First Class of Students Earns New Mountaineering Badge
The newly redesigned Army Mountaineering Badge
Fri, 02/13/2026 - 08:30
Graduates of the Army Mountain Warfare School’s opening class of 2026 became the first to be pinned with the newly redesigned Army Mountaineering Badge.
The new badge replaces the iconic Ram’s Head Device established in 1983 when the Vermont National Guard school was stood up. The device was authorized for wear only by National Guard graduates.
With the establishment in March 2025 of the new Army Mountaineering Badge, soldiers from across the Regular Army, Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve who graduate the notoriously difficult school are now authorized to wear the badge on their uniforms.
During a Jan. 23 graduation ceremony at the Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vermont, 58 graduates of the school’s basic and advanced courses were pinned with the new badge. Of those graduates, about 40% were active-duty soldiers, according to Maj. Aaron Harkness, spokesman for the school.
https://www.ausa.org/news/first-class-students-earns-new-mountaineering-badge
