Sea Service Insignia (SSI) [Merged]

[Pusser]

Hairy bag - not so much a compliment, but certainly a term of endearment.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Hairy bag - not so much a compliment, but certainly a term of endearment.

Speak for yourself! I take the term Hairy Bag with pride 

 

[jollyjacktar]

Hairy bag - not so much a compliment, but certainly a term of endearment.

After 33 years and 13 of them at sea, the good Killick is no doubt very salty and a hairy bag.  I use it in this case as a compliment and I guess a term of endearment as well.  I call myself a Hairy bag and like HfxTar say it with pride as well. 

Now, being "Pusser".  That is not as endearing a term to me, too much starch, spit and polish with a healthy sprinkling of chickenshit nitpicking mixed in.  Memories of Esquimault at it's worst to me.  That being said, however, it's not being said as a slight towards you personally, Pusser.

 

[Pusser]

I never said that "hairy bag" could not be used as a compliment (it often is), I only meant that it is not necessarily always used as a compliment.  It can be used in a derogatory manner as well.  Consider the following statements:

1)  Old Fred was the salt of the earth, a right old hairy bag and I'm proud to have known him.

2)  No daughter of mine will ever marry some hairy bag!

Keep in mind that both of these statements can be (and in fact, probably have been) used to describe the same sailor.

As for the term"pusser," you definitely misunderstand the intent of my handle.  You have chosen the more modern meaning, whereas I have intended it in the original way.  In my case, it's a noun, not an adjective.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

And for those who may be ignorant of the old meaning: It means "of the service" or "service issued" and is a bastardized version of "purser", who was the old sailing days supply officer of a ship (he held the "purse - hence the Purser and therefore, whatever he "bought" was "officially" approved).

 

[Infanteer]

(like having a pin on the DEUs to recognize being fit for deployment, instead of it just being "understood"),

 

[dimsum]

Exactly my reaction when I found out what it was for.  Below is the link to what the Operational Readiness Badge is all about (first letter and response). 

http://www.defence.gov.au/news/raafnews/editions/4506/letters.htm

And to see what it looks like:

http://www.heritagemedals.com.au/badges-2/air-force/raaf-readiness-badge.html

:facepalm:

 

[Edward Campbell]

Well, we have Sea Service badges and whatever those terminally silly things the Army had, for a blessedly brief while, shortly after I retired.

 

[dapaterson]

While the ADF does some seemingly ridiculous things (like having a pin on the DEUs to recognize being fit for deployment, instead of it just being "understood"), not awarding QDJMs is a good idea.

Hopefully no one reads this and decides to ressurect the old Star Trek communicator Warrior badges issued to the Army in the early 90s...

 

[Edward Campbell]

Well, we have Sea Service badges and whatever those terminally silly things the Army had, for a blessedly brief while, shortly after I retired.

Hopefully no one reads this and decides to ressurect the old Star Trek communicator Warrior badges issued to the Army in the early 90s...

That's the "terminally silly" thing I was thinking about.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

I had a gold one.. don't know why they didn't keep them around? 

Oh yeah, loads of members in NDHQ couldn't get higher than a bronze...

 

[jollyjacktar]

Well, we have Sea Service badges and whatever those terminally silly things the Army had, for a blessedly brief while, shortly after I retired.

And is exactly why I despise the SSI so much.  I see the dikmeasuring going on fairly frequently on who has what colour SSI or not.  Pisses me off to no end as I frankly don't give a damn what colour badge you own as it doesn't automatically make you a better Sailor than the next guy/gal.

 

[daftandbarmy]

And is exactly why I despise the SSI so much.  I see the dikmeasuring going on fairly frequently on who has what colour SSI or not.  Pisses me off to no end as I frankly don't give a damn what colour badge you own as it doesn't automatically make you a better Sailor than the next guy/gal.

I guess the Navy just wants to leverage some good ol' peer pressure to get people on ship for longer/ more often. ;D

"You call these baubles, well, it is with baubles that men are led....Do you think that you would be able to make men fight by reasoning. Never. That is only good for the scholar in his study. The soldier needs glory, distinctions, and rewards."

