Medals for Technical Assistance Visits?

[Tin Soldier]

I am getting increasingly fed up with mostly NDHQ pers coming into theatre (Afghanistan) to apprently "assist" just long enough to qual for the service medal and then punch out.  Meanwhile, most troops serving there have committed to 6 months pre-deployment training and 6 months in theatre under very arduous conditions.  We are talking apples and oranges here. This is a slap in the face to those who serve and worse, for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
When will NDHQ make the conditions for the medal more arduous, like 90 days, and stop these sightseeing trips?  It's getting hard to tell who went for shits and giggles and who actually served.

 

[Tin Soldier]

How long should a service member serve in theatre before being awarded the service medal?


re:

I am getting increasingly fed up with mostly NDHQ pers coming into theatre (Afghanistan) to apprently "assist" just long enough to qual for the service medal and then punch out.  Meanwhile, most troops serving there have committed to 6 months pre-deployment training and 6 months in theatre under very arduous conditions.  We are talking apples and oranges here. This is a slap in the face to those who serve and worse, for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
When will NDHQ make the conditions for the medal more arduous, like 90 days, and stop these sightseeing trips?  It's getting hard to tell who went for shits and giggles and who actually served.

 

[glock17]

Is it your point that none of these visits are vital to the mission?

There are those with jobs that require them to go in and out of these places on a regular basis, the PSTC in Kingston might be one such place?

What about passing on "Army Lessons Learned"?  Wait for an update every six months? I'd like to know that info is being shared as it becomes available, and boots on the ground is the best way to learn, agree?

I can also see your point as well, I'm sure there have been gongs handed out where they weren't really earned that way we think they were, but that's still opinion and conjecture......

 

[Fraser.g]

I am about to depart for a TAV and frankly don't care about the gong. I am going to help out so that a couple of my associates can have a chance to go home and see their families for a bit.

My civi job can not let me go for an extended period but this way I can do a small part.

Oh and by the way, I am not a "NDHQ Weenie."

 

[paracowboy]

bit obsessed? They're shiny pieces of metal and cloth. You get one for going on every tour. Mine only serve to remind me of friends who've died. If it weren't required, I'd never wear 'em. They depress me.

 

[probum non poenitet]

This is a slap in the face to those who serve and worse, for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

You don't speak for the dead. That upsets me. Please don't bring up the dead when you are talking trivia.
Which, in the end, is all this is.

If anyone is going to Afghanistan for 'shits and giggles' now, they're quite deluded. So it happens from time to time. Who cares?
You can spot a wanker without seeing him in his DEUs. Same goes for spotting a good soldier.

I suspect most 'weenies' are going to Afghanistan because they are genuinely trying to help, to get a feel for the ground, and so that they aren't issuing orders from a headquarters with no realistic grasp of the actual situation.
If people from NDHQ never showed up, they'd be accused of running the war from a Chateau.

It's a rather serious situation in Afghanistan now, and the last thing we need is to start picking at each other and questioning each others' motives and integrity.

Make it 90 days. Make it 180 days ... but here's the thing: If you earned your medal, you'll know it. If you didn't, you'll know it too.

But even if you up it to 90 days, then people will bitch about the cooks, or the admin, the militia 'maggots', or the staff 'weenies' who never left the camp. You know, the non-snake eaters who 'didn't earn' their medal. Or the people who were on the 'easy tours.'
It never stops, believe me. And it helps nothing.

Personally the only thing I want is for this war to be won and minimal casualties. And to do that the more 'weenies' who understand the reality of the situation there, the better.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Nice drive by, Tin Soldier.  :

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[Michael OLeary]

The Italy Star

The star was awarded for one day operational service in Sicily or Italy between 11 June 1943 and 08 May 1945.