Shoulder sleeve insignia
Military operations in hostile conditions
### Military operations in hostile conditions

 
[thumb\|300px\|right\| Example of the five current types of shoulder sleeve insignia for the U.S. [1st Cavalry Division](/wiki/1st_Cavalry_Division_%28United_States%29 "1st Cavalry Division (United States)"); [full color](/wiki/Army_Service_Uniform%23Army_Green_Service_Uniform "Army Service Uniform#Army Green Service Uniform"), [BDU subdued](/wiki/Battle_Dress_Uniform "Battle Dress Uniform"), [desert subdued](/wiki/Desert_Camouflage_Uniform "Desert Camouflage Uniform"), [UCP subdued](/wiki/Universal_Camouflage_Pattern "Universal Camouflage Pattern"), [OCP subdued](/wiki/MultiCam "MultiCam")](/wiki/Image:CAV_patches_19_May_11_002.JPG "CAV patches 19 May 11 002.JPG")
Those soldiers who are combat veterans are authorized permanent wear of the SSI of the unit they fought with on their right shoulder. This shoulder sleeve insignia recognizes "former wartime service" and is frequently called a "combat patch". Per Army Regulation 670\-1, a soldier is authorized to wear the SSI of their higher headquarters. This is not dependent on whether or not the higher headquarters deployed, or to whom the soldier was attached throughout his/her deployment. Exceptions have been made for operations of relatively short duration such as service in the [Dominican Republic](/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_the_Dominican_Republic_%281965%E2%80%9366%29 "United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965–66)"), [Panama](/wiki/Operation_Just_Cause "Operation Just Cause") and [Grenada](/wiki/Operation_Urgent_Fury "Operation Urgent Fury").

With the [transformation of the U.S. Army](/wiki/Transformation_of_the_U.S._Army "Transformation of the U.S. Army") into a brigade\-centered force, the SSI that soldiers may wear for wartime service has grown. Where soldiers once fought only under the command of their home division headquarters, this is no longer always the case. Early in the Global War on Terrorism, soldiers could earn the wartime service patch of several units during a single deployment according to their chain of command. Under current policy, soldiers may only earn one SSI per deployment.

Entire formations of soldiers are rarely deployed to the same command structure. For example, a battalion from a separate support brigade may be attached to a [brigade combat team](/wiki/Brigade_combat_team "Brigade combat team") during on deployment, which, in turn, would be attached to a different division headquarters. It is a misconception that in that deployment, soldiers in the battalion could earn three patches at once; the patch of their regular headquarters (the separate brigade), the patch of the [brigade combat team](/wiki/Brigade_combat_team "Brigade combat team") that they were attached to, and the patch of the [division](/wiki/Division_%28military%29 "Division (military)") that the brigade combat team was attached to. In actuality, the regulation states that soldiers will wear the shoulder sleeve insignia of former wartime service of the lowest deployed echelon authorized its own distinctive SSI, which applies to divisions, separate brigades, and a handful of battalions. After March 27, 2007 the policy was changed to allow units of company level and higher to wear the SSI of their regular headquarters as a combat patch. This policy change also means that units above company level no longer receive multiple combat patches for single deployments, in turn simplifying what combat patch soldiers are actually entitled to wear.

Although all U.S. Army [army groups](/wiki/Army_group "Army group"), [field armies](/wiki/Field_armies "Field armies"), and [corps](/wiki/Corps "Corps") have SSI, they do not award combat patches of these to all soldiers serving under them. These combat patches are usually only given to soldiers who serve the corps or army headquarters directly, and not one of the subordinate units.

There is no time\-in\-theater requirement for wear of the SSIFWTS and orders are not created to authorize it. U.S. soldiers are also not required to wear a SSIFWTS, and if they can wear more than one SSIFWTS then soldiers can alternate from one to another, but they cannot wear more than one at a time.


Can civilians wear SSIs or other military insignia for personal reasons?