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Seasoned Vet
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Issue Date: September 29, 2003
Do airmen deserve combat awards?
Some wonder whether the Air Force does an adequate job of recognizing its warriors
By Rod Hafemeister
Times staff writer
SAN ANTONIO — Hundreds, perhaps thousands of airmen have come under direct enemy fire in the past two years.
Marines and sailors are awarded a highly respected ribbon for combat action. Infantry soldiers and medics wear a badge that denotes combat action, and any soldier who serves in a combat zone gets to wear the unit’s patch on his right sleeve for the remainder of his career.
Airmen, however, get squat.
In August, an Air Force spokesman said uniform and decorations officials on the Air Staff said there was no real interest in joining other services in recognizing combat service. The reason: It’s never really been brought up by airmen in the past.
Tell that to Mark Withrow or Bill Sims, two of many readers who responded strongly to that statement.
Withrow was a sentry dog handler with the 366th Security Police Squadron at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam, in 1971 when the issue of a combat action ribbon came to his attention.
“We were working with the 1st Marine Division,” he said. “I believe the date was March 27, 1971. Marine Corps intelligence and our own Air Force people gave us a briefing.
“We knew we were going to get hit and knew we were going to get hit bad. There wasn’t one single bullet left in the armory — we armed ourselves to the teeth.”
Withrow was one of four dog handlers on the line that night when, in the distance, explosions began at an Army fire base a few kilometers away. Da Nang came next. The air base received about 100 122mm rockets in three attacks that night, he said.
“The next morning, a Marine — I can’t remember anymore, he was either a high-ranking sergeant or an officer — he came on down and he stopped at each [dog handler] post,” Withrow said. “He took our social security numbers, our units and so forth, and he said, ‘We’re going to put in all the Marines who were on the line here for Combat Action Ribbons and we want you guys to be part of that.’
“Oh, boy — we felt pretty good about that! But we checked on it and the Air Force said, ‘We can’t let you have those. We don’t give ribbons to our men who have been in action.’
“And that was the end of it.”
Sims, a retired captain, has been pushing the Air Force to adopt some kind of combat recognition for more than 20 years.
“I wonder if [the Air Force spokes-man] would like to see a copy of my original Air Force Form 1000 (Suggestion Form) from 1982, requesting creation of a combat action ribbon or badge,” he said. “I’ve resubmitted the suggestion a few more times over the years, always with negative responses from people who had no idea what other services did.”
So what do the other services do?
The sea services — Navy, Marines and Coast Guard — have the Combat Action Ribbon, typically awarded to service members who meet basic criteria for having served in a combat area.
There’s no absolute requirement that you even get shot at or fire a weapon — the Navy recently approved the CAR for several ships that supported operations in Iraq.
The Army doesn’t have a direct equivalent, but instead authorizes soldiers to wear on their right shoulder the unit patch of the division or separate unit with which they served in combat.
The Army also has two specialty awards, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Combat Medical Badge, awarded to soldiers in those career fields who served in combat.
When asked, Air Force officials generally say that the current system of awards and decorations does an adequate job of recognizing combat actions.
Sims vehemently disagrees.
“Read the definition of awards criteria,” he said. “Decorations are to award outstanding achievement, meritorious service, valor and wounds — not service. A campaign medal, ribbon or badge recognizes service.
“A combat action award is for service — simple service, not heroism or achievement or wounds. The award should be for being in combat, not being in danger. So if a B-52 is at 20,000 feet, so what? He’s in combat if he’s dropping bombs.”
So if it’s that easy to get, why should anyone care?
Ask a soldier or a Marine which NCO he’s more likely to listen to about what to do under fire — the one with a CAR or combat patch or the one without.
Sims, a veteran of the 1993 conflict in Mogadishu, Somalia, favors the Air Force adopting a ribbon, both because it’s similar to the sea services and it’s much less expensive than a badge. And he’d be liberal in awarding it.
“At a minimum, the recipient should have been on the receiving end of hostile fire,” he said. “I don’t think it’s necessary to require the recipient to have returned fire. Being on the wrong end of a bad guy’s armament when he’s letting loose at you should be ample justification for the term ‘combat participant.’”
In a letter to Air Force Times, Tech. Sgt. James R. Giddens suggested an alternative to a CAR: awarding a “C” (for “combat”) device to medals given for being in combat but not rising to the level of deserving a “V” (for “valor”) device.
Other letters suggested awarding a CAR to anyone who flies a certain number of combat missions, whether fired on or not.
But whatever the troops may think, Air Force leadership shows no indications of moving toward adoption of a combat action award. As recently as Sept. 17, an Air Force spokesman said there were “no additional developments” on the issue.
As for Withrow, more than 30 years after that night in Vietnam, he finally has a Marine CAR. A kid he knew enlisted in the Marines not long ago. On a trip home over Labor Day, the young leatherneck brought Withrow a surprise — a CAR he picked up at the base exchange.
