No medals for MPs
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
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hence our not being able to wear the occasional bit of foreign tat on uniform.....
My major bitch used to be 'honorary' wings! At an AAC pilots seminar in Paderbourne, many moons ago a general who had just been appointed Commandant AAC was awarded honorary wings which he wore for the rest of his military career, never flown any aircraft in his life!
Let them have their medals!
After all, they are so brave going there and it's not as if they have an easy life at home, especially as their expenses have been curtailed
Perhaps we should give the medal a 'name'. That way, when they are spotted wearing one, you can say "ooh, you've got a ######!"
After all, they are so brave going there and it's not as if they have an easy life at home, especially as their expenses have been curtailed
Perhaps we should give the medal a 'name'. That way, when they are spotted wearing one, you can say "ooh, you've got a ######!"
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"Every medal casts a shadow." One of Sir Winston Churchill's many erudite sayings I believe. Two years ago I recall meeting a group of these AFPS peeps at Lashgar Gah. Ah memories! All in the past now as terminal leave starts in a couple of weeks (always a somewhat ominous term I think!).
Below the Glidepath - not correcting
Fascinating little culural snapshot here - apparently we don't appear to care much at all when said individuals transfer UK sovereignty to faceless bureaucrats in the EU, or when they fail to enact immigration and welfare laws that prevent the UK being the displaced persons top EU destination, or when we watch them steal countless thousands of pounds from Parliamentary expense accounts and then lie about it, or when they aid and abet the wholesale dismantling of a credible milatary force through neglect, removal of funding and the elevation of beancounters to positions of influence and control.
But somehow we care when a sadsack fat frump gets to pin on a gong that nobody with an iota of intelligence will associate credit with any risky or dangerous enterprise? Spare me, please. No wonder they keep getting elected.
But somehow we care when a sadsack fat frump gets to pin on a gong that nobody with an iota of intelligence will associate credit with any risky or dangerous enterprise? Spare me, please. No wonder they keep getting elected.
Yes foreign Tat not allowed but awards for gallantry from foreign parts issued by approved countries may be worn.
Does anyone know if embedded journos get the OSM? There's a long tradition of newspaper correspondents getting campaign medals, going right back to the Crimea, and I've seen a Boer war medal named to a newspaper man.
Still think the MPs thing is something and nothing and people are getting worked up for no good reason.
Let them have their 'moment of glory'.
I know for a fact I earned my medals the hard way slogging it out with some pretty unsavoury characters doing their best to make sure I went home in a re-arranged version of how I arrived in theatre. No trinket that the MPs decide to award themselves can take away the fact that we all earned our medals the hard way.
Vecvechookattack - just noticed you said you had 2 clasps on the OSM. Are you one of the few to have the Congo gong as well as the Afghan gong? There was a push a while back to get a second clasp for Afghan to differentiate those who had served in Southern AF in comparison to those in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif etc, but I didn't think anything had come of it.
I know for a fact I earned my medals the hard way slogging it out with some pretty unsavoury characters doing their best to make sure I went home in a re-arranged version of how I arrived in theatre. No trinket that the MPs decide to award themselves can take away the fact that we all earned our medals the hard way.
Vecvechookattack - just noticed you said you had 2 clasps on the OSM. Are you one of the few to have the Congo gong as well as the Afghan gong? There was a push a while back to get a second clasp for Afghan to differentiate those who had served in Southern AF in comparison to those in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif etc, but I didn't think anything had come of it.
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No ... Sierra Leone and Afghan....
I'm not sure the location of where you serve in the Country really matters....You are correct in what you say regarding earning your medals.... Very true
I'm not sure the location of where you serve in the Country really matters....You are correct in what you say regarding earning your medals.... Very true
My (cynical) view on why we get only get one medal for taking part in multiple operations, adding only a clasp for each different theatre, is that it disguises from the casual observer the extent to which our forces have been deployed over the past decade or so. If everyone pictured in uniform had a row or 2 of campaign medals it would certainly be noticeable to Joe Public! Whilst defence has a high public profile at the moment, that wasn't the case when the OSM was introduced...
Gentleman Aviator
But surely the OSM just continues the "single ribbon, multi clasp" principle which has carried on from previous GSMs various for at least 150 years ...?
'Twas the Falklands Medal that broke the mould, and I guess that was a push from the RN and/or the Blessed Margaret.
The ACSM was conceived to address the perceived "multiple clasp, single ribbon" issue, particularly with its associated rosettes.
As has been correctly and eloquently stated, only an individual really knows a medal's worth. 'Twas ever thus and ever will be; my late father's WW2 Defence Medal was earned as a fireman in the London Blitz - quite possibly more deserved than Capt Mainwaring's in Warmington-on-Sea!
Do we really want to go the Spam route?
