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| New Combat Action Ribbon rules reflect modern warfare |
| 2006-07-11 |
| New Combat Action Ribbon rules reflect modern warfare By Christian Lowe staff writer It’s the swatch of silk most Marines point to when you ask them what’s the most important award on their chest. Sporting the gold, red and blue of the Combat Action Ribbon is a subtle way of telling fellow leathernecks you’ve done your job when the bullets were flying. But after two years of work and growing controversy over whether too many — or too few — CARs were being awarded, the Navy and Marine Corps have revised the criteria that govern who can earn one, modernizing the Vietnam-era rules in “recognition of situations encountered in today’s combat environment.” Those “situations” can be summed up in one term that anybody who’s been to Iraq knows all too well: improvised explosive devices. The revised rules, which are detailed in the June 26 Corps-wide message AlMar 025/06, change the language of the official instructions for awarding the CAR to include those who’ve actively participated in a “ground or surface engagement” instead of a “bona fide ground or surface combat firefight or action during which he or she was under enemy fire.” The change broadens the criteria for awarding the CAR to include situations where Marines and sailors may not be under small-arms fire, such as in an IED ambush. “This is all tied to the IED piece,” said Lt. Col. Jim Taylor, acting awards branch chief with Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va. “If I am the recipient of an IED explosion, I have not returned fire, in some cases. “We didn’t want the phraseology to eliminate that warrior from being entitled to the Combat Action Ribbon.” Gone, too, are stipulations that include the defense of a ship under enemy attack, riverine and coastal operations and Marines and sailors participating in peacekeeping operations. If they’ve actively participated in the ground or surface engagement, they’re eligible. Marine officials say that no previously issued CAR will be revoked under the revised rules. However, the new rules do mean that more Marines are eligible for the prestigious award than before. And Marines can get them retroactively if the new rules fit their situation on the battlefield. So far, 85 Marines who had been denied the CAR based on earlier rules have been retroactively approved for the award, Taylor said. The modernized CAR rules come after years of debate over the equity of the award and the situations under which Marines and sailors should earn it. In 2002, there was grumbling in the Corps over the awarding of CARs for nearly the entire 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s battalion landing team after operations in Afghanistan. The CAR is supposed to be bestowed upon a Marine for his individual action — it is not a unit award, officials explained. The increasing toll of improvised explosive device ambushes in Iraq and the belief among most commanders that the rules did not allow them to award CARs for Marines hit by roadside bombs prompted further discussion in late 2005, including a letter from I Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. John Sattler to Marine Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee asking for a review of the rules. After intensive discussions between Navy and Marine awards officials, the language was clarified earlier this year to include IED attacks. The clarification also said the new IED rule would apply to Marines and sailors as far back as Oct. 7, 2001. And in March, the Corps drew up guidelines to help determine who might have been denied a CAR and now deserved one, and how to submit the names of those Marines and sailors who might not have been considered under the old guidelines. The latest revision takes the eligibility to receive the CAR a step further, deleting or changing language from the original Navy Department rules written in 1969 and giving commanders greater authority to award the CAR in combat situations that can go from humanitarian operations to pitched combat in seconds. “The Marine Corps has the most diligent application of awards in comparison to the other services,” Taylor said. “From this point forward, I think we’ve got it right.” |
| Posted by:Louisiana Son |