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

 

[jollyjacktar]

I guess the Navy just wants to leverage some good ol' peer pressure to get people on ship for longer/ more often. ;D

They say it's intent was to recognize the amount of time that has been spent away actually at sea.  And it also was a way for the younger Sailors to get some bling as well, they say.  How long you get to stay on ship depends upon many things.  What rank you are, what type of platform you're on and how long you've already been in a sea going billet.  With the FELEX on-going as it is for example, the slots available are greatly outweighed by the people who need them, never-mind want them. 

It was always my opinion, which from what I've observed has held true in many cases, that it would create divisive behaviour between those that have this and those that have not.  Before this SSI, you could not tell from the uniform just who had which amount of time at sea.  But, you knew nevertheless who'd been with you on this trip or that and it was not a real issue we were all in it together. 

Now, it's an negative issue to some degree and that's why I despise it so.  I can imagine if the Army had continued down the path of the CAB issue it may have turned into a similar situation amongst them. 

 

[mariomike]

Regarding "Sea Service Insignia":
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/95432.0/nowap.html 

 

[daftandbarmy]

They say it's intent was to recognize the amount of time that has been spent away actually at sea.  And it also was a way for the younger Sailors to get some bling as well, they say.  How long you get to stay on ship depends upon many things.  What rank you are, what type of platform you're on and how long you've already been in a sea going billet.  With the FELEX on-going as it is for example, the slots available are greatly outweighed by the people who need them, never-mind want them. 

It was always my opinion, which from what I've observed has held true in many cases, that it would create divisive behaviour between those that have this and those that have not.  Before this SSI, you could not tell from the uniform just who had which amount of time at sea.  But, you knew nevertheless who'd been with you on this trip or that and it was not a real issue we were all in it together. 

Now, it's an negative issue to some degree and that's why I despise it so.  I can imagine if the Army had continued down the path of the CAB issue it may have turned into a similar situation amongst them.

I think the Army invented the idea of badges that pit one part of the Army against another. Viz:

 

[Timmy!]

That's the "terminally silly" thing I was thinking about.

I still have mine is my dresser.

 

[fraserdw]

I had a gold one.. don't know why they didn't keep them around? 

Oh yeah, loads of members in NDHQ couldn't get higher than a bronze...

Exactly, I liked the warrior badge, it showed who was who in the fitness zoo.  In an HQ, it gave old Combat Arms guys like myself the extra push to make sure we had gold.  I see nothing wrong with qualification badges that require alot of effort and, hence, a source of pride.  I was always proud of my gold badge and it will be in my shadow box with my medals and my sword when I am done.

 

[misratah500]

I see nothing wrong with them either. The SSI was brought out to recognize going away from home but not on deployment. The navy doesn't earn nearly as many medals as the army does and especially on the west coast where you can go sail off the coast of the Korean Peninsula (warzone technically) and not earn anything. But you can be on the east coast and do a four month booze cruise through Europe and earn a medal. So I think the navy wanted some more bling.

You can literally be gone from home for over 200+ days for years and have nothing to show for it. It's just simple recognition. People in general like to be recognized for sacrificing and doing a good job. Even if it's just a dinky shiny bauble. But it's not the piece of medal on the shirt that matters, it's the idea of sacrifice behind it that gives it meaning.

So at least if you see a guy in the navy with just a CD but a silver or gold SSI, you know that he's put his time in and been away from his family, cause we all know there is no stigma against people who have just CD's after 20 years, right! /sarcasm.

I find a lot of the people that say they don't care about the SSI at least on the west coast are the ones who haven't had enough time to earn one. Funny that.

 

[NavalMoose]

"The navy doesn't earn nearly as many medals as the army does"

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On the contrary, my SWASM, SSM, Former Yugo, and Peacekeeping Medal were all earned in my time on the Grey Funnel Line.....as well as my Gold SSI ;D