'Twas the Falklands Medal that broke the mould, and I guess that was a push from the RN and/or the Blessed Margaret.
The ACSM was conceived to address the perceived "multiple clasp, single ribbon" issue, particularly with its associated rosettes.
As has been correctly and eloquently stated, only an individual really knows a medal's worth. 'Twas ever thus and ever will be; my late father's WW2 Defence Medal was earned as a fireman in the London Blitz - quite possibly more deserved than Capt Mainwaring's in Warmington-on-Sea!
Do we really want to go the Spam route?
Teeteringhead - My Dad's too. He operated out of Pinner Road Fire Station, N Harrow, but was mainly working in London. Was at St Pauls and City Temple with on same crew as Ernest Lough (Oh for the Wings of a Dove)
If everyone pictured in uniform had a row or 2 of campaign medals it would certainly be noticeable to Joe Public!
Go the Spam route?
We are certainly not there, nor do I think anybody wants that, but we are in danger of becoming 'badge' collectors. It seems to me that people are judged these days by how many ribbons they are wearing and those with fewer are somehow lesser beings. But medal collecting is rife. In my time in various theatres there have been numerous 5 week studies (sometimes 32 day studies!), Bdes that rotate every member through the Th for 30 days to ensure they all get the medal, and even folk remaining in Th an extra few days beyond a task to reach the magic 30 day timeline. Rows of medal ribbons do not necessarily (please note that word before jumping back with indignation) indicate years on ops. Don't forget also the many who do ops for which there is no medal - generally but not exclusively those commanded from Regent's Park. Melchett01 is right about the recipient being the one who knows the worth of the medal and there are those who should blush when wearing theirs.
Please let us get away from medal collecting. If I had my way I would give medals only to those assigned to a PIC on the OET and extend the qualifying period to 3 months with the usual caveats for those wounded or killed. Judge people on what they have actually done not on what they seem to have done.
And before the usual PPrune accusations flood in, I have my share of ribbons.
Please let us get away from medal collecting. If I had my way I would give medals only to those assigned to a PIC on the OET and extend the qualifying period to 3 months with the usual caveats for those wounded or killed. Judge people on what they have actually done not on what they seem to have done.
And before the usual PPrune accusations flood in, I have my share of ribbons.
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I suppose that we should be pleased that some politicians show an interest in what we do and how we do it. They shouldn’t need a gong/badge, whatever, to encourage them; but if it does?
What is a genuine point of irritation is that Blare and Broon may have qualified for this particular “Blue Peter” badge. Oh the irony.
Anyway, I sent off for the petition signature “page” but, after a thorough reading, I won’t be completing it.
What is a genuine point of irritation is that Blare and Broon may have qualified for this particular “Blue Peter” badge. Oh the irony.
Anyway, I sent off for the petition signature “page” but, after a thorough reading, I won’t be completing it.
rarelyathome
Th? (Theatre?)
PIC?
OET?
Regents Park? (Royal Zoological Corps?)
Can you give as clue as to the meaning of the above? Be good for those of us who aren't in the know
Th? (Theatre?)
PIC?
OET?
Regents Park? (Royal Zoological Corps?)
Can you give as clue as to the meaning of the above? Be good for those of us who aren't in the know
Don't remember seeing a Princes Gate when I was last at the zoo. Saw a few chimps though - must be what TTN was thinking of.
PIC / OET in simple speak = the official proof of invitation to come and play. If you aren't on the OET, you aren't coming in. Apparently.
Nobody seemed to tell Div that's what it was when we rocked up in Basrah totally under the radar!
PIC / OET in simple speak = the official proof of invitation to come and play. If you aren't on the OET, you aren't coming in. Apparently.
Nobody seemed to tell Div that's what it was when we rocked up in Basrah totally under the radar!
"Does anyone know if embedded journos get the OSM? There's a long tradition of newspaper correspondents getting campaign medals, going right back to the Crimea, and I've seen a Boer war medal named to a newspaper man."
Sometimes they do - the first lot in TELIC got one, including several daily mail journalists who then later on wrote a piece attacking MOD CS who deployed for the required time receiving one. Oh how we laughed...
Not sure if later embeds do though - I believe its only the first phase of a campaign.
Sometimes they do - the first lot in TELIC got one, including several daily mail journalists who then later on wrote a piece attacking MOD CS who deployed for the required time receiving one. Oh how we laughed...
Not sure if later embeds do though - I believe its only the first phase of a campaign.
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Does anyone know if embedded journos get the OSM? There's a long tradition of newspaper correspondents getting campaign medals, going right back to the Crimea, and I've seen a Boer war medal named to a newspaper man."
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
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Saw a series of programmes here in Australia with a chap named, I think, 'Ross' someone, he was right up there and made very good TV, I'd have given him a medal of some sort.