The President's Hundred Tab/Brassard is a badge awarded by the

Civilian Marksmanship Program The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a U.S. government-chartered program intended to promote firearm safety training and rifle practice for all qualified U.S. citizens with a specific emphasis on youth. Any U.S. citizen not otherwise legal ...

(CMP) to the 100 top-scoring military and civilian shooters in the President's Pistol and President's Rifle Matches. The tab is authorized for wear on military uniforms of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

, and

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

(enlisted only). The

brassard A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank b ...

version is authorized for wear on enlisted uniforms of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. The tab is long and high, with the word "PRESIDENT'S HUNDRED" centered in tall letters. The Army's and Air Force's miniature metal replica of the tab is a full-color (yellow with green letters) variant of the tab once authorized for wear on the old Army Green Service Uniform and is about in width. The brassard is a long by high curved bronze metallic arm patch with an enameled representation of the

Flag of the President of the United States The flag of the president of the United States consists of the presidential coat of arms on a dark blue background. While having the same design as the presidential seal since 1945, the flag has a separate history, and the designs on the flag an ...

flanked by the

Seal of the President of the United States The seal of the president of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the president of the United States to the U.S. Congress, and is also used as a symbol of the presidency itself. The central design, based on the Great Seal of the ...

to the left and the seal of the CMP to the right. At the top of the brassard are the raised words “PRESIDENT’S” to the left and “HUNDRED” to the right.President's Hundred Tab
, The Institute of Heraldry, Uniformed Services~Army, Tabs, last accessed 7 November 2014U.S. Army Regulation 670-1: Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia
Official Department of the Army Publications and Forms, dated 3 February 05, last accessed 11 November 11U.S. Navy Uniform Regulations: Chapter 5, Section 3 Identification Badges/Awards/Insignia
Navy Personnel Command, last accessed 11 November 11U.S. Coast Guard Uniform Regulations COMDTINST M1020.6F
Commandant United States Coast Guard, dated February 09, last accessed 11 November 11A Short History of the President's Match and the President's Hundred
by Hap Rocketto, dated 19 March 08, last accessed 4 January 20151
by Travis Jordan, last accessed 18 July 2015National Guard Marksmanship Training Center, All Guard Pistol Team (Photo)
, by the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center, dated 14 July 2015, last accessed 18 July 2015

History

The

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

's (NRA) President's Match was instituted at the NRA matches of 1878, as the American Military Rifle Championship Match. It was patterned after an event for British Volunteers called The Queen's Prize, a competition started by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

and initiated by the British

in 1860, in order to increase the ability of Britain's marksmen following the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

.U.S. Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards
Official Department of the Army Publications and Forms, dated 11 December 06, revised 15 September 11, last accessed 4 October 11 In 1884, the name was changed to the President's Match for the Military Rifle Championship of the United States. It was fired at Creedmoor, New York until 1891. In 1895, it was reintroduced at Sea Girt, New Jersey. The tradition of making a letter from the President of the United States the first prize began in 1904 when President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, at the conclusion of the President's Match, personally wrote a letter of congratulations to the winner, Private Howard Gensch of the 1st Regiment of Infantry of the New Jersey National Guard. It cannot be ascertained as to when the President's Match was discontinued; however, it is known that it was not fired during World Wars I and II. It appears to have disappeared during the 1930s and during the Depression when lack of funds severely curtailed the holding of matches of importance. The President's Match was reinstated in 1957 at the National Matches as "The President's Hundred." The 100 top-scoring competitors in the President's Match were singled out for special recognition in a retreat ceremony in which they passed in review before the winner and former winners of this historic match. On 27 May 1958, the NRA requested the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel's approval of a tab for presentation to each member of the "President's Hundred." NRA's plan was to award the cloth tab together with a metal brassard during the 1958 National Matches. The cloth tab was of high level interest and approved for wear on the uniform on 3 March 1958. The first awards were made at Camp Perry, Ohio, in early September 1958. Only the U.S. Navy has authorized the wear of the metal brassard on the uniforms of enlisted sailors. However, the NRA issued the metal brassard to all military and civilian personnel for wear on the shooting jacket. In 1977, the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP) assumed responsibility for the President's Match from the NRA. Today the CMP manages and awards the President's Hundred Tab/Brassard to the top 100 shooters in those matches. In September 2008, the Department of the Army authorized a miniature metal tab to be worn on the new Army Service Uniform. This is a scaled-down replica of the President's Hundred full-color embroidered tab. In January 2014, the Department of the Air Force, via an update to Air Force Instruction 36–2903, authorized the wear of the President's Hundred Tab on the

Airman Battle Uniform The Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) is a U.S. camouflage combat uniform formerly worn by members of the United States Air Force, United States Space Force, and some civilian employees of the U.S. Department of the Air Force until April 2021. It repl ...

(olive drab version) and the Air Force service uniform (miniature full color replica) through the authorization for Airmen to wear any military badge they have earned given it is worn within uniform regulations. U.S. Air Force Instruction (AFI) 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel
Department of the Air Force, dated 28 May 2015, last accessed 18 July 2015

Other tabs

The President's Hundred Tab is one of four permanent individual skill/marksmanship tabs (as compared to a

badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fi ...

) authorized for wear by the U.S. Army. In order of precedence on the uniform, they are the President's Hundred Tab, the Special Forces Tab, the

Ranger Tab In the United States Army, tabs are cloth and/or metal arches displaying a word or words signifying a special skill that are worn on U.S. Army uniforms. On the Army Combat Uniform and Army Service Uniform, the tabs are worn above a unit's Should ...

, and the Sapper Tab. Only three may be worn at one time.

References

{{US Army badges United States military badges Articles containing video clips

History

Other tabs

See also

References