The USAF Excellence In Competition Pistol Shot Badges
The Elementary Excellence In Competition Pistol Badge
This badge is characterized by its lack of a surrounding wreath. The badge is issued to the top ten percent of the competitors in an Elementary level Excellence In Competition Pistol match. This type of match is run exclusively by and for Air Force members. To be eligible to fire in an Elementary match a competitor can not have acquired any points toward Distinguished Pistol. Along with this badge, recipients accrue 4 points toward Distinguished Pistol. The back of the badge is engraved with the recipient's name and the date of award** It is received with corresponding official USAF orders.**
The Bronze Air Force Excellence In Competition Pistol Badge
This badge is issued under two different sets of criteria dependent on the history of the recipient. The first set covers an individual who has never been awarded any points toward Distinguished Pistol. It is awarded for the initial receipt of any points in an Excellence In Competition match other than Elementary. In this case, a six, eight or ten point award would result in the receipt of this badge. The second set of criteria covers those individuals who received the Elementary points and badge. In this case, for those who already have the Elementary badge, the Bronze Badge is awarded only after a total of ten points have been accrued. The back of the badge is engraved with the recipient's name and the date of award.** It is received with corresponding official USAF orders.**
The Silver Air Force Excellence In Competition Pistol Badge
This badge is issued to airmen who have received a total of twenty points in Excellence In Competition matches. The back of the badge is engraved with the recipient's name and the date of award.** It is received with corresponding official USAF orders.**
The USAF Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge
This badge is issued to airmen who have received a total of thirty points in Excellence In Competition matches. The current total number of USAF Distinguished Pistol Shot Badges is less than 400. This includes all airmen from the Active, Reserve and Guard components, since the inception of the program in the 1950's. For a list of those recipients, see List of Air Force Distinguished Pistol Recipients. The back of the badge is engraved with the recipient's name, the date of award and a serial number.** The Badge (serial) Numbers are shown in the listing mentioned above.** The Badge is received with corresponding official USAF orders.**
**Around 2000, the Air Force stopped engraving the badges and issuing via official orders. It then simply began issuing the badges with undated letters.
