Originally Posted by
Yellow Son
When the Berlin wall came down, CAS Dick Johns came to HQ Strike and told us 'The Cold War is over, and we've won it'. I asked him - tongue in cheek, of course - when to expect a campaign medal. He said not to hold my breath, and we all laughed.
You were lucky to get that , we got nothing . I only got a taste of the cold war routine, the TACEVALs that I experienced in the 1st and 2nd tour were very much watered down affairs. That said all the crap and mind numbing paperwork checks that went with the nuclear re certification made up for it. What did strike me though was the lack of briefing we received at the shop floor from our masters. I remember hoping for some sort of brief, maybe an in depth analysis of here's what we did well, not so well, and why it turned out the way it did. It it all just seamed such a big anti climax. Then it was straight into NMS (remember that one), reducing strength etc and so it continued until I left in 2006! I try to tell the kids in school about the Cold War; trip wire, flexible response, NATO etc, the Vulcan and its grand tour - they are genuinely interested.Anyway no I don't think there is a need for a medal - certainly would have been too sensitive at the time. Some sort of official assessment would be interesting though - don't know who would produce that though!