Army Combat Action Badge Eligibility Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 853 To expand retroactive eligibility of the Army Combat Action Badge to include members of the Army who participated in combat during which they personally engaged, or were personally engaged by, the enemy at any time on or after December 7, 1941. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2019 Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia (for himself and Mr. LATTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To expand retroactive eligibility of the Army Combat Action Badge to include members of the Army who participated in combat during which they personally engaged, or were personally engaged by, the enemy at any time on or after December 7, 1941. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Army Combat Action 4 Badge Eligibility Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H853.IH H853 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 853 IH SEC. 2. RETROACTIVE AWARD OF ARMY COMBAT ACTION 1 BADGE. 2 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD.—The Secretary of the 3 Army may award the Army Combat Action Badge to a 4 person who, as determined by the Secretary— 5 (1) participated as a member of the Army at 6 any time during the eligibility period in combat dur- 7 ing which the person personally engaged, or was per- 8 sonally engaged by, the enemy; and 9 (2) has not been previously recognized in an ap- 10 propriate manner for the member’s participation in 11 such combat. 12 (b) PROCUREMENT OF BADGE.—The Secretary of 13 the Army may make arrangements with suppliers of the 14 Army Combat Action Badge so that persons eligible to re- 15 ceive the Army Combat Action Badge pursuant to sub- 16 section (a) may procure the badge directly from suppliers, 17 thereby eliminating, or at least substantially reducing, ad- 18 ministrative costs for the Army to carry out this section. 19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 (1) ARMY COMBAT ACTION BADGE.—The term 21 ‘‘Army Combat Action Badge’’ means the military 22 decoration established by order of the Secretary of 23 the Army through Headquarters, Department of the 24 Army Letter 600–05–1, dated June 3, 2005. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H853.IH H853 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 853 IH (2) ELIGIBILITY PERIOD.—The term ‘‘eligibility 1 period’’ means the period beginning on December 7, 2 1941, and ending on September 18, 2001 (the date 3 of the otherwise applicable limitation on the retro- 4 active award of the Army Combat Action Badge). 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H853.IH H853 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS