Posted on 09/30/2003 10:59:22 AM PDT by joesnuffy
Medalgate
Posted: September 30, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 David H. Hackworth
Recently in Iraq, an Army two-star general put himself in for the Silver Star, a gallantry award, for just being there, and for the Combat Infantryman Badge, an award designed for infantry grunts far below the rank of this division commander.
During the war, members of an Air Force bomber crew were all awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for lobbing a smart bomb from 30,000 feet onto a house where Saddam was rumored to be breaking bread – even though Saddam's still out there somewhere sucking desert air. In 1944, the only way a bomber crew might have gotten the DFC would have been if it had wobbled back from Berlin on one wing and a prayer after a dozen-plus missions of wall-to-wall flak.
Here's another "Believe It or Not": When the Scuds were thumping down on Kuwait, a Navy two-star admiral and six of his flunkies were awarded the Bronze Star after a missile struck 10 miles away.
Not that these abuses of the awards system are anything new. The U.S. military's awards program – designed to recognize both our combat heroes' valor and the meritorious deeds by those hard-working supporters who bring up the rear – has never been exactly fair.
In the past, Joe and Jill have often gone unrecognized because there was no one left at the end of the battle to bear witness, or the paperwork got lost or wasn't written persuasively enough, or some eager-beaver officer in the chain of command stole their glory.
I know of two Medals of Honor – one in Korea and the other with a Navy unit in Vietnam – that shamefully went to still-living former officers when in fact their above-and-beyond deeds "witnessed" by sycophants were actually performed by grunts.
In the latter days of the Korean War and in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm and Somalia, such abuses of military honors increased with each battle. In Vietnam, a dog was awarded the Bronze Star, and in Grenada, more medals were awarded than there were soldiers on that tiny island. In Desert Storm, Army infantry battalions that never saw a shot fired were awarded the coveted CIB.
Now warriors in Iraq are reporting that COs there are using a quota system for awards. Sgt. Bill Casey, whose unit saw heavy combat in Iraq, says: "Our awards were not given out on heroism. They were based entirely upon rank and duty position. If you were a company commander, you got a Silver Star. If you were a platoon leader or platoon sergeant, you got a Bronze Star. If you did a good job at a level below that, you might get a Bronze Star. If you were a PFC (private first class), you probably didn't get a medal for valor. Every award was entirely based upon rank and duty position – rather than whether that person stood tall and continued to return fire or whether that person continued to bring the fight to the enemy or flat-out ran away when the bullets started flying."
These stats tell the story:
The U.S. Air Force has approved more than 50,000 medals for operations in the Middle East.
The U.S. Army, trying to catch up with the folks in blue who flew through all that imaginary Iraqi flak, has issued medals as though they were Cracker Jack prizes. So far they've pinned on tens of thousands of awards, from the coveted Distinguished Service Cross to the CIB. More than 5,000 Bronze Stars alone have been awarded. One-half the members of a 700-strong aviation squadron at Fort Stewart were recently presented Bronze Stars and Commendation medals.
But as of Sept. 22, 2003, the U.S. Marine Corps has approved only 56 Meritorious Bronze Stars – 46 to officers, 10 to enlisted – and 15 Bronze Stars for valor – 11 to officers and four to enlisted – for their 70,000 fighters who kicked more than a little butt during the war in Iraq.
Kudos to our gallant Marine Corps for not following the quota system and to its top brass for refusing to play the Pentagon's public-relations medal-giveaway game.
But any way you count 'em, deserving grunts aren't being appropriately recognized by a sick, out-of-control system that desperately needs overhauling.
My childhood pal came home, laughingly with a Bronze Star (Army), awarded to each and every one in his squad...they'd had actual contact with some Viet Cong - contact, that's it.
Semper Fi!
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Sounds to me you're a member of one of the other branches & not the Marine Corps. Frankly, Hack has the numbers right ... Hack, although I don't always agree with him, is one of the Army's most highly decorated soldiers. He's probably killed more gooks than you have years on this planet buddy.
Yep, and I don't recall disparaging the USMC in my post, so your comment is uncalled for.
Frankly, Hack has the numbers right ...
How do you know? By intuition? Hack never once gives the reader any indication as to how he comes to the numbers he reports. Who's his source and how reliable are they?
Hack, although I don't always agree with him, is one of the Army's most highly decorated soldiers.
Concur.
He's probably killed more gooks than you have years on this planet buddy.
No doubt about it, he has. He's a true warrior and has earned his fruit salad. Hack has also made up plenty of unadulterated crap over the years as well, and written plenty of doom and gloom BS along the way that never came true (Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom). The guy calls BS on the perfumed princes in the Pentagon one day then endorses one of them (Clark) the next. Frankly, he's either got a screw loose or he's just into his own version of self promotion. Making accusations and inuendo about combat decorations without backing them up with names of the accused and a source as to where he gathered the numbers doesn't cut it with me - even though I know that it's been a recurring problem since medals were offered. If Hackworth was really interested in getting to the bottom of it and helping to fix the problem of medalmania by the undeserved, he would be more constructive in his approach by naming names and sources and some recommendations on how to fix the process, instead of coming across as some old bitter Colonel who never received his star.
You didn't disparage the Marine Corps you disparaged Hack. The Marine Corps has their act together and Hack has alluded to this many times over the years, going back to his first book "About Face". In fact, his latest book, "Steel My Soldiers Hearts" sitting on my office bookshelf ... is a signed copy, given to me as a gift, wishing me a hearty Semper Fi signed by Hack.
Hack has many reliable sources to give him the numbers he has, I'm sure they're accurate. Hack rarely, if ever, would reveal a source, and never a confidential one.
General Patton was a pioneer of armored warfare for the US Army, along with General Walker. However, before WWII, military professionals were watching what was going on in Spain. In Spain, the Wermacht worked on integrating air and ground operations. General Guderian and and Field Marshal Rommel later applied these techniques during the invasions of Poland and France. It was these applications of ground and air operations to which US generals paid close attention. No one doubted in the late 30's that the US would eventually become involved in a war. Regards,
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