German Army Airborne, Marksmanship & Proficiency Badges Authorized For Wear On The U.S. Army Uniform 

I also got silver but it was the pistol that hurt me. I got gold on the rifle and machine gun, but we were partnered up with a reserve German unit that was still using P38s. I'd never fired one before, but did OK until I had to fire it in the prone. I missed one pistol shot to get the gold, but it was a great experience and I was happy to get silver.

I got the Schützenschnur in Gold while still in basic training. I don't know if the requirements are different from foreign militaries tho. This was in late 2009.

I also got it in Gold during my time at the Fallschirmjäger. But with G3 instead of G36 and I also got the bronce Fallschirmjäger badge. It was in 2001- 2002 during my 9 month service 😊

I got a Marksmanship Ribbon I’d scored 223 points I was one point shy from an S for Sharp Shooter on my Ribbon for my Pistol Marksmanship.

I am going to assume that was with the MG3. It is the hardest of the disciplines when completed with the MG3 because that is one quirky gun to fire accurately.

Greetings from Berlin and a big thank you for keeping my city commie free!

@@mikedittsche It was the least I could do. I really enjoyed West Berlin in the 80's. The Wall came down a year after I left.

​@@ivanlowjonesawesome Mr Jones! You have the Army of Occupation Medal too. I was stationed there in the brigades final year. Was able to earn the Sports Badge (achieved Bronze) *The brigade was awarded the Army Superior Unit Award in its final year, which wore I permanently there after.

@@christopherhazell420 You are correct about the Army Occupation ribbon. I was stationed at Checkpoint Alpha in Helmstedt with our parent unit Combat Support Battalion based on Andrews Kaserne. I currently work with a guy who was stationed in 40th Armor at Turner Kaserne after the Wall came down.

You mean MG3

@@manusaba9168 yep, thank you. my keyboard hates me so. ^~^

In 2008 the sports proficiency badge (Deutsches Sportabzeichen) was part of the tests you had to pass for the military proficiency badge. Today you must have a grade lower that 1.49 in the basic fitness test to get the proficiency badge in gold.

I don't know what the regulations say but currently it varies a lot. In the Air force many people earned theirs by achieving the deutsches Sport Abzeichen in Gold and Qualifying in one weapon in gold. Im in the Army and got told that I Had to Qualify in gold with both weapons, get the DSA in gold, do a BFT with a 1. Mark and get a Personal recomandation from my commanding officer for outstanding service.

​@Mr-bz9sc until this year, USAF personnel could not wear these in Service Dress. Unless they were stationed in the country or attending an official event sponsored by said nation. Now no restriction exist.

great eye, however that display is my son’s. he graduated from the Citadel and served as an Infantry officer in the 218th. my dad’s display in the center and mine on the right. you did well to earn all three.

Schuetzenschnur

no, those awards are not authorized for US Army Wear which why I did not mention them.

thanks, been working on a new book.

all good just deciding on what next, Thinking about doing the history of U.S. medals 1775 to GWOT ….in several parts.

​@veteransmedalsworkshop-moa4376 great idea. Love your informative videos.

Your not alone. Went from shooting true blue on all the other weapons to barely getting a bronze. That MG3 kicked my ass

The bad trigger and the fast rate of fire are the problem. When you finally got that 150 pound trigger to fire, the 15 rounds you had were gone and you probably had 1 round in the small circle. You really had to practice with it. I was never a pistol shot, I would have had better success throwing it, and the G3 was to awkward and heavy for me. I could, however, queeze two-round bursts out of the MG3 and have 13 out of 15 rounds in the small circle.

@@VR-ym8ys Everyone can learn it and there are many myths to that machine gun and even many german soldiers admit that the MG3 "is not their kind of weapon".

i think the mg3 has a much higher rate of fire than our mg.hard to get use to a three round burst’.

@@veteransmedalsworkshop-moa4376 It has a rate of 1050 to 1300 rounds per minute and it is supposed to be an area effect weapon as all MGs are. Although we try to train our soldiers to get off precise first salvos and after the initial breaking of the silence from the MG it is used with busts of 5 to 15 shots. After a few hunderd shots you really get used to the rate of fire, recoil compensation and aiming with your muscle memory and you suddenly "feel" the MG and that is when you start loving it. Nevertheless nobody loves to carry it into battle :)

there is no German Ranger badge

@@Fatboy00000I think he means the Einzelkämpfer badge, which is basically a ranger badge.

