldry designs. Here you will find designer apparel, accessories, custom postage and gifts decorated with Combat Action Badge (CAB) 1st Award. The Combat Action Badge (or CAB) 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 authorized, who is personally present and actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy, and performing satisfactorily in accordance with the prescribed rules of engagement. Award is not limited by one's branch of service or military occupational specialty, but is only authorized for wear on U.S. Army uniforms. A silver badge 2 inches (5.08 cm) in width overall consisting of an oak wreath supporting a rectangle bearing a bayonet surmounting a grenade, all silver. Stars are added at the top to indicate subsequent awards; one star for the second award, two stars for the third award and three stars for the fourth award. In comparison to the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the CAB has a silver rectangle backing rather than blue, and the CAB is 1 inch shorter in length than the CIB. The CAB was originally planned as a ribbon which was to have been known as the "Combat Recognition Ribbon". However, as ribbons are generally seen as less prestigious than medals and badges, the CAB was then proposed as the "Close Combat Badge" (or CCB), thus granting the award badge status vice ribbon. This was to be a combat award only for soldiers who did not hold the infantry military occupational specialty (MOS), but who were deployed specifically to fulfil an infantry duty. This was in response to the large number of non-infantry (tank crews, for example) who were deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and whose units were reorganized to function as infantry (motorized or light) due to the lack of need for tanks and shortage of infantry. The CAB 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. The criteria for the badge does not specify the nature of the hostile fire that a soldier must receive to be awarded. In practice, though, most commanders do not issue this award to qualified soldiers unless they are directly engaged in combat. Notably, it is granted exclusively for contact with enemy combatants, so actions by noncombatants like detainees or rioting civilians do not qualify. It should also be noted that endless memos have been written by commanders to deter the CAB from being awarded, leading to indirect fire usually being discounted unless it results in the death of the soldier. The award is not available to U.S. Army combat veterans of previous conflicts.