Uscg Medal Abuse

[Pistlpetet]

We can all agree that most awards are a farce, and there is always going to be geeks that exploit the awards process. That probably has not changed since the beginning of giving out medals, awards, and the spoils of war. The primary motivator of warriors through time was getting to rape, and pillage the losers. I guess ribbons and medals are a bit more civilized these days.

Napoleon (Sorry to quote a French Guy) was right when he said "Give me enough ribbon, and I can conquer the world" (Guess he ran out of ribbon..lol), referring to what men will do for a medal or ribbon. Not much has changed.

 

[SIG600]

The sad thing is it makes DFC awards that were given to guys like my neighbor, who earned three in Vietnam... seem a little less special.

 

[ck130]

SIG600,

Ok hell must have officially frozen over if I'm defending helo pukes in public but here I go....I am certain you meant no disrespect but you really have no flipping idea what you are talking about. When you see a CG helo bubba with a DFC on his chest I promise you the story behind it is the stuff movies and legends are made of. Stuff like heading a couple hundred miles offshore at night in weather so bad you couldn't walk in it, to pull some poor bastard out of a sea so angry you can't tell where the water stops and the sky begins. The conditions these guys fly in to get the job done would send most sane pilots running for the locker room. They may not be getting shot at but the missions they take on are every bit as scary and we have a wall full of names of those guys who paid the ultimate price while trying to pull someone elsle's arse out of the $hit. A large percentage of CG aviators are former DOD guys, including fellas with combat expereince, and I have never met one that did not say the scariest time they have ever experienced was in a CG helo.

Bottomline, they earn every single DFC .....the hard way

Now if they only had a ribbon for most box lunches consumed I'd be all set.

Fly Safe,
ck130

 

[Pistlpetet]

More than 1.5 million Army aviation flight hours have been flown in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and only 22 Distinguished Flying Crosses had been previously awarded, Kelly said. "You witnessed it today; 23, 24, 25 and number 26." "To even be put in for this award is a tremendous honor," Hultquist said, "but the biggest thing for us that day was the soldiers we were fighting for made it home alive."

Check out this article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1519963/posts

 

[CrewDawg]

This says it all.


http://www.chairforce.com/easy-chair/humor/new-usaf-ribbons.htm

 

[Pistlpetet]

This says it all.


http://www.chairforce.com/easy-chair/humor/new-usaf-ribbons.htm

That was a good one! Classic!

 

[atlcrashpad]

Pistlpete,

I saw the Farce first hand in OIF. I saw Staff Officers getting Bronze Stars and Air Medals while CWO's were getting Air Medals. Senior enlisted got ARCOM's and Junior's got AAM. I was surprised that E2's didn't just get "Certificates of Appreciation's" along with a phone card. (joke)

Don't get me started on the New Combat Action Badge.

It is a total joke and makes the awards worthless, except for promotion boards.

 

[sardaddy]

Well,

Here is an interesting article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/1078974/posts

I don't know if I agree with the whole content or not but these numbers were surprising:

from WWII to the Afghan operations 3,300 DFCs have been awarded.

Since Mar 2002 the Air Foce has awarded 463 DFCs.

Finding stats for other services has been a bit tricky.

 

[atlcrashpad]

Sardaddy,

When I was in Balad, we heard that if an AF aircraft was fired upon, the crew was awarded an Air Medal. All USAF aircraft reported fire on final. If the Army did that, I'd be leaning to the left with all my Medals. But that's not the case for the Army.

 

[SaabStory]

ck130,
As one of those former CG Helo bubbas you speak of...Thanks. I do remember several nights like that. As to the original topic of this thread; I'll bet the final outcome will be a tad different than what is being purported.