CAR Mods

The Marine Corps has made some modifications to the eligibility requirements for the Combat Action Ribbon. The ribbon, which was initially created in 1969 during the Vietnam war, was designed to recognize those Marines that physically participated in combat. Until now, a Marine, had to actually fire his weapon while under fire from an enemy. These requirements were decided in a time when firefights were the normal type of battle that a Marine would face when engaging an enemy military force.

Today's battles are more often against terrorists and insurgents, not military forces. These new enemies like to use roadside bombs and IEDs. Other times the enemy attacks from within a group of civilians and the Marines are ordered not to return fire. Therefore the Marines decided to change the criteria to include personnel that "render satisfactory performance under enemy fire."

The change is retroactive, but commanders must submit the ribbon request for retroactive actions prior to January 1st.