Among soldiers, badges for combat involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan are prized. Worn on a uniform, the Combat Infantryman Badge and Combat Action Badge signify at a passing glance not just duty in a war zone, but participation in actual fighting.

The feeling among some Hawai'i National Guard soldiers with the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is that combat badges were given out liberally when the Guard was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait in 2005, but that now the pendulum has swung — unfairly — in the opposite direction.

More than 1,700 Hawai'i Guard and Reserve soldiers are based in Kuwait. About 1,200 have convoy escort missions that regularly take them into Iraq.

"The brigade says they changed their 'policy' because too many (combat badges) were given out last deployment to soldiers who did not deserve it," said one Hawai'i Guard soldier. "That shouldn't mean they don't give out awards for this deployment to soldiers that definitely deserve it. Last deployment, if the camp was mortared, they 'blanketed' orders and awarded everyone with a ... (combat badge) even if they didn't even know where the mortars landed."

The soldier asked that he not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press and likely would face repercussions. Others echoed his concern.

Maj. Pam Ellison, a spokeswoman for the 29th Brigade in Kuwait, said there has been no pendulum swing.

"But there has been a change in the volatility of the war since 2005," Ellison said by e-mail. "Because of there being more combat awards given out then, there may be a perception that the combat awards were 'easier' to receive. That is not the case."

What has changed is the environment, Ellison said. Security gains have drastically reduced the number of attacks in Iraq, she said.

"The situation has improved tremendously," Ellison said. And that means fewer awards.

Between December and February, the Convoy Escort Teams driving into Iraq had 20 instances of enemy contact, officials previously said.

In her e-mail, Ellison said that over the past nine weeks there were no enemy contacts against a 29th Brigade convoy escort team.

Over the course of the deployment, 12 Combat Infantryman Badges have been awarded, with 25 recommendations still being processed, Ellison said. The number of Combat Action Badges awarded was not provided.

Three Purple Hearts have been awarded so far on the nine-month deployment to Kuwait. One soldier has been killed. Spc. Cwislyn K. Walter, a 19-year-old Farrington High School graduate, died Feb. 19 in a vehicle accident in Kuwait. The citizen soldiers are due back home in August.

Ellison said the number of Combat Infantryman and Combat Action badges given out to the brigade during the 2005 deployment is unknown because 29th Brigade units were parceled out to other commands in Iraq and Kuwait, and the statistics reside with those units.

COMMAND DECISION

The Combat Infantryman Badge, with an infantryman musket and oak wreath, was approved during World War II in 1943 to recognize the "highly proficient, tough, hard and aggressive infantry."

It's been a badge of courage ever since.

Army regulations state that a soldier must be "personally present and under fire" in a unit engaged in active ground combat to be eligible. Improvised explosive devices, otherwise known as roadside bombs, are considered enemy fire.

The regulations state that "while no fixed, qualifying distance from an explosion of these devices can be established, commanders should consider the entirety of the combat situation when considering award" of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

The Army's Human Resources Command said there is no written policy on proximity to fire to be considered "in reasonable danger" for the separate Combat Action Badge, and it is left up to the approval authority to decide if a soldier meets the criteria.

The Combat Action Badge was approved by the Army in 2005 and is retroactive to 2001.

The badge features an M9 bayonet and M67 grenade, and has similar requirements to its "infantryman" counterpart, but can be awarded to any soldier.

According to Army statistics, as of April 22, 37,504 Combat Infantryman and 56,926 Combat Action badges had been awarded in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Ellison said a prospective CIB or CAB is reviewed by a company commander, at the battalion and brigade level, and makes its way up to a higher command, the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, for approval or disapproval.

SOME CASES

The soldier who registered the complaint said the process seemed capricious in some cases, and didn't make sense in the case of some rejections.

One policy decision was made to give the award only to gunners because they were the ones "partially exposed," the soldier said.

"I think this is unfair because everyone in the truck was exposed to danger and should be awarded a Combat Infantryman Badge ... or Combat Action badge for being engaged by the enemy," he said.

The complaints involve the 1st Squadron, 299th Cavalry Regiment of the Hawai'i Army National Guard. The 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry, an Army Reserve unit, also performs convoy escort missions into Iraq.

The Hawai'i National Guard soldier said the situation improved after The Advertiser asked about the claimed discrepancies. A one-star general in theater reviewed the query.

Among examples of award actions cited by the soldier as questionable are:

• An early mission into Iraq was described in the brigade newspaper as taking enemy fire and returning with a bright silver dimple from a gunshot that gleamed on the door. The soldier said none of the crew was getting a CIB or CAB because they couldn't prove it was a bullet hole. The door had been replaced and the evidence was gone.

• One escort team was heading north in Iraq when they noticed a south-bound convoy firing into the desert, with enemies firing back. The Hawai'i escort team engaged with the lead truck. Eyewitnesses saw enemies drop to the ground. After the Hawai'i escort team moved out, a roadside bomb went off about 100 meters (328 feet) behind the convoy. Only the gunner of the lead truck had his CAB "packet" forwarded for approval.

• A roadside bomb detonated during an escort mission. Only the first gun truck heard it, but didn't see it, and those soldiers' CIB/CAB packets were approved by the brigade, even though there was no battle damage.

On the same convoy mission, a roadside bomb went off next to the last gun truck, and it was seen, heard and felt, and there was battle damage. However, only the gunner's CAB packet was forwarded, and the driver and truck commander were denied.

Subsequently, the 1st Theater Sustainment Command rejected the packet, asking that it be resubmitted with the two other trucks involved.

All of the examples were provided to the 29th Brigade for review. Ellison said the last example shows that the awards system works.

"With the multiple reviews of circumstances and facts surrounding a particular incident, there are opportunities at several levels to ensure soldiers received the recognition they deserve," she said.

Ellison said that in general, without knowing the specific persons and dates of the incidents it is impossible to speculate whether soldiers were submitted for CIBs or CABs, what recommendations were made, and their final disposition.