New Medal

[210]

Really? No, really? I saw a supply sgt. get an ARCOM for making sure the Otis Spunkmeier supply was always plentiful but REALLY? I guess I should've been more into world of warcraft. I could've rode my fighting ostrich into battle with it's magical cape and my satchel of mystical potion and surely ended up as a bronze star....


http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/14/does-distinguished-warfare-medal-degrade-military-honors/

 

[lobhob]

Re: New Medal

It's pretty sad. I was going to mention the combat action badge but it's already in the blog. This should not become the medal and the combat action badge should be changed to the cavalry scout badge, combat engineer badge, tankers badge, etc. But lets face it, other than tankers the other combat arms mos' are red headed step children of the army compared to infantrymen. Another gleaming example is sapper school and the corresponding tab.

 

[Graham]

Re: New Medal

I was never much for any of the trinkets anyway.

 

[gimpy]

Re: New Medal

The "everyone deserves a medal" attitude is what caused me to not wear my CIB, combat patch, Purple Heart, and Bronze Star. I had fun with a lot of POGs and REMF's when they tried to confront me about being a flat-liner.

 

[Killer Spade 13]

Re: New Medal

I swear, just looking at soldiers coming out of basic training nowadays makes me think they're all super-duper war heroes!

I've never seen so many decorations in my life.

Went to a military funeral and several members of the honor guard had at least 4 rows with no red, white and blue ribbons and no apparent service ribbons.

Spent 2 years flying Hueys in Viet Nam and have only 3 rows and 2.

I look at the service person's top three and look for a service ribbon. If none of the top three are red, white and blue, and if there's no service ribbon . . . well, he just can't talk the talk and walk the walk yer.

I look like a complete underachiever.

I think they even have a ribbon for potty training nowadays.

 

[Switchblade]

Re: New Medal

Those badges are as worthless as the Air Assault Badge too. I mean really, the jobs that are descriptive in Air Assault Tasks are DD for any USMC rotor wing Marine.
If you have ever seen a BNCO line up 70 vehicles for a 'night time' PRT mission, with over 150 personnel in a mix of Up Armored vehicles, PSD armored vehicles, you will have witnessed not a PRT mission, but a mission that was simply to go out and get shot at, and shoot back at some hidden enemy.
Some 135+ CAB's were awarded for that mission, but when four GI's stood down a charging Van on the ECP, gunned down the driver, stopping the van from pushing through the gate area, they were denied their award although the van was found to be filled with explosives.
Bullshit badges for bullshit

 

[Graham]

Re: New Medal

It is but one symptom of a military that loves the idea of itself more than it loves the job that it is entrusted to do. An embarassing defeat in Vietnam led to this self-glorifying mentality, and with it came the creation of a fully bureaucratic military with the best chances of advancement from behind a desk.

In 1983, in Grenada, the enemy was fifty Cuban soldiers and six hundred Cuban civilians. We sent seven full battalions, with heavy equipment, and left them there for a week. Not quite on the same scale as spending two years building a railway to Khartoum to fight the Mahdi Army, but you get the idea.

Slightly more medals - 8,633 - were awarded for Grenada than the number of people involved in the operation. People were flown-in, de-planed on the tarmac, awarded their medal for service 'on the ground', then loaded back on the plane for the trip home.

Is all this necessary because senior officers love to look at the reflections of themselves; or is it because they can't see their reflections at all?

 

[Phil1]

Re: New Medal

Aw come-on!

What about the pain of finger blisters from operating the joysticks for minutes on end!

The danger of burns from hot coffee split on your body when you doze off from hours of boredom.

Fighting through the common cold brought on by hours in the air-conditioned flight operations centers.

Multitasking: day dreaming while waiting for your A/C to arrive on station, or return to base.

Neck strain arising from the hours of writing code.

 

[Graham]

Re: New Medal

The Distinguished Warfare Medal is a brass pendant, nearly two inches tall, with a laurel wreath that circles a globe with an eagle at the center, and has red, white, and blue ribbons around it.

Not only is it a combat medal, but it has a higher ranking than the Bronze Star (and below the Silver Star). It is for drone operators' actions that “directly affect a combat operation, doesn’t involve an act of valor, and warrants an award higher than the Bronze Star”.