The Army Staff Identification Badge is a badge of the United States Army worn by personnel who serve at the Office of the Secretary of the Army and the Army Staff at Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) and its agencies. Neither an award nor a decoration, the badge is a distinguishing emblem of service. Initially issued as a temporary badge, officers and enlisted personnel demonstrating outstanding performance of duty and meeting all eligibility requirements can be processed after one complete year (365 days cumulative) of assignment and receive a certificate authorizing permanent wear of the badge.
General Douglas MacArthur first proposed an Army General Staff Badge in 1931, but it was not until 1933 that the United States War Department authorized it. The badge has remained unchanged in appearance since it was first created, but the name was changed in 1982 from the Army General Staff Identification Badge to the Army Staff Identification Badge, and the eligibility criteria have evolved.
On a United States Army uniform, the Army Staff Identification Badge is worn centered on the right breast pocket; however, per ALARACT 203/2010 wear of the Army Staff Identification Badge is authorized on the left breast pocket when worn in conjunction with a deployment CSIB (Combat Service Identification Badge)
A similar Army Staff Lapel Pin is authorized for civilian employees of the Department of the Army, regardless of grade, who fill an eligible position in an HQDA agency for no less than one year.
Famous quotes containing the words army, staff and/or badge:
“To make an Army work you have to have every man in it fitted into a fear ladder.... The Army functions best when you’re frightened of the man above you, and contemptuous of your subordinates.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 17:40.
“It would much conduce to the public benefit, if, instead of discouraging free-thinking, there was erected in the midst of this free country a dianoetic academy, or seminary for free-thinkers, provided with retired chambers, and galleries, and shady walks and groves, where, after seven years spent in silence and meditation, a man might commence a genuine free-thinker, and from that time forward, have license to think what he pleased, and a badge to distinguish him from counterfeits.”
—George Berkeley (1685–1753)