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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Army fights poor morale with more flair, medals, unit awards. |
| 2013-07-31 |
| You can always tell the Americans. They are the one's with all the medals. -- unknown NATO soldier. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #18 We had a HAC crash one of our H-60's 1/4 mile from the USS Boat ( wearing NVGs), he and the H2P got out, the 2 AWs didn't and are still in the deep. Pilot error was the finding of the Safety Board. Seems LT HAC's daddy was a flag officer and Junior demanded to know why he didn't get a Navy Commendation Medal at the end of his tour. CO said not a word, but pointed to the pictures of the dead AWs he had in his office. (CO was very shaken by this accident, never saw a CO so visibly moved) LT still didn't understand...... ( H2P was so shook up he turned in his wings) |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2013-07-31 23:32 |
| #17 (Geedunk was the mess line) 'Geedunk' was the junk food you bought in the ship's store. What the National Defense Medal was/is called. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-07-31 22:15 |
| #16 I agree that there are a lot of awards being given out. But there is a lot of meritorious work being done. All I can offer is that -- in my humble opinion -- any award received by an enlisted solder is likely genuinely deserved, and most received by field grade officers (Major and above) are bogus. |
| Posted by: rammer 2013-07-31 20:21 |
| #15 Thanks for the clarification Proc. In a way that sounds much worse.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-07-31 15:40 |
| #14 So called Enlisted Awards boards and lower enlisted promotion boards have, in many cases, become the domain of Battalion and Save the Regimental structure, there is little to admire about British military systems. Their awards scheme however, makes infinitely more sense and holds vastly greater meaning than our own. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-07-31 15:39 |
| #13 In short.... everyone gets a trophy and they are all the same! Au contraire CF. The tour and time awards are de facto divided by enlisted, company grade and field grade(+) for officers. Sore spot for me because one of my enlisted was fully deserving of an impact award for his work, but some ahole in the upper chain shot it down because 'we don't do that'. Then WTF have them on the books? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-07-31 15:20 |
| #12 Weren't they also handing out metals left and right during the Vietnam war? How about we ask ole 'silver star' Jawn 'I was in Vietnam you know!' Kerry. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-07-31 14:23 |
| #11 I got a Medal for "Enlisting in a time of Crisis", we called it "The Geedunk Medal" (Geedunk was the mess line) Worth nothing. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2013-07-31 14:11 |
| #10 Also the army did this when morale was crap during the civil war I think. History ... |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2013-07-31 14:08 |
| #9 Tip over, manning was busted back to E3 prior to his getting busted for spying, allegedly for being a shirt bird (aka insubordination, failure to repair, and conduct ... ) |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2013-07-31 14:06 |
| #8 Now that he has been found guilty of official charges, the sentencing phase should strip him of all rank, awards, decorations, etc. Reduction to E-nothing. Emphasis on should. However, failure to follow orders [get a shave and a haircut] didn't produce the desired results on MAJ Nadal Hasan's personal appearance. So who knows what will happen. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-07-31 11:05 |
| #7 Example: The lettuce on PFC Mannings uniform. Off Topic. Why is he a PFC rather than E!? |
| Posted by: tipover 2013-07-31 10:59 |
| #6 In short.... everyone gets a trophy and they are all the same! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-07-31 10:27 |
| #5 They are also a walking billboard of the individual service record. Those who know the code can tell the tale. That's because too many of them became just a tour completion and time in service ribbon rather than an impact, particular event, award. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-07-31 07:22 |
| #4 To paraphrase a statement accredited to Napoleon - with these ribbons I rule the world. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-07-31 07:18 |
| #3 Sadly, you are right Glen, but that is a entirely separate discussion. Unfortunately, we've been going overboard for years with awards and decorations.....unless of course, you were a shooting victim of MAJ Nadal Hasan at Fort Hood. Then there is possibly one of the worst examples of all. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-07-31 04:14 |
| #2 Ah, the Duffle Blog. Gotta give 'em credit. It is hard to do satire in a world where you wake up every day asking "WTF is the matter with you people?". |
| Posted by: SteveS 2013-07-31 00:53 |
| #1 To be fair, Besoeker, American soldiers have generally been in a lot more medal-worthy combat than the typical NATO soldier |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2013-07-31 00:46 |