Originally Posted by
gijoe
You are possibly currently in receipt of it, and I enjoy it when I get it - but it is divisive and not needed. Bin it.
Bloke above now left - you could do worse than apply to the Medal Office yourself and they will (should!) know if the medal has been issued to your last unit. If not they will send it out.
You may have missed the point of Op Allowance.
It was brought in to provide those who were living in some pretty horrendous conditions and in very real danger to be suitably rewarded.
Prior to this personnel received LSA in order to compensate them for the situation they found themselves in. This meant a young squaddie on a driving course at Leconfield for 2 weeks pretty much earned the same as his mate living in a Patrol Base in Afghanistan without running water, eating ration packs. This was whilst sleeping in a sangar in full body armour without air conditioning for 30 days at a time and working 20 hr days. This was in temperatures varying from -20 to +45 degrees on constant alert for the VERY real danger of being attacked and with the potential of being over-run.
This meant that for an 18 yo soldier he was earning WAY below minimum wage whilst fighting for his country in abhorrent conditions. I don't think that anyone can argue with the logic behind the decision.
I get that the admin chap sitting in an HQ in the middle of the Green Zone in Iraq is in relative safety etc etc. However, the line has to be drawn somewhere as there are some who truly deserve the Op Allowance and frankly they could not pay me enough to do the job of a soldier in Afghanistan!
War is costly, both in monetary and human terms.