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Old 21st Sep 2017, 19:39
  #67 (permalink)  
gijoe
 
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Originally Posted by NutLoose
Sorry, I just don't get it, they are not physically in theatre so are not in danger, like it or loathe it, even in the likes of Bastion you were not safe from attack, to award a medal to someone sitting in a portacabin in the uk where the worst danger they suffer is the possibility of piles or spilling their coffee in their lap just degrades the whole awards system to a meaningless bit of tin.
It also brings up the thorny question that it's not just pilots that get awarded campaign medals but also those in support, so are you going to present one to the guy that made his breakfast, changed the fuse on his monitor and cleaned the office, as they all played an part in processing the mission.
I watched the video in the command centre in Qatar on the Beeb news and couldn't believe that the AVM responsible for determining viable targets sitting at a screen in an air conditioned office was wearing a grow bag to do it. If anything I would give them a ribbon of some sort but not a physical medal, rather like the US does.
He's not an AVM - he is an Air Commodore and his job is to ensure compliance with UK rules of the road for anything that the UK strikes. One could be forgiven for thinking that the UK is running the campaign - it isn't. It is a US show and they wear growbags. He is playing their game.

This medal decision is one of the poorest I have come across during my 28 years of playing this game. It is simply pathetic.
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