“That was really something,” Withrow said with evident pride
------------------------------------------------------------ Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. ------------------------------------------ 
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BS6's Dude
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Truthfully, I'm torn on this...
On the one hand, I think it's good to recognize the troops who have been in combat.
On the other hand, I think the USAF has a LOT of awards and ribbons now, and is pretty close to going WAY overboard with them.
I guess this is one new ribbon I would vote for, especially so troopers like the SPs and their CRG compadres can have some type of unique recognition.
Based on my personal experience with wearing a US Army Combat Patch on my USAF uniform, I know how much respect it earns in the right circles.
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Trooper
 
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i always wondered about that. can all of you who have been attached to army units wear the army combat patch? or only AFSOC personell? i know a guy(army pilot, now AFSOC pilot) who was a PJ (i think) who jumped into panama with the RGR REGT. he wears a mustard stain, has a tab, but refuses to wear the scroll. never understood why he doesn't but you don't question his right to do what he feels.
AIRBORNE GODS WALKING THE EARTH....
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BS6's Dude
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quote:
Originally posted by hit_it
i always wondered about that. can all of you who have been attached to army units wear the army combat patch? or only AFSOC personell? i know a guy(army pilot, now AFSOC pilot) who was a PJ (i think) who jumped into panama with the RGR REGT. he wears a mustard stain, has a tab, but refuses to wear the scroll. never understood why he doesn't but you don't question his right to do what he feels.
Actually, it's not authorized by COMMAND (i.e. AFSOC), it's authorized by Job and Assignment.
There are only two categories of USAF personnel authorized to wear US Army SSI - Combat Weather personnel assigned to the supported US Army unit, and Tactical Air Control Party personnel assigned to the supported US Army units. They wear the SSI while assinged to the US Army posts, supporting those units.
Those personnel authorized to weat the SSI of assignment are also authorized to wear the SSI-FWTS (AKA "Combat Patch").
The PJ you refer to may have jumped in with the Rangers, but he was not ASSIGNED to them, because no PJs are assigned to the US Army. Special Tactics units deploy and jump in with the Rangers, but they are not assigned to the Rangers.
So he's doing the right thing by not wearing the Combat Scroll.
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BS6's Dude
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quote:
Originally posted by hit_it
i always wondered about that. can all of you who have been attached to army units wear the army combat patch? or only AFSOC personell? i know a guy(army pilot, now AFSOC pilot) who was a PJ (i think) who jumped into panama with the RGR REGT. he wears a mustard stain, has a tab, but refuses to wear the scroll. never understood why he doesn't but you don't question his right to do what he feels.
Actually, it's not authorized by COMMAND (i.e. AFSOC), it's authorized by Job and Assignment.
There are only two categories of USAF personnel authorized to wear US Army SSI - Combat Weather personnel assigned to the supported US Army unit, and Tactical Air Control Party personnel assigned to the supported US Army units. They wear the SSI ONLY while assigned to the US Army posts, supporting those units. Once they return to the "Regular" USAF, they are no longer authorized to wear the patch. Those personnel authorized to weat the SSI of assignment are also authorized to wear the SSI-FWTS (AKA "Combat Patch"), but only while assigned to a unit authorized to wear a unit of assignment SSI.
SO - While I was in the ANG supporting 20th SFG(A), I was authorized by the USAF to wear the SF SSI-FWTS which was awarded to me (in writing) by the US Army - But now that I am assigned to the 720th STG, and no longer wearing a supported unit SSI - I am not authorized to wear the SSI-FWTS. If I go back to US Army support, I put it back on.
The PJ you refer to may have jumped in with the Rangers, but he was not ASSIGNED to them, because no PJs are assigned to the US Army. Special Tactics units deploy and jump in with the Rangers, but they are not assigned to the Rangers.
So your friend is actually doing the right thing by not wearing the Combat Scroll.
Here's another thought - The REALLY messed up thing is that US Army Regulation 670-1 says that prior sister service members of the US Army ARE NOT authorized the SSI-FWTS based on former wartime service, because the US Army SSIs are not worn by sister services. I elevated it a couple of times, but it kept getting shot down, because nobody gave a crap. That was a bone of contention with me when I was in the Army Reserves, I can tell you.
And YES, I wore it anyway...
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Trooper
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i would have to bro....
i saw that in the reg and immediately thought of the AF guys. i wouldn't care either. if i got orders from the army(i know we give letters for the SSI-FWTS) i would have, upon inprocessing for the army, had it added to my records. they would have put it in there too.
AIRBORNE GODS WALKING THE EARTH....
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Regular Joe
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My brother who has been in the AF for 8 years has 9+ ribbons/medals. He is a dental assistant who has never left california. He even admits that the AF is "generous" when it comes to awards. Our Grandfather fought on two fronts in WWII and had less than that. I think the system we have now is plenty, so why add more? The army's uniform at one time was sweet, now it is to busy with badges, ribbons, medals, cords, etc...When is enough-enough? Just my .02
PBR me ASAP
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