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In the United States (U.S.), a marksmanship badge is a U.S. military badge or a civilian badge which is awarded to personnel upon successful completion of a weapons qualification course (known as marksmanship qualification badges) or high achievement in an official marksmanship competition (known as marksmanship competition badges). The U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps are the only military services that award marksmanship qualification badges. However, marksmanship medals and/or marksmanship ribbons are awarded by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Air Force for weapons qualifications. For non-military personnel, different U.S. law enforcement organizations and the National Rifle Association (NRA) award marksmanship qualification badges to those involved in law enforcement. Additionally, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and the NRA award marksmanship qualification badges to U.S. civilians. Most of these organizations and the U.S. National Guard award marksmanship competition badges to the people they support who succeed in official competitions.
The U.S. Army awards their marksmanship qualification badges for a variety of weapons while the U.S. Marine Corps only awards theirs for the service rifle and service pistol. For civilians, the CMP awards the Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges for rifle, small bore rifle, pistol, and small bore pistol as well as its own air rifle badges. Of those U.S. law enforcement organizations that award marksmanship qualification badges, most award them for their service pistols while others will also award them for rifle and/or shotgun. The NRA awards marksmanship qualification badges for air rifles, rifles, pistols, and shotguns; however the NRA focuses on different rifles and pistols than the CMP. For marksmanship competition badges, the U.S. military award rifle and pistol competition badges; however, the U.S. National Guard also awards marksmanship competition badges for machine gun and sniper rifle. The CMP awards marksmanship competition badges for air rifle, rifle, pistol, and .22 rimfire pistol while the NRA awards them for air rifle, small bore rifle, revolver, and semi-automatic pistol.
The U.S. military and CMP marksmanship qualification badges are awarded in three grades (highest to lowest): expert, sharpshooter, and marksman while their marksmanship competition badges are awarded in three to four grades (highest to lowest): distinguished, silver, and bronze for the U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. civilians; distinguished, gold, silver, and bronze for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps; and distinguished, silver with wreath, bronze with wreath, and bronze for the U.S. Air Force. The NRA marksmanship qualification badges are awarded in five to six grades (highest to lowest): distinguished expert, expert, sharpshooter, marksman first-class (Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program only), marksman, and pro-marksman. U.S. law enforcement marksmanship qualification badges tend to follow NRA guidelines for marksmanship qualification badges or have their own criteria and badge structure. The NRA and the U.S. National Guard marksmanship competition badges are only awarded at one grade with the exception of the NRA's Law Enforcement Distinguished Program, which awards a Law Enforcement Excellence-in-Competition Badge for those officers who earn their first points towards one of the law enforcement distinguished badges.
Starting in the late 19th century, the U.S. Army began awarding marksmanship qualification badges to its soldiers who met specific weapon qualification standards. In the early 20th century, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy began awarding marksmanship qualification badges as well. The Marine Corps began by awarding Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges but eventually developed its own badge design, based on the original Army designs from the early 1900s. The Navy developed its own marksmanship qualification badge but retired it after only ten years in lieu of awarding marksmanship ribbons and medals.
For U.S. civilians, the Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship—now known as the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearm Safety (CPRPFS)—and the NRA began promoting civilian marksmanship in 1903. The CPRPFS's CMP awards Army Marksmanship Qualification Badges to civilians who meet U.S. Army weapon qualification standards as well as its own badges to youth for air rifle marksmanship. The NRA began awarding its own marksmanship qualification badges to civilians in 1918 and today has two primary marksmanship proficiency programs, the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program and the Explorer Service Handgun Qualification Program. Additionally, the NRA supports numerous other firearm proficiency programs throughout the United States, such as those found within various U.S. law enforcement organizations.