Just to put this discussion into historical context, it brings to mind the old Bill Mauldin WWII cartoon (wish I could find a copy and post--maybe somebody else can) with raggedy Willie or Joe (never could tell them apart) telling an equally ragged corpsman "Just gimme a aspirin, I already got a Purple Heart."

Bronze stars are given too freely.

Remember these troops passed through the same location three times because they were lost. As a result the bad guys were able to set up an ambush. If they had been able to navigate and communitcate properly they likely would have arrived safely...and received no award...

Before anyone decides to send "You ain't BTDT" flames at me...Haiti, Somalia, Kosovo, OEF.

Sorry, I was busy with other things - like clearing Ba'ath Party buldings in Karbola.

No one in my company has one. We were ambushed by a command detonated artillery round this morning - 1 KIA, 7 wounded. The only medals that will come from that is Purple Hearts.

Out of curiosity . . .

How are you certain that no one in your company will receive the Bronze Star?

I have three purple hearts...never recieved a bronze or silver star. I never asked for them, never asked for the limp I will have for the rest of my life. But I am proud of that fact that I did serve my country for a number of years.

Alrighty then. I've been known to shoot first and then ask questions.
With the exception of InfX708, the rest of us don't know jack about what goes on there.
Hey InfX, any hot chicks at them bath parties?

Out of curiosity... when was the last time you saw a decoration awarded the day of an event? Secondly, I am guessing you are in the 101st Airborne? I am curious as to why and how you are posting from Iraq. It seems to me like a huge OPSEC violation to be telling this on an internet form. If your unit is in fact the 101st Airborne I bet my left nut you guys will be getting some serious awards when you return because of everything I have seen on the news. Awards take time and are hardly ever given while an event is still going on. I'll have to give my good friend (a LT in the 101st) a call when he gets back and see what shit he got into over there... I'm so jelous. Thirdly, I said "fire exchange" with the enemy, a firefight. Now, I don't know what happened but if they just got shwacked and ran away and didn't engage for a period of time then there is no grounds for an award like a bronze star. I am sorry for your units loss.

I just sent 3 of my Sgt's and 1 of my Airman to Baghdad today. Unfortunatly, officers don't get deployed as much as the enlisted in my career field. Believe me, I didn't sign up for the service to sit CONUS and not get in on the action.

As for other people saying they didn't get bronze stars or whatever. It is your commanding officers job to take care of his people. With an organization so big there is no way everything is going to be completely uniformed and FAIR! Life will never be fair, sorry. I get screwed out of my days off all the time because I work swings and mids and am required to attend operational meetings during the mornings... comes with the job. I personally take a vested interest in looking out for my troops and if they fit the bill for an award or medal then by all means I am going to make sure it gets written and pushed up the chain of command. I do not put people in for medals I don't think they were deserving of.

Just my .02

They might, but knowing the 'deuce, they most likely won't.

I wasn't there, I don't know if she earned it or not. I don't think that highly of the Bronze Star without V device anyway. It's like getting an MSM during war time. Nice, but not a "hero" medal. Who knows, I may get one for finding flat bed trucks on two occasions when no one else could get them. I don't think hero unless it has that V. Then I want to hear the story over a beer. To be honest, people already make fun of me when I wear my Class "A"s. I'd prefer to leave here without anything new. Hopefully, they'll just have us old guys add stars to our SWA. I saw PFC Lynch for a few minutes while we waited for her plane to Germany. She seemed very nice, very modest and very tough. According to the stories I've read in newspapers, she continues to be all those things. She is an American soldier. I'm proud to be one with her.

Bronze stars where given out to almost every officer in the 101st during the Gulf war. "EVERY" officer in the 2/502 was awarded one just for showing up. I know this for a fact I handed them out.

Figures... I can truely speak (as a young officer) as a member of the armed forces. Medals mean jack to me. If I so happen to get one, I wear it. Other than that I am only concerned with my troops and always presenting the proper military image. I iron my BDU's everyday, shine the boots, ect. All beacause it is my duty as their OIC to always present a sharp professional image. I am also right there when they are doing the not so popular jobs. I would never ask one of my troops to do something I would not do myself. During PT I make it a point to always finish first in the runs, do more push-ups, ect. to always present the leadership example.

Again, just my .02!

You sound like a good officer. Leading by example is always the way to gain respect from your troops. Joining in on a shit job and helping them out makes you part of the team and your guys will go the extra mile for you.

I used to hate the officers that would lead only in the runs/PT and drop the ball in everything else (more than one got peered out of our units...). I thought for a while that the only thing taught in OCS was how to be arrogant and of course *running*

unrelated:

My earlier comments were made largely in jest. I served several years on active duty and it must have warped my sensibilities. I think it's great that she made it back, but I also see it as PR and a medal awarded for getting lost...I just consider myself fortunate that none of the bonehead things I did earned me medals The awards I got that were important to me were always the ones that we all got as a unit--those are the ones that count. I think that most soldiers would be tolerant of my comments knowing that I served in that theater along with many others. I am sorry if I offended any that haven't served

to add some perspective (good or bad perspective is your decision)...

1. Someone asked about the "homely" black woman. She was in that convoy due to the fact that she missed movement in an earlier convoy. If you are or have been in the military, you know this is not good.