​@@Rheinlander1904-uc5od The course is more comparable to the old "Recondo" course. The Ranger School does not include many things that the EKI-II does. It's not called the "Lone-warrior badge" for nothing.

@@FH36010 Ok, thanks for clarifying - wasn’t that sure about it tbh 😅👍🏻

@fatboy1837 We referred to it as that. In fact the Einzelkämpferlehrgang is called in English the Commando Course. Has a little wreathed badge with an Oak Leaf inside. Then there is the 2nd phase earning the second Leaf. But I seem to remember it also having some acorns inside. But it's been over 35 years ago. Sorry.

Glad you enjoyed it!

You got an MG-3 in a drawer somewhere? Nice! 😛

Thanks!

robert, yes you are correct exept for the high collar and awards they award today. the guard battalion which is what i named my channel after still where the jackboots for official ceromonies albeit covered by blousing their trousers over them.

​@@wachbataillon1234: Die Bundeswehr wurde 1955 gegründet. Beabsichtigt oder nicht, exakt 1000 Jahre nachdem auf dem Lechfeld ein Heer aufmarschiert ist, das aus Aufgeboten aller damaligen deutschen Stämme gebildet wurde. Hoffentlich ein gutes Vorzeichen.

​@@brittakriep2938Deutschland wird seit Jahren ohne Kampf verschenkt. 😂

the German uniform looks nothing like WW2 uniforms. they look like a badly tailored version of the US uniform

@@neinnein9306 : Bin auch nicht begeistert, was nicht erst seit gestern geschieht.

I still had to walk the 30 Km march in under 5 h time for that Gold variant in 2010. The 12 Km march in fact is soft compared to this, even if you have to carry more load today.

cloudchaser996, i wish the bundeswehr still had officers like steinhoff and heusinger in charge. it makes me sick what has become of the bundeswehr since the fall of the wall. should still have conscription. im from the u.s but i am of german heritage. i hope that the afd can at least win second next election in germany. im in my upper 20s and think germans need to get rid of the ww2 guilt crap and start making the bundeswehr strong.

@wachbataillon1234: A lot to unpack here. First, to be clear, I do not criticize the German efforts to remember the giant atrocities that were committed under the nazi regime. Remembering those is, in Germany, a doctrine that is not negotiable. But sure, German military traditions by far predate that awful time, and throwing everything out wholesale is not warranted, especially if you compare Germany to countries with a more healthy attitude towards their armed forces, as e.g. the US. Second, I agree that recently Germany had become far too complacent when self defense is concerned, and agree, too, that conscription was generally a good thing. This all was made painfully clear when Russia invaded Ukraine, and now Germany is struggling to catch up with modernizing the Bundeswehr. Third, the current political parties in Germany are in my opinion ALL individually a mixture of good and bad ideas. Yes, the AFD has some points I could agree with, but since they tolerate nazis amongst their membership and e.g. advertize cozying up with Putin, that makes them very hard to vote for for many mainstream Germans. The Greens have some point when it comes to caring more for the environment, but e.g. demanding Germany should take in all "refugees" that want to enter, is clearly not ok. And so every other party, too has things to agree with and to reject. And that is in my view the major crisis in German politics today: There is just no party that an educated, law abiding, and modestly patriotic citizen could vote for with a good conscience! We'll have to see how that is going to play out...

@neinnein9306: No kidding. With only 12 km, the blisters on your feet don't have enough time to really become painful😂

Well, the new march requirements are not as soft as they seem on the surface - as the required weight to carry around has been significantly increased. So you trade some distance for more weight. In my own experience, the Leistungsmarsch was easy with no weight on your back, 30 km, piece of cake. Add the weight, it kills you.

Thanks

I agree

Interesting. I would have thought the ADF would also receive the KLK Medal to?

Some folks might have received it ( I did not??) but AFAIK it is not authorised. Of course ive been out of the loop for a long time... I might check on this!!!! Things do change!! @@christopherhazell420

Let me check that out, thanks for the suggestion.

