Soldiers spend their careers earning badges, medals and ranks for their uniforms. But few items jump out like the tabs some soldiers earn for their left shoulders. Some are specific to a unit they serve in — like Airborne, Jungle, or Arctic — while others are earned after graduating from some of the Army’s toughest training courses, like Ranger and Sapper schools.
Some can only be worn with certain assignments, while others signify sacred duties, like the Honor Guard. Tabs are worn above a soldier’s unit shoulder sleeve insignia on the left shoulder.
Some combinations of tabs can be worn together, stacked two or three high on the shoulder — an arrangement sometimes called a “tower of power.”
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Here are 16 types of tabs you may find throughout the Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard.
Permanent Tabs
Special Forces
Only soldiers who graduate from either the Special Forces Qualification Course or the Special Forces Officer Course are authorized to wear the “long tab” of Special Forces. These are the Army’s well-known Green Berets who make up the special operations spearhead, serving as experts in unconventional and irregular warfare.
According to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, the Special Forces tab was first authorized by the former Army Chief of Staff Gen. John Wickham on June 17, 1983, based on a request from the commander of the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
Sgt. Maj. Tyr Symank has worked in special operations for over 20 years, most of that time as a Green Beret. He told Task & Purpose that the Special Forces tab was approved to distinguish actual frontline Special Forces soldiers from their support soldiers, who, at the time, were authorized to wear green berets regardless of their job.
“The tab sort of legitimizes and sums up the resume,” Symank said. “There are many SF guys, myself included, that do not wear all their awarded badges on their duty uniform, but we will always wear the tab.”
Ranger
Ranger School, which has three phases that take place at different locations, is considered among the most difficult Army training courses a soldier can attend. Sleep deprivation, little food, injuries and hallucinations are just a few of the things that can amplify the difficulty of attending the 62-day course.
Staff Sgt. Stephen Kimberly, currently serving as a drill sergeant, spent the first five years of his 12 years in the Army assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He attended Ranger School early on as a private.
“I wanted my Ranger tab because that is what’s expected of a private in Ranger Battalion. You could not be placed in a leadership position without a Ranger tab,” Kimberly said. “The Ranger tab stands for someone who is physically and mentally resilient and capable of leading operations in high-stress and non-permissive environments.”
Some attend Ranger School for the experience, others to meet a unit requirement, and many do so to increase their odds of rising up the chain of command and taking leadership positions.
According to the Institute of Heraldry, the Ranger tab was first authorized by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall on Oct. 30, 1950.
Kimberly said that regardless of what unit you are in, a Ranger tab carries a certain amount of weight.
“Metaphorically, it is a symbol of a top performer, someone who will outperform anyone regardless of austere conditions or mental hardship,” Kimberly said. “They lead from the front and set the example for others to follow.”
Sapper Tab
The Sapper tab is earned by soldiers who graduate from the demanding 28-day Sapper Leader Course held at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. While Ranger School focuses specifically on infantry skills, the Sapper Leader Course uses similarly fast-paced and grueling training to teach soldiers combat engineering tasks.
Like Ranger and Special Forces tabs, the Sapper tab is eligible to be worn throughout a soldier’s career, regardless of assignment, which leads to some soldiers earning all three and wearing them in a “tower of power” — though that label is hotly contested in the Army, with many soldiers believing the third “power” tab is the Airborne tab rather than Sapper.
According to the Institute of Heraldry, the Sapper tab was first approved by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker on June 28, 2004.
Capt. Matthew Cushing and Capt. Joseph Palazini won a second straight Army-wide Best Sapper contest in April. Both are company commanders with the “Rakkasans” 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division based out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Cushing said Sapper training spans a wide range of combat skills.
“It is the multi-tool of the Army. A problem comes up, everyone looks at the sapper to fix it and to solve it,” Cushing told Task & Purpose. “We can’t let anyone else do it. It’s only just us.”
Regardless of your opinion on what tab is more difficult, earning the Sapper tab is considered a challenging pursuit as it requires leadership excellence like Ranger School, but also, demolition and tactical expertise.
President’s Hundred
The President’s Hundred tab is awarded to soldiers placing in the top 100 during the President’s Pistol and President’s Rifle Matches, which take place during the National Matches. The competition is hosted through the partnership of the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Ohio National Guard. The history of the shooting competition dates back to the late 1800s.
According to the National Institute of Heraldry, the President’s Hundred tab was first authorized by the deputy chief of staff for personnel on March 3, 1958, after the National Rifle Association made the request on May 27, 1958. The first soldiers awarded the President’s Hundred tabs took part in a competition held at Camp Perry, Ohio, in early September 1958.
The shooting competition grills both military and civilian shooters on everything from a seated mag dump to long-range rifle shooting.