2. Here is an example of how awards have become easier.
SIT 1
-The first time I went to Somalia I was a PV2. I had just been through combat lifetaker, and was the "senior" medic on the ground when we came up on a Somali who had been shot in the back. He was shot by an SKS 26 hrs prior. I stabilized him, called in a medevac, and monitored/carried him to a pickup zone. Our actions in no doubt saved his life. I was put in for an ARCOM, and was made to explain to the Bn Cdr why I deserved an ARCOM. In the end it was downgraded to an AAM. That was in early 1993.

SIT 2
-Daily, I see awards to soldiers of AAMs, and ARCOMs for
...completing a 7 day field problem
...winning a Bn soldier board, 1 of 2 competing
...completing a CIP with the fewest gigs(I didn't say no gigs)
...other seemingly everyday things

These are not exceptions, but are the norm.

Food for thought

I'll add some more perspective to what Xtracurricular just said...

For the Navy it has become common to give out a set number of awards for each deployment. For example, let's says a ship fo 500 men gets 10 Navy Commendation Medals and 40 Navy Achievement Medals. The Battle Group Commander's and CO's love to present the awards right before returning home so that the sailors are wearing their new medals when the ship pulls in on day 180....probably a good notion...

BUT! Add in the classic bureaucracy (read: time lapse) with awarding medals and the junior officers and chiefs find themselves writing awards for events that have not even happened!

...So they write, "Fireman Timmy defecated tiffany cufflinks while running backwards at full speed during Operation JOINT HANDJOB OCT-NOV '03. Unlike other Fireman, Timmy's cufflinks were also presented in a decorative wrapping. His performance is clearly in accordance with the highest naval tradtions..."

...in August before the exercise even happens.

There was a long letter to the editor of the Navy Times written by a chief who put in a sailor for an award who had not yet reported aboard the ship. Naturally, the command denied it arguing that the kid was not even onboard yet. The chief argued that he knew the kid from a previous command and that he was a better sailor than the others in the division...clearly he would perform in such a manner during the upcoming exercise (of which he would be aboard for) that he would deserve the award!

Medals have become watered down as a result of all the stuff written on this post. IT reminds me of a story that I heard about a reunion of 101st (Army guys forgive me if I get this one wrong) ....as the tale goes a young 101 trooper proudly addresses an older guy with a pot-belly.

"I have five hundred jumps."
"Wow, that's impressive," says the older gent.
"Uh, how many do you have?"
"Well, after my first five qualifying jumps, only two."
(Sheepishly) "Oh."
"Yeah, D-Day and Market Garden."

That gave me goose bumps. We watched the entire series of Band of Brothers last week. I have the set at home, but never noticed the spades on their helmets until I watched it here. See, every unit in the 101st - well, the infantry regiments - had a different suit on their helmets in WWII. The 502nd has hearts and the 327th has clubs - which aren't very visible. Can't remember who the other unit was - wanting to say the 501st. Just in case you all were wondering who those guys with hearts on their kevlars were.

Sweet....

I love 5 jump chumps...

I die everytime I see an "office" person wearing the Airborne Function Badge. When was the last time you saw a protocol officer jump into combat? How about a personnel officer... this shit cracks me up.

More on Lynch: IT seems that she was injured in the initial ambush, transfered to a humvee and when the humvee ran into the back of the 5-ton in front of it, was knocked out and later awoke in the hospital. So when exactly did she have time to fire all her rounds? We had a corp LRRS unit get ambushed the other day. These are infantry soldiers, most of whom have Ranger tabs - one with a scroll for a combat patch. They only managed to fire a few rounds between them - and none of them were injured to much extent. She got the Bronze Star for surviving an ambush and subsequent hospitalization.
We have a guy leaving who was made a team leader the same day we got hit. He became the squad leader during that incident as his SL was a casualty. He performed the job well - all he's leaving with is the typical ETS medals - Army Commendation medal and Army Achievement Medal.

Thats why they have things like the gold star(on wings) to acknowledge those that have jumbed in combat. I hear what you are saying but I would not fault the office person for wearing wings. They were told, or volunteered, to go to Airborne school, after sucessful completion of the course they were awarded wings, why should'nt they wear them?

In fairness to Pvt. Lynch, until we know for certain what happened or what her conduct was, I have to give her the benefit of the doubt.

That's not an easy choice. During my early 90's service in a Naval Reserve unit, I found the previous post describing delivery of the Tiffany cufflinks ( BTW) to be right on. A rating of 4.0 (theoretically perfect) has become the expected norm, so anything less than the highest praise is a black mark on your record, rendering the whole system meaningless. One officer observed that medals have become much more about "been there" than "done that."

And when the cruiser Vincennes mistakenly shot down an Iran Air A300 on July 3, 1988, the Navy gave out medals for shooting down a civilian airliner with 290 innocent people aboard. (Note - please research the event and get the facts straight before replying with any suggestion that the shootdown was justified. If your view is that it was ok because the people onboard were Middle Eastern, do us all a favor and keep it to yourself).

My father fought with the 77th Infantry Division in the Philippines and at Guam and Okinawa. He was awarded the Bronze Star with V twice and was humbled by it, saying that almost every guy there did something heroic at one point or another.

All in all, it seems clear that today, PR and public perception are far bigger drivers than they should be in determining who is decorated for what...and that blows.