Why AF decorations are worthless

[Tone deaf]

Yet another example of a REMF diminishing the prestige of a bronze star:

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123027807

I think a case can be made for the SrA and the Capt, who actually were ambushed and took hostile fire, but the major sat in a bunker and established a communication function (translation: he plugged the phone into the phone jack). He supported senior leaders with political analysis (forwarded the daily ebird) and stood up the Shi'A Engagement desk officer function (whatever that means). He managed command information operations (from cyberspace?) and authored the 2005 Strategic Communications Elections Action Plan (good thing he can type).

His statement made it even more laughable:

"Earning this medal means that the military does, in fact, appreciate the sacrifices we make," said Major King. "It adds that much more of a sense of importance to my deployment."

What a tool.

In WWII you really had to do something heroic to earn a bronze star; today you can telecommute and earn one sitting on your porch with a laptop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Star_Medal

[Guest KoolKat]

I "earned" an Achievement Medal for work I did 80% from my couch. I am a large fan of telecummuting if you can...

My father's bronze star from 'Nam during his time as a Green Beret doesn't even include the citation. It only has a reference to some other document that nobody seems to be able to give me access to.

He has told me about it though...It was probably pretty difficult to make it sound like citations are supposed to sound.

Funny thing is that although noone would ever argue that he deserves some kind of medal or recognition for it, he simply isn't proud of it. Not of his actions, nor the medal.

IMHO, wether your position is that there are too many or too few, that they're worth alot or not worth anything...it's all ridiculous to give two shits about it.

I wouldn't be surprised if all of my dad's medals weren't next to John Kerry's if he even cared enough to throw them somewhere. There was about 25 years worth of dust on all of his shit when I confiscated it.

I say, forget about this shit. Do you job as best you can and be proud of what you do (if you can.) I hope I never get a medal again...I just don't want them.

BENDY

[Guest Rainman A-10]

Don't get wrapped up in the medal thing. Combat medals never seem to be given in a very equitable manner. They tend to piss more people off than they motivate.

Talking or thinking about medals will only get you frustrated, kind of like looking at the BTZ promotion lists.

Do your job well and the guys you flew in combat with will always know the truth. You will also know. That is really all that matters.

[Herk Driver]

Originally posted by Grouch:

Defensive doesn't get you shit in the Herk world, even the crew that took a rocket through the engine and safely landed didn't get a DFC.

Hold up, just a minute. Are you talking about the ARC crew that took the rocket through the engine up in Mosel? If so, they all got DFC's. I watched them get (re)presented at the AFA last fall in DC. I think they had already gotten them, but they brought them up to DC to showcase them a little bit.

[Guest rotorhead]

Okay, so who here has officially turned down/refused a medal?

I turned down 2 aerial achievement medals during OSW.

[JVBFLY]

ok, so how do you turn them down when they just show up on your record on the virtual MPF? You have to go back and submit paperwork or something? Seriously, how exactly did you turn them down?

[Hacker]

You have to submit the sortie worksheet for AMs and AAMs.

Rotor, are you saying you filled out the sortie sheets, then refused the medals when they were presented? Or did you just not log the sorties or turn the logsheets in?

[Cooter]

You don't have to turn anything down, all you have to do is not turn in your paper work. The only medal that I pursued was my Aerial Achievement which I actually feel like I earned (real world SRO). My Air Medals...not so much. Don't get me wrong the RJ does awesome work in OIF/OEF but it ain't the EWOs and it ain't the flight deck doing it (Sorry guys you all know it's the truth). Take pride in the fact you served and did your job to the best of your ability. Just day dream of the moment when some shoe clerk is telling you about his time in the "shit" and you can give him that "smile" and say "Oh really, wow". It's ultimately what you feel inside and the bros you fly/fight with think. Keep it in perspective.

Cooter +

[Guest Slilock]

No Enlisted flyer would turn down their AM/AAM's. Maybe forget to turn in their Form 1's but not turn them down. We like to get promoted.

[Guest Xtndr50boom]

Originally posted by Slilock:

No Enlisted flyer would turn down their AM/AAM's.

Speak for yourself Slilock, I refused to turn in my sheets. Fault me for being idealistic (points), but I'd prefer those points to go back towards self respect than my promotion eligibility.

[Guest SATCOM]

Good points by all. Peruse this www.g2mil.com/awards.htm for some thoughts on medalgate.

[Hacker]

"...ban individual awards for commissioned officers...Without the distraction of securing credit for themselves, officers can focus on recognition for enlisted men."

So...who is going to get the medal for "heroism in flight" in an aircraft that doesn't have any enlisted folks on board...your crew chief? Load toad? Ammo puke? Pro Super/expediter?

I agree that the majority of the medals and ribbons in the Air Force could be sh*tcanned. This is why I like the "all, some, or none" policy for officers wearing medals on their service dress -- for the one time every 5 years that I have to wear service dress.

