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A Weapons Qualification Badge is a military badge of the United States Army and United States Marine Corps which is presented to service members upon successful completion of a weapons qualification course.

Weapons Qualification Badges are issued in three levels (in descending order): Expert, Sharpshooter, and Marksman. The Marine Corps presently provides weapons qualification badges for the pistol and rifle only, while the Army issues the same badges for a variety of weapons.

[edit] Army

Army weapons qualification badges display various qualified weapons by bars which are hung below the badge itself. The current authorized weapons bars are as follows:

• Rifle
• Pistol
• Artillery
• Auto Rifle
• Machinegun
• Field Artillery
• Tank Weapons
• Flamethrower
• Submachine Gun
• Grenade
• Carbine
• Recoilless Rifle
• Rocket Launcher
• Mortar
• Bayonet
• Small Bore Rifle
• Small Bore Pistol
• Missile
• Aero-weapons

The Army also awards a Distinguished Shot Badge for those who obtain expert weapons scores at shooting competitions.

[edit] Service standards

The U.S. Air Force considers weapon qualification badges to be optional and will allow a service member to operate any weapon after receiving a “familiarization qualification” meaning that the weapon is generally understood but an above average qualifications score was not obtained. However, because the Army and Marines consider their personnel rifleman first, recruits can not exit initial recruit training until a qualification of at least Marksman has been obtained.

The Army and Marine Corps are the only services that issue weapons qualification badges. The Marksmanship Ribbon and Marksmanship Medal are issued by the remainder of the United States military branches to denote weapons qualifications.