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Do you think medals/ribbons are given out too easily? (Air Force)?
My unit received the outstanding unit award from people who where present during a certain year. An airman was only present for that last month (doing FTAC most likely) and he is now wearing the ribbon. Good job airman you were present and reported for duty just on time woot woot! Here's a ribbon!
Right off the bat out of basic training you get 3 ribbons. The National Defense, the Basic Training, and the Global War On Terror. How about the Longevity ribbon after 4 years? Good conduct medal after 3 years?
I feel like their meaning is devalued seeing that back then you'd actually have to try and earn them. Now it's like we're rewarding everyone for every little thing that they do.
How about the A1Cs. Sign up for 6 years and I'll give you two stripes. Really? @.@
4 Answers
- capitalgentlemanLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
I hate to mock an ally, but, in Canada, we giggle at the US system. You have ribbons, AND medals, which I couldn't even understand at first. For us, a ribbon means a medal. Period.
We get a medal after 12 years service, and a bar to it every 10 years after that. In a long career, it is entirely possible that that is the only medal you would get. I have 35 years in now, and I have that medal, 1 for serving in a difficult place, and one of the ones celebrating the Queen's Golden Jubilee. That's it - 3 medals in 35 years. Which is 2 more than I ever thought I'd get!
So, when we see US airmen (in particular - the Army and Navy isn't quite so bad0 with 2, or 3 rows of ribbons... we kind of laugh, I have to admit.
- jeeper_peeper321Lv 78 years ago
back when ?
longevity ribbon, long tour , short tour, basic training ribbon have been around for a long time
so has good conduct medal, the AF actually did away with the GCM for about two years, the protest were loud in the AF over that, since other services still had their GCM, so the AF brought it back
in war time, everyone has always gotten national defense and theater specific medals and ribbons
2. ribbons are a cheap way to show recognition
3. as long as they are not giving out promotion point medals like candy, that is what counts
4. but people in WW ll, got much the same ribbons
5. the AF uses the Longevity ribbon instead of service bars on the sleeve, so not much different than other services
- 8 years ago
Yes, some ribbons are pretty much freebies, but there are others that are progressively more difficult to get. As long as the standards are the same for everyone, I don't see a problem with varying levels of achievement in different ribbons/medals.
- Anonymous8 years ago
The first time I saw an airman in ABU's, I thought, "Wow, everyone in the Air Force has been to Airborne or Air Assault School", then I found out they receive a badge just for doing their job.