I earned the Bronze Sports Badge in '94 at Andrew's Barracks, just before the brigade inactivated 😑

will look into it, thanks

Proficiency Badge? As shown, it has nothing additional, a badge with eagle inside a wreath. Now, the marksmanship badge has the rope or lanyard. For US Army & USAF personnel, the proficiency badge is worn on the right breast of the dress coat. The marksmanship badge is attached at the right (your right) shoulder (& will require a button) to attach it to the shoulder, with the end of the lanyard clipping onto the coat button. USAF Airmen wear the proficiency badge above the Dress Coat name tag on the right breast. US Army soldiers wear the badge above the right breast pocket in ASU & AGSU. Or above unit awards, if awarded them and below regimental insignia.

not to my knowledge

may hav’e to be on eBay.

Let me check, it is a Prussian March.

It's the Kaiser Wilhelm Siegesmarsch

Thank you so very much!

did not show those since they are authorized on the UA Army uniform.

sorry for the miss typing. Those two German qualification patches and badges are not authorized on the United States Army uniform.

it is an old Prussian March, I will look for the title.

it is the Kaiser Wilhelm Siegesmarsch

Thank you so much. Being german I should have known it. I just didn't hear this very often. The "Königgrätzer Marsch" "Preußens Gloria" or the "Regimentsgruß" are three of the most famous marches here🇩🇪. By the way - I also love "When Johnny comes marching home" 🇺🇲

Why do you wear an active service uniform from another country if you're not serving in it, or ever served in it? Sounds kinda weird to just show up in a Bundeswehr uniform just because you have German ancestry...

@G1CAAAAAEO, its my hobby to collect the bundeswehr uniforms and insignia, i mean i see no point of it just sitting in my closet gathering dust. and as i said it promotes the german military in my opinion. im well aware its odd wearing them out in public, but i have a right to and i enjoy wearing them. btw i dont claim to anyone ive served in the bundeswehr when people ask me to be clear. if i could have served in the bundeswehr i would have, but im not a german citizen unfortunantly.

@@wachbataillon1234 It's not odd, it's stolen valour. No one cares about your parents, stop stealing the uniform of people who have died defending it. I didn't wear the fucking uniform because my parents decided to have a kid 5km left or right of the border, I wore it because I swore an oath to defend my country... In Germany, we have laws against people just appropriating uniforms and just wearing them in public. Maybe honour that part of your "heritage".

thank you, what I said was all I could find out. where those the last 2 parachute battalions? where their 4 badges then?

We like the bling that is earnable and doesn't jingle every time we walk.

right

I think it's revered not because it's so hard to earn or special within the German forces, but because not too many foreign soldiers get to take the tests. Also, it just looks cool I guess, just catches the eye. It's always not too shabby for any soldier proving his proficiency not only in his own army, but in a different one as well, with different standards and weapons. When I was in the German army, I earned the US sharpshooter (silver) badge for rifle and submachinegun, and certainly wore it with pride. It's nothing special in US forces, but it showed that I had gotten good enough at shooting that I could grab an M16 and MP5, both of which I hadn't even held before, and perform well on the first try.

@ropeburn6684 you make a fair point but they make it SO easy to get for Americans. For us MANY MANY MANY MANY of us get a chance There doesn't even have to be German soldiers around. The Americans can completely administer the test. Mail the results to some German Lieutenant Colonel and get them. I've seen it done so many time. Even in reserve units. No Germans Just Americans, who don't even have the badge, reading instructions. There are other harder to get and more impressive foreign awards. Like the German sharpshooter badge(FYI idk what official sharpshooter badge we gotm whatever you got must have been exclusive to that event because we don't have an M16 and MP5 event with a gold, silver or bronze badge) The Norwegian footmartch Foreign ranger schools When I was in Hawaii we had soldiers go all over Asia and Latin America to go to those countries versions of jungle school(to help us restart our own armys jungle school) Trust me. I cannot stress to you how often the GAFB comes to Americans It's so common you cam buy the badge on American military bases in the uniform clothing shop and where the badge is even PRODUCED BY AN AMERICAN COMPANY