United States Army Special Forces Class A Tab

Criteria: The Special Forces Tab is a service school qualification tab of the United States Army, awarded to any soldier completing either the Special Forces Qualification Course, or the Special Forces Detachment Officer Qualification Course. Soldiers who are awarded the Special Forces Tab are authorized to wear it for the remainder of their military careers, even when not serving in a Special Forces command. The Special Forces Tab was created in 1983 and is an embroidered quadrant patch worn on the upper left sleeve of a military uniform. The cloth tab is 3 ¼ inches wide and is teal blue with yellow embroidered letters.

United States Army Tabs are patches displaying a word or words that are worn above the shoulder patch that identifies the unit to which the soldier belongs. These tabs are uniquely valued in the Army because images rather than words are traditionally used for the symbolism of the shoulder patch worn to identify a soldier’s unit. It is only to identify an individual soldier’s or a whole unit’s special skill that an additional shoulder patch is worn that uses words rather than images to symbolize this skill.

Some tabs are awarded to recognize an individual soldier’s skill or marksmanship and are worn by a soldier permanently. These tabs are also considered badges and have metal equivalents that are worn on the soldier’s chest if their uniform does not have a place for shoulder patches (e.g. Army Service Uniform). Other tabs recognize a whole unit’s special skill and are considered to be part of a specific unit’s shoulder sleeve patch and are worn by a soldier only while they belong to that unit.