President's Hundred Tab
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The President's Hundred Tab | |
|---|---|
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| Awarded by National Rifle Association | |
| Type | Tab |
| Awarded for | Awarded to the 100 top-scoring military and civilian shooters in the President's Pistol and President's Rifle Matches. |
| Status | Currently awarded |
| Statistics | |
| Last awarded | On going |
| Related | Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Sapper Tab |
The President's Hundred Tab, a full-color embroidered tab of yellow 4 1/4 inches (10.80 cm) in length and 5/8 inch (1.59 cm) in height, with the word "President's Hundred" centered in 1/4 inch (.64 cm) high green letters, is a badge awarded by the National Rifle Association to the 100 top-scoring military and civilian shooters in the President's Pistol and President's Rifle Matches. It is currently one of four permanent individual skill/marksmanship tabs authorized for wear by the U.S. Army. In order of seniority (based solely on length), they are the President's Hundred Tab, the Special Forces Tab, the Ranger Tab, and the Sapper Tab.
[edit] History
The National Rifle Association'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 Match, a competition started by Queen Victoria in order to increase the ability of Britain's marksmen following the Crimean War, which the National Rifle Association of Great Britain initiated in 1860.
In 1884, the name was changed to the President's Match for the Military Rifle Championship of the United States. It was fired at Creedmor, 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, 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 tab 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. The metal tab was never officially authorized for wear on the uniform by military personnel. However, the NRA issued the metal tab to military personnel for wear on the shooting jacket.