According to Army Regulation 670-1, the President’s Hundred is the fourth of the four tabs authorized for permanent wear on Army uniforms along with Sapper, Ranger and Special Forces.
Unit Tabs
Airborne
The Airborne tab is a bit misleading. It is no longer worn just by paratroopers but is worn by all soldiers assigned to units that operate as Airborne-deployable formations. This includes the traditional paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne Division and the air assault-trained troops of the 101st Airborne Division.
Special Forces soldiers wear the Airborne tab when assigned to the traditional Special Forces group, but Rangers in the 75th Ranger Regiment — who are parachute-qualified — do not.
Honor Guard
Honor guard soldiers present and guard the colors at official functions, from change of commands and parades to the sacred duty of presenting arms, saluting, or playing Taps at military funerals or memorial services. Honor Guard members also render the 21-gun salute.
According to the Institute of Heraldry, the deputy chief of staff for personnel approved the Honor Guard tab on March 16, 1965, for soldiers selected for Honor Guard duty. Its design, with a white background and blue lettering, was authorized on April 19, 1965.
However, there is a different Honor Guard tab approved for those assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, commonly referred to as The Old Guard. Their Honor Guard tab has a blue background with white lettering and was authorized on Oct. 14, 1959, though soldiers assigned to the Old Guard had been wearing it since 1950. These soldiers carry out the sacred duties of work at Arlington National Cemetary in Virginia.
The third Honor Guard tab is unique to the Army National Guard with a gold border and lettering on a blue background. It was first authorized on Dec. 31, 2012
Jungle
The Jungle tab is authorized for soldiers who graduate from the 25th Infantry Division’s Jungle Operations Training Course at U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, known as the Lightning Academy. It is worn by 25th Infantry Division soldiers and others assigned to units in the Pacific.
The course includes team movement, medical considerations, water crossing, and other jungle-specific skills. To graduate the two-week course, soldiers must pass a jungle 5-kilometer run within 40 minutes, a land navigation assessment, tying five critical knots and two non-critical knots — a test of knot-tying skills needed in the operational environment — and build both a rope bridge and a line haul system. The course ends with a three-day culminating exercise and a physical endurance course called the Green Mile.
Mountain
The mountain tab is only authorized for those assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, based out of Fort Drum in northern New York and the Vermont National Guard’s 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain).
Though some soldiers assigned to the units complete mountaineering training, it is not a division-wide requirement. The basic requirement to wear the Mountain tab is to be assigned to the unit.
Arctic
The Arctic tab, like the Jungle and Mountain tabs, is specific to a unit designated for Arctic operations, primarily the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska. It was first authorized on Apr. 26, 2022.
Soldiers must graduate from the Army’s Northern Warfare Training Center’s Cold Weather Orientation Course or Cold Weather Leaders Course, both located at the Army Alaska’s Black Rapids Training Site.
Korean Combined Division
South Korean and American soldiers are authorized to wear the Combined Division tab while assigned to either the 2nd Infantry Division or the Republic of Korea Army 8th Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek-si, Korea, about 40 miles south of Seoul. The tab is not worn by line soldiers outside the headquarters elements. The black and white tab features both English and Korean lettering to signify the combined mission of the two countries maintaining their side of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, commonly called the DMZ.
National Guard Governor’s tabs
The Army National Guard has three different tabs that can be authorized for soldiers who compete in various state National Guard shooting competitions. The competition tests soldiers’ shooting capabilities with both the M4 rifle and the Beretta 9mm pistol. The three versions are:
Advisor
Soldiers assigned to one of the Army’s latest units, Security Force Assistance Brigades, are authorized to wear the Advisor tab. This, like the other unit tabs, is only for soldiers assigned to an SFAB. According to the Army, if they leave that unit, they are not authorized to wear the tab anymore.
Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF)
Soldiers assigned to the Southern European Task Force are authorized to wear the SETAF tab, which replaced the airborne tab that was previously a part of the unit’s shoulder sleeve insignia in 2008.
Band tabs
Each Army unit has a band and each one has its own tab designed by the Institute of Heraldry. There are several available, each with its own unique history. In order to wear the Band tab, soldiers must be assigned to their unit’s band. Once you leave the band, no more tab.
Ranger Challenge
This tab is only for college students who are in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, but it’s far from spring break. It is earned when cadets compete on their battalion’s team in a regional ROTC Ranger Challenge competition. The Ranger Challenge tab is the only Army individual qualification tab awarded to ROTC cadets.
The Ranger Challenge hits on basic infantry skills like marksmanship skills, timed 12-mile ruck marches, and patrolling. It’s geared to help ROTC cadets develop leadership qualities and skills.
