Whopee! Medals for all!
 

The LS&GCM is now to be given to officers - maybe we're not expected to be well behaved anymore and so deserve a gong when we are.

15 years service for the medal and then clasps for every 10 years after that. Sorry Beagle, not available to those who left before 29 Jul 14.

Good news for Stn tailors everywhere!

This is, I assume, 2014? :)

Oh, well, my conduct was usually good, so I'll have to settle for that!

I've often thought it strange that RAuxAF Officers got the Air Efficiency award, RAFVR(T) Officers get the Cadet Forces Medal, and ORs get the LS&GCM, whereas RAF Officers get jack.

What ever happened to the "Cold War Medal" that was being talked about a couple of years ago? Dismissed on cost grounds I would imagine!

I staffed a paper on the Officers' LS&GC when at MoD back in the early 90s.

Consensus then was that it was quite un-necessary, as an officer's Good Conduct was implicit. If it had not been, then the lack of the medal would show he/she had been a bad boy/girl, and advertise the fact to everyone ... not good for respect from subordinates, especially in an in-command appointment.

As for Long Service, what's special about staying in to earn a [relatively] decent pension?

I see it as a very different scenario to those officers in the Voluntary areas.

The thing that always got me was that time served under 18 never counted.

I am with MPN11 on this - and entirely without self interest, I have been "out" (in the Service sense) longer than I was "in". Officer's good conduct - goes with the parchment IMHO

I have done over 30 years and accumulated 8 medals in the process. They are, however, all round ones. I'd quite like a medal with a clasp, but that would cost a mint (geddit?) to get mounted and I'm no longer in the q-wearing business. But I think it's a good idea and long overdue.

Possibly beacuse tehre are realtively few occasions to dish out medals any more?

if our brass have to stand - up with officers from other countries they need a reasonable display of medals I guess

now for photos of N korean SO's..................

Or possibly good sense prevailed!

TTN (Cold War Warrior!)

Has this been formally announced then? I know the intent to introduce an new Long Service award to include Regular Officers has been discussed for a couple of years, but I wasn't aware that anything had been formally announced about it e.g. as a DIN.

Ghastly idea, insulting and completely meaningless. How about a medal for passing staff college? Or for serving in MoD? Or for never having had a desk job? Smacks of half baked ideas from a minister or senior civil serpent who has never served in the military.

It will be interesting to note what 'disqualifying' criteria will apply to this pointless bauble.

Stay schtum for 15 years, don't rock the boat, don't get caught speaking your mind and make sure you behave like a good little North Korean towards your boss, no matter how much of an orifice he might be?

I wonder how many future aircrew will actually stay in for 15 years?

Nutty,
The good news was that Boy Entrant/Apprentice conduct sheets were deleted on passing out!

It was just too easy to get put on jankers, almost a ritual of passage.

The really odd time was the 6 months between 17½ and 18th birthday. It counted for some thing but not others.

If you stayed in till pension, it counted as pensionable service. I didn't and it is in my discharge book as 'previous service'.

BEagle,


Genuinely interested as to why you consider this a "pointless bauble". My own view is would fill an obvious gap in the contemporary system of medallic recognition.


MB

Well, Mahogany Bomber, whilst it does as you say 'fill a gap', is it one that actually needs filling? Somehow I never felt the need for a medal saying I've not been Court Martialled (or some other criterion) and that I'd been in for 15+ years. Neither proved difficult for me to achieve, so why should I be given a medal for so doing?

MPN11, 30 years and no medals. :)

It was amusing for me to see at least one ex- NCO, commissioned fairly late in his career, not then putting up his LSGCM ribbon so as not to betray his origins (he thought).

B***er. I was hoping for another medal to show how jolly brave I am....

Ian, I think it was the other way round. LS&GCM from 17.5 and pension from 18. Still confusing though.

Haraka ... or indeed a fellow ATCO in the 70s who stopped wearing his 2 WW2 medal ribbons after we teased him for being old!!