NYT: Army Creates Medal for Troops Who Come Under Fire

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 - Army troops assigned to combat units that come under fire will be eligible for a new badge that recognizes their efforts separately from ribbons for all who serve in Iraq or Afghanistan or who support the Pentagon's antiterrorism missions based in the United States, a senior Army official said Saturday.

The new award, called the Close Combat Badge, was unveiled to a private conference of four-star generals convened in Washington this weekend by Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, the senior official said.

Army and Pentagon officials discussed the badge on the condition that they not be identified by name.

The badge was requested by field commanders and reflects their desire to distinguish the efforts of soldiers whose units are "organized to routinely conduct close combat operations and engage in direct combat," the Army official said.

Previous decisions that created ribbons to honor military efforts in the Bush administration's global campaign against terrorism have been harshly criticized by members of Congress, veterans and even some current service members.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/politics/13army.html?

[davepc]

1. is this a CIB for non-infantry MOS's?

[malmapus]

3. Kinda sounds like it eh, but they'd have their unit patch on their right

shoulder too to show they were in combat or at least deployed to a wartime situation.

[Twillig]

5. Sounds like an

I wasn't a REMF badge.

[paineinthearse]

2. Sounds like a niche ribbon

Exclusive to Iraq and Afghanistan???

In all fairness, it should be made retroactive to 1775 and awarded posthumously to all vets who came under fire.

[paineinthearse]

4. This must be a stealth award - not yet listed

Source: http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/ribbons/Army1.html



If you are serious about this, see file:///S:/Crawfordda/NCOA%20Website%20Working%20Copy/usancoa/PDF%20Files/AR%20670-1%20Feb%2005.pdf

[Zerex71]

6. Next thing you know, they'll have one just for showing up to basic.

[Redstone]

7. Isn't that what the berets

are for?

Redstone

[Something of Reason]

9. Humor

I think the post who said they'd be making a medal simply for getting through basic was being a little bit sarcastic, as you really do get a medal for simply graduating from basic training (army service ribbon). The beret (that went into service in 2001) is just part of the uniform, not an award of any kind (at least for the black aretsts...some barets designate a person as a member of a special type of unit/force).

[malmapus]

11. hehe or the "Welcome to the Army Ribbon"

as we called it =D

[malmapus]

10. GRRRRRRRRR - back in my day you had to earn berets

and that was just 10 years ago lol. Making the black beret a standard issue still rubs me raw, that move was such a slap in the face to Rangers let alone those of us who took that "extra" step to go Airborne or Special Forces.

[Something of Reason]

12. Totally Agree

I'm right there with you Mal. Not only was the issue of the black baret a slap at SF forces, wearing it sucks balls. I miss my old green camo hat like you wouldn't believe. With the camo hat, I picked it up, stuck it on my dome and that was that. With this baret, I have to shape it, shave it when it gets fuzzy and generally treat it like a fragile dove. It doesn't keep the sun/rain out of my eyes like the standard camo "baseball" style hats did. Also, since I shave my head my baret tends to become oily and nasty rather quickly, which means I have to wash it, shape it and shave it all over again.

[malmapus]

15. Welcome to DU there!!

I still remember when I graduated Airborne school and finally wore my dress greens with jump boots and the pants bloused over em with my beret, just felt so much pride. Yer right about em getting oily and nasty, lol. I liked my green camo hat too, but just was something about having a beret that made you stand out above regular units I guess (I don't mean that in a demeaning way lol least I didn't say leg units =) ).

So you guys can't wear the camo hat at all anymore? Sometimes we'd still throw that on while on duty and have the beret folded in one of the utility pockets on our BDU pants.

Best wishes to ya soldier, keep up the good work!

[TomClash]

17. That's the Army Service Ribbon

You get that after boot camp.

[daleo]

8. Wolfowitz should be eligible.

He had that mortar in the Green Zone thing quite a while back. This is probably his idea.

[Neshanic]

13. Finally! A medal that repubs can respect...not that Purple Heart thing.

That Purple Heart thing is soooo over-rated. I mean this is good. Our leader has set his sights on the coming "Medals Problem". Like his laser-like attention to the coming SS fiasco, our noble leader has identified, and formulated a solution.

If there is a "close combat" badge, then is there a "My ass is as far away as possible" badge? Retroactively speakiing of course.

I know someone who would like that one.

[malmapus]

16. Beat me to it!! lol...had just thought of that

Now that the repubs have belittled the Purple Heart in mocking bandaid fashion, ah hell lets just make new medals and ribbons.

[Submariner]

14. Ribbons a rarity on the boats

In the subs we didn't get ribbons because the awards would divulge where we were snooping around. Nowadays it's a fruit salad marathon.

These are some new Navy ribbons:

[IndianaGreen]

18. They should put a swastika in the Iraq campaign ribbon

for we are no different from the German military when it invaded Poland in 1939.

[Moderator]

19. kick

[RamboLiberal]

20. Army creates badge for non-infantry soldiers who participate in combat

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=27184

After 60 years of debate, Army officials have finally decided to create a badge for non-infantry soldiers that recognizes their direct participation in ground combat.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker presented the new Close Combat Badge, or CCB, to a cadre of senior officers Friday, during a regularly scheduled meeting of four-star Army generals, according to Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army personnel spokesman.

The new badge will be the equivalent of the Army’s Combat Infantry Badge, which was created in 1943.

The CIB, in the form of a rifle surrounded by a wreath, is reserved for infantry and Special Forces soldiers only.

[Spinzonner]

21. That's not right

After all, these people die entirely differently from Combat Troops

(It takes a military bureaucracy 60 years to acknowledge reality)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

22. Does this mean that now everybody can have

a shiny piece of metal on their grave?


:bounce: :party: :bounce:

[MADem]

23. No, not on their grave, but IN IT, certainly

It goes in the ziplock bag, and is put in the personnel transfer tube in a sack that rests atop the body bag. The uniform and shoes and what not are also in that sack. Then, when the mortician dresses the body after embalming, the decoration is placed on the uniform, which is placed on the body, which is placed in the casket....

I'm sure that decoration is little comfort to the kid's family...

Funny, when wars aren't really going well, or making sense to those who have to fight them, the leadership always seems to think trotting out a new gee-gaw will be enough to distract those doing the dirty work. They need to rethink that paradigm....

[paineinthearse]

24. Another thread existed last week.

Not lbn.