sidewayspeak,
I'm not quite sure what or where the real world is. Having been on the ground in contact in places such as Iraq and Aghanistan, I can safely say that on each occasion I had a focussed mind, my motivation was honed and I was earning my living. If that's not real enough for you then you then I'm not sure I'd want to visit this real world of which you speak.
As for medals as pointless trinkets, it's an opinion to which you are quite rightly entitled but one with which I respectfully disagree. Everyone sees issues through the prism of their own experiences, I am no different and I wouldn't seek to tell anyone how they should think about this topic, simply to explain my own point of view. My time in Afghanistan hasn't seen my do anything particularly brave or distinguished, I've simply done the job I've been paid to do in some testing circumstances. The medal (to me) is representative of many things; 3 years in-country away from my family, friends who came home wounded or injured and some who came home dead. Others will view their own medal differently or have no view at all, and that's fine, but to me a pointless trinket it is not.
As for medallic recognition for RPAS crews, why not? Having been a beneficiary of a number of aspects of their work, observation of pattern of life being just one, I have a little insight into the peerless operational effect they deliver and have had many an occasion to be thankful for it. The stresses and strains underwhich they operate meet many standards of risk and rigour, just not the particularly narrow definitions required for campaign medals, perhaps it is time for medallic recognition to better reflect the contemporary operating environment.
MB
Last edited by Mahogany_Bomber; 1st Sep 2017 at 16:22.
Reason: Trying (and failing) to sound less pompous