Originally Posted by
gijoe
Apologies - comment redirected. Phone, small print...
Most people living in a tent with with body armour and a pistol don't have an effect on the battlespace...Drone dudes do, very much so.
Apology accepted. I was more surprised at theuglyfendoff's reply which is his second post on PPRUNE and the first since 2011. Obviously a topic close to home.
Originally Posted by
theuglyfendoff
A operational campaign medal should absolutely be about the direct contribution that a person makes to that operation. The fact that the debate still continues around awarding RPAS Pilots/Sensor Operators/MICs medals and has still not been resolved is a total embarrassment and disgrace. Does it need to be spelt out in simple language again the fact that this group of people on that platform have provided more direct operational air effect/support than anything else in the military (SF aside) and most certainly the RAF. Is anyone actually seriously saying that someone who has actually worked on ops delivering ISR and kinetic strikes every working day for the last 3-10 'years' is any less deserving of a campaign medal than someone who has done a couple of 4-6 monthers! Risk and rigeur is mental as well as physical and if anyone also thinks RPAS still don't fit that definition then the definition needs to be changed to live in the modern world of warfare. Sorry mr Ripley but your definition isn't fit for purpose anymore.
Raf_Techie101, you may not have said 'should have worked harder at school' but you are a fool if you say something as moronic as directly comparing RPAS Pilots/Sensor Operators/MICs roles with 'sitting behind a desk in whitehall'.
What both replies suggest is that metallic recognition should be more for the contribution you make to the war as apposed to just being there. This is a fair point to an extent - how many times do you see senior officers finding an excuse to go to a conflict zone for 30 days and then leaving again.
I gained my Afghan medal by doing 45 days accumulated service - I was TriStar ground crew and it took about 4 years of flying in and out to build up enough days in theatre to qualify. This obviously in no way compares to the army guys we took out there who were doing multiple six month tours and being shot st, but the qualification criteria are what they are. Who decides if you've earned it? The politicians? The medal office! Senior officers? The queen? Is flying in and out of an airfield in a 1970's airliner more dangerous than being inside the wire for the whole tour? They're all subjective questions and there's no right answer.
I am in no way saying that the RPAS operators don't contribute to the war effort - but in the sameness way doesn't everyone in the military do so? If my colleagues in the squadron hadn't fixed and serviced the aircraft before I came in to work to go to Afghan on it, it wouldn't have made it, so aren't they contributing too?
My personal opinion (and it's just that) remains that you should be out of the country at the very least. The RPAS engineers can't do their jobs from back in the UK after all.
Call me a moron or anywhere name under the sun if you wish, it's just my opinion. Just try not to bite too hard...