[Guest Rainman A-10]

Combat is not an All Star game (with a few exceptions). People don't get to pick if and when they go. I think folks should get some credit for being available to fight.

There are several levels of combat operations. Some folks consider combat as a full up shooting war. Others consider the low intensity steady state exposure to a reduced threat as combat.

Personally, while the major combat ops are a lot more fun, any time you are in a place like Balad where you could take a mortar round in your tent or you're carrying live ordnance somewhere other than a range (even if you likely won't drop it) it should count.

Afghanistan is a perfect example. Some units go over there and don't do much. They swap out and the next group is dropping every day. You can't fault the guys for bad timing and you can't credit the guys for good timing. It's like buying a lottery ticket. You have to pay something but you might not win anything,

So, if you ask me...I say go ahead and give everyone a service medal. No big deal.

[Guest Xtndr50boom]

Originally posted by Hacker:

This is why I like the "all, some, or none" policy for officers wearing medals on their service dress

It was my understanding that rule still applies to O's (E's used to be able to) so they wouldn't look as inexperienced compared to E's who have 25 ribbons and medals on their chest. Is that the real reason, or just one that makes sense?

[Herk Driver]

Originally posted by Xtndr50boom:

It was my understanding that rule still applies to O's

[Guest Xtndr50boom]

Hmmm. There was a uniform inspection (short sleeve blues) in my squadron about 6 months ago. E's had to wear all their ribbons, O's had the option. So of course, none of the O's wore theirs.

Leadership at it's finest

[F-15E WSO]

Standard discussion of who wears their ribbons on what uniforms. You'll rarely see Os wearing ribbons on their blues shirts, but they will on their service dress. The Os that I've seen wear them on their blues shirts were prior enlisted.

[Herk Driver]

Originally posted by Xtndr50boom:

Hmmm. There was a uniform inspection (short sleeve blues) in my squadron about 6 months ago. E's had to wear all their ribbons, O's had the option. So of course, none of the O's wore theirs.

Leadership at it's finest

The original post read something like:

This is why I like the "all, some, or none" policy for officers wearing medals on their service dress.

On service dress, one must wear all ribbons/devices per the

AFI. Maybe my original post wasn't clear. But, you are correct when talking blues, you have the option of wearing your ribbons or not. Like the prior post pointed out, E's typically wear their ribbons on blues and O's typically don't. Although, prior enlisted O's normally will wear their ribbons on their blues.

Sorry for adding to the confusion.

[Guest Xtndr50boom]

Ok, sorry for the thread hurl. It just irks me that E's are ordered to wear our ribbons (and have a VMPF rack printout to verify) while the O's don't have to wear theirs.

Just chickenshit

[Clayton Bigsby]

It's stupid as supposedly it's optional to wear ribbons on the shirt; however EVERY time you go through ANY sort of PME or AETC course, they require you to wear your ribbons. Even FTAC (First Term Airman's Center), which is supposed to just be a basic orientation to your first duty station.

The reasoning behind it is to prove that you know how to wear ribbons, but to require it for each and every PME class is fvcking retarded. Hence more and more enlisted think it's mandatory.

Kills me, as I don't like wearing them on my shirt, just on my service coat.

[HerkDerka]

Originally posted by Xtndr50boom:

Ok, sorry for the thread hurl. It just irks me that E's are ordered to wear our ribbons (and have a VMPF rack printout to verify) while the O's don't have to wear theirs.

The tradeoff being you get points for yours.

HD

[Guest Xtndr50boom]

^^ And you get paid more than I do.

It doesn't really matter: I get the points whether I wear them or not. I'd just rather not look like Audey Murphy and when people who aren't "in the know" ask me what I've done to get all that flair I point to 3 or 4 ribbons and say something like "These are the only ones that were really earned. The rest are for showing up at the party"

Personal preference is all. For that, I prefer the all, some, or none.

[Guest ELan]

Hey boom, you sound a little pissed, but that's cool I guess. Seems like a pretty dumb thing to get bent out of shape about. Is it really that bad? As for the "what have you done part", the people who know...know. For the people who don't, who cares.... why don't you just give them your VMPF rack and tell them to go figure out...

As the thread title suggests, ribbons/medals are handed out like candy and you can't tell what a person has REALLY done by looking at their medals.

[ 02. October 2006, 21:20: Message edited by: Torch ]

[Guest Hoser]

Originally posted by Torch:

As the thread title suggests, ribbons/medals are handed out like candy and you can't tell what a person has REALLY done by looking at their medals.

Unless of course, you are one of these fellows.

Cap-10

[Guest Xtndr50boom]

I'm not pissed off or anything. Just annoyed. Double standard sort of thing. Not that that happens anywhere else in the military or anything :rolleyes:

Big picture: There are WAYYYY bigger things to gripe about, but this just tickled my taint the wrong way or something. In the scheme of things, this is just chickenshit