Pentagon creates new medal for video commandos.

[powderman]

Supposedly it is going to be ranked above a Bronze Star, but below a Silver Star....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pentagon-creates-new-medal-to-for-extraordinary-work-by-cyber-drone-warriors/2013/02/13/a0e104e4-75fe-11e2-9889-60bfcbb02149_story.html

[rice paddy daddy]

Please tell me this is a joke. Warriors? To sit in airconditioned comfort, safe and sound, and play what amounts to a video game? Important, yes. Warriors? NO.
I am a Vietnam vet, and this is offensive to me. Not for my sake, but for those who go out, close with, and destroy the enemy in close combat. At the risk of their lives.
If this comes to pass, and it rates up there with the Bronze and Silver Stars, it will cheapen all COMBAT awards.
 

[FPH]

Above a Bronze Star w/ V?

[powderman]

Please tell me this is a joke. Warriors? To sit in airconditioned comfort, safe and sound, and play what amounts to a video game? Important, yes. Warriors? NO.
I am a Vietnam vet, and this is offensive to me. Not for my sake, but for those who go out, close with, and destroy the enemy in close combat. At the risk of their lives.
If this comes to pass, and it rates up there with the Bronze and Silver Stars, it will cheapen all COMBAT awards.

 
Agreed Sir. POWDERMAN. 

[rice paddy daddy]

Above a Bronze Star w/ V?

Yep. That's what today's article in the Jacksonville (Fl) Times-Union said. It will rank above the Bronze Star, and below the Silver Star.
Some are already calling it the Geek Cross in derision.

[ironglow]

And the troops who were murdered by that Islamic mnadman in Fort Hood..don't even get a Purple Heart!  There is the sense of proportion the Obama Chicago mob has...

[powderman]

I really believe that this is just another way for hussein to disrespect and divide our military. Who in their right mind could possibly compare essentially playing hi tech video games to our brave men and women fighting face to face with the enemy. Morons. Thank a liberal. POWDERMAN. 

[powderman]

    VFW slams Pentagon's drone medal, complains it would outrank Purple Heart  By Barnini Chakraborty
Published February 14, 2013
FoxNews.com   

•    

  WASHINGTON –  America’s largest combat veterans group is worried the creation of a new medal for drone strikes and cyber-warfare could bestow higher honor on those using a joystick to kill terrorists than soldiers wounded on the battlefield.
 
The Distinguished Warfare Medal, announced Wednesday, would rank higher than the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, which is given to servicemembers killed or wounded in battle. The new medal would rank immediately below the Distinguished Flying Cross.
But to some, like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, creating a non-combat medal is turning into a major Pentagon misfire.
 
“It’s a boneheaded decision,” VFW spokesman Joe Davis told FoxNews.com. “This is going to affect morale and it’s sending troops in the field a horrible message.”
By Thursday afternoon, more than 800 responses had been posted on the VFW’s Facebook page. Many said the medal’s high ranking on the military medal hierarchy would hurt an already-bruised U.S. military morale.
One dubbed the medal the “Geek Cross” and suggested that the country was close to handing video-gamers Purple Hearts for animated wounds.
The Pentagon defended its decision and noted several medals rank above the newly created award.

 

'It’s a boneheaded decision'

- VFW spokesman Joe Davis
"Those furthest from the fight/risk are not eligible for a higher award than those engaging the enemy and risking their lives each day,” Defense spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen said. “There are several existing medals that may be awarded to members who incur risk associated with valorous acts (Medal of Honor, Service Crosses, Silver Stars).”
On Wednesday, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the creation of the medal to recognize “extraordinary achievements that directly impact on combat operations, but do not involve acts of valor or physical risks that combat entails.”
 
Panetta said the medal recognizes the reality that drones and cyber warfare “have changed the way wars are fought.” Under the Obama administration, drone strikes have become an integral part of America's counterterrorism strategy.
John Hamilton, the VFW’s commander-in-chief, said in a statement that his organization “fully concurs that those far from the fight are having an immediate impact on the battlefield in real-time,” but added that “medals that can only be earned in direct combat must mean more than medals awarded in the rear.”
 
