According to a document shared by the Instagram account @tropiclightmeme, along with the following message, the US Army has added another authorized skill tab for graduates of Jungle School. Previously it was only authorized or wear in USARPAC. According to the authorizing memorandum, award of the Jungle tab is retroactive to graduates of Jungle Operations Training Center in Panama as well as the school in Hawaii.
The memorandum was digitally signed on 22 July, 2026 by Jules W. Hurst III, the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs).
Is the Arctic tab next?
“We always said you’d hear it from us first. Now here it is. The Jungle Tab is now official and approved for wear across the entire United States Army. See memorandum, or below, for specifics. Now make land navigation graded again. -TLM3”
SUBJECT: Approval to Establish the Jungle School Tab
1. References:
a. Army Regulation (AR) 600-8-22 (Military Awards)
b. AR 670-1 (Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia)
c. AR 25-30, (Army Publishing Program)
2. I approve the establishment and permanent Army-Wide wear of the Jungle Tab as an official skill tab. Retroactive eligibility is authorized for service members who executed unit level training at JOTC in Fort Sherman, Panama from 1990 until closure in 1999 or completed training at the Hawaii or Panama based Jungle Schools. Retroactive eligibility is granted for both courses.
Service Members will submit a Personnel Action Request (PAR) in IPPS-A with proof of completion (examples include graduation certificate, certificate of training, or unit orders) as supporting document. The approval authority for the PAR is the Battalion Commander or equivalent level commander.
3. The Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1 will incorporate the policy and procedures for the approval, presentation and wear of the Jungle Tab into the next revision of Army Regulation 670-1 and Army Regulation 600-8-22.
4. A copy of this memorandum has been provided to The Institute of Heraldry for historical reference.
5. The point of contact for this memorandum is LTC Christopher G. Montes, Assistant Deputy for Military Personnel Policy at (703) 697-5291 or christopher.g.montes.mil@army.mil.
Not being snarky, genuinely curious to know how many different tabs in total could a Soldier potentially have on their uniform now?
There really aren’t that many individual tabs(Ranger, SF, Sappoer,Jungle, President’s Hundred), but if you add a Unit tab you could have quite a stack.
Some folks up in Alaska might be wearing their unit patch down by their elbows
Also, can I wear a star on my Jungle tab since I went through JOTC at Sherman twice?
So if you get a star, then can those of us that were stationed in Panama and where constantly in the Jungle and playing opfor for stateside units, can we get a gold wreath.
Not sure how I feel about this, spending a few days in the jungle doesn’t make you an expert, just means you survived the monkeys pissing on you, the rain, triple canopy for a few days (JOTC), not sure what Hawaii looks like, but doesn’t look anywhere near JOTC level.
I went to JOTC back in 1990 at Fort Sherman. I was also an instructor at the Jungle School there in 98-99 and helped close the installation down. Really sad, even the black jaguar cubs were sad to see us leave. They followed us in the Jungle, which is unlike them. Or maybe the mom was waiting for a chance to take one of us down to feed the cubs. It was and hopefully is an amazing place.
I think I might fall in the category of Jungle Expert, at least more so than most.
Maybe they should have to tiers of it. JUNGLE for those who went to the class, which doesn’t make them and expert and then one that says JUNGLE EXPERT signifying an instructor, or maybe a ribbon with a ship to signify instructor.
It could be that someone is profiting over the new tab and works where the decisions are made.
I agree with you Jose. The OPFOR was definitely fun. Nothing like Devils Beach!
It’s well past time for Civil Affairs to get their own tab, now.
I think there are currently 13 tabs authorized for wear by active duty. Five individual and eight unit tabs. As far as wearing them on the uniform, I think anything more than three total tabs would look pretty bad. The three would include both unit and individual tabs.
As far as Civil Affairs having its own tab I disagree. The vast majority of CA Soldiers are in the Reserves. All Reserve CA Soldiers already wear the airborne tab, even those in non airborne units, because everyone in the Command wears the USACAPOC patch. Even though the overwhelming number of downstream units are not airborne. And very shortly, all of the six actual airborne battalions (426, 416, 412, 404, 450, 478) will no longer be jumping either except for the 422nd Bn which will become airborne. Instead of adding a tab, I’d like to see all CA Soldiers wear the Command/Brigade level patches again instead of the USACAPOC patch.
Amen, the one point would be to clearly and unambiguously consider making it retroactive to January 1981 when President Reagan took office. That timeframe would cover the “Central American Wars.” Many units rotated through for training and demonstrating US ability to “enter the region” if needed.