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Sixty-one uniformed Army National Guard soldiers stood at attention as a two-star general stepped up to address them. The Adjutant General, Major General David P. Rataczak, first apologized to the 44 area soldiers who had seen combat in Iraq, but had not yet received the deserved Combat Action Badge. Because of its central location, this military ceremony was held at the American Legion building in Payson, Arizona on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006.

Richard Haddad/Roundup

The Combat Action Badge may be awarded to any soldier, branch and military occupational specialty, performing assigned duties in an area where hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay is authorized, who is personally present and actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy. It recognizes that in the current realities of the battlefield or insurgency, any soldier could be subject to a combat situation.