The organization says that at a time when the Defense Department is being hit with budget cuts and entire military towns are bracing for the effects of the upcoming sequester, announcing a new medal that honors members who aren’t fighting on the front lines sends a bad message.
“It’s like, ‘Why am I slogging through the mud, dirt and sand when someone who can go home every night to their family gets recognized?’ Davis said.  “The people in the Pentagon should ask themselves how this is going to play out. The government didn’t do this to the troops. The Pentagon did it to themselves.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/14/medal-misfire-pentagon-new-off-site-medal/#ixzz2KvlzFrOZ

[powderman]

Does the Distinguished Warfare Medal degrade military honors?  By Kerry Patton
Published February 14, 2013
FoxNews.com     

•    This image released by the Department of Defense shows the obverse view with ribbon of the newly announced Distinguished Warefare Medal.AP/Department of Defense
•    This image released by the Department of Defense shows the reverse view of the newly announced Distinguished Warefare Medal.AP/Department of Defense

  Next Slide Previous Slide   There was a time in our nation’s military history when a service member actually had to earn their medals. Those days are quickly fading as America transitions into the “everybody gets a medal” culture. The latest military honor program degrades those who served before us and those who actually earned their awards and decorations.
 
According to the Marine Corps Times, the Defense Department has come up with a new medal known as the Distinguished Warfare Medal. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said, “This award recognizes the reality of the kind of technological warfare we are engaged in the 21st century.” There is an issue about this award however causing uproar among many combat veterans.

 

Should an award be given to those who never face the enemy in physical confrontation actually be positioned just below the Distinguished Flying Cross?

The Defense Warfare Medal will soon become the fourth highest combat decoration in order of precedence pushing the Bronze Star down a notch to the fifth highest combat decoration. Recognized as the third highest award stands the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Should an award be given to those who never face the enemy in physical confrontation actually be positioned just below the Distinguished Flying Cross? Many veterans believe not.
In today’s military environment, medals are often handed out like candy. This doesn’t mean some recipients don’t deserve such awards however it does mean that many do not. Take for example the Bronze Star. It has turned into nothing more than a Valentine's box of chocolates for the majority receiving such an honor today.
 
Executive Order 9419 signed on February 4th, 1944, states the Bronze Star “is awarded to a person in any branch of the military service who, while serving in any capacity with the Armed Forces of the United States on or after December 7, 1941, shall have distinguished himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.”
 
Since when did heroic or meritorious achievement translate into “senior non-commissioned officers or junior commissioned officers will receive such award by merely deploying overseas so long as they stay out of trouble and keep their troops in line?”
You may think I am kidding but that is one way some persons will receive the distinguished medal today.
 
Sound far-fetched? Look at how the combat action badge is handed out these days.
In Afghanistan, those that actually do go outside the wire often stop their convoys even though none of them are disabled simply because they hear one or two pop shots off in the distance. The vehicles stop and hundreds, if not thousands, of rounds are expended into mountain sides from their vehicles. Convoy leaders ensure to radio in their “Troops in Contact” (TIC) simply to keep record which would later be used to help write justification for the Combat Action Badge.
 
If anyone has been out on patrols they know this type of thing happens. If anyone has deployed, you know the Bronze Star has been degraded due to who is actually receiving the honor. The American culture of “everyone deserves a medal” has trickled into our own military.
 
So how bad has the military award and decoration culture transpired? Today, the Pentagon believes drone pilots and cyber warfare specialists deserve something much more honorable than those who actually face the enemy in battle. They will be the recipients of the Distinguished Warfare Medal.
 
Audie Murphy must be rolling in his grave.
Kerry Patton has served in the U.S. Defense and Justice departments, and as a contractor within the Homeland Security and State departments. He has worked in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, focusing on intelligence and security interviewing current and former terrorists, including members of the Taliban. He is the author of  "Contracted: America's Secret Warriors".

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/14/does-distinguished-warfare-medal-degrade-military-honors/#ixzz2KvoUTrIm

[magooch]

It's kind of like winning the Nobel Peace Prize for having done nothing--absolutely nothing.  Hmmmm, who do we know who accomplished that heroic feat?

[powderman]

I changed the header in the OP, warriors they aint. POWDERMAN. 

[ironglow]

BTW:
   We have had members of the admin and even the "first family" attending funerals for victims of "gun violence" (read: human violence) 
   Did any of them make the Chris Kyle funeral?

[rice paddy daddy]

There already is an Air Medal, and an Air Force Commendation Medal.
I don't begrudge them the new medal, but to call it a combat award is asenine.
At least those who actually go into a combat zone will be aware of the status of this award.
And they still won't be elegible for membership in the VFW.   At least THAT will still mean something.
 
In a related matter, I just checked the Pentagon Channel website to see what was going on today, and at 1245 hours 1st Marine Division commander Maj Gen Ronald Bailey presented the Bronze Star with V to the family of Sgt William Stacey, 2/5 Marines, who was KIA in Helmand Province, Afganistan, Jan 31, 2011.
Semper Fi, Marine.