This is a tough one isn't it? I am delighted for anyone who has their bravery recognised - whether it is under fire or just in exceptional circumstances (like Jack London recovering a cabriolet SHAR back to a small piece of tin in the Gulf of Aden). As a qualified war-dodger (arse slightly shiny) I have nothing but huge admiration for those members of the armed forces who find themselves under fire on a daily basis but whose reward is normally merely the respect of their fellow soldiers/sailors/airmen. What does p*ss me off royally, however, is the senior officers who wander away from a warzone with the likes of a DSO/DSC (or whatever the new equivalent awards are) for, frankly, having done their job. There are examples in all three services and IMHO none of them really deserved the tin. I have colleagues with a chestful of medals and those with merely the QGJM - all of them doing their job - some rewarded for going above and beyond the call of duty and some for sunbathing in the Adriatic.
I guess the point I am driving at is that the awards system has always been open to criticism. Whilst some AF award you for getting up in the morning and not tripping over your feet others scarcely recognise the sacrifice made on a daily basis by thousands of service personnel - AND THEIR FAMILIES. For those of you on the list for risking your soft pink skins - congrats. For those of you who were on the list for doing your job - well done for playing the system but I hope you recognise those people under you without whom nothing would get done.
For the rest of you - just know that just pitching up to work makes you better than 90% of the mivvies out there for whom "stress" means something very different.
I shall now step off my soap box.
