I was reminded of this today by this release from Joe Wilson:
(Washington, DC) – House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel Chairman Joe Wilson (SC-02) and 48 other members of the House of Representatives today sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. The subject of the letter was the Department of Defense’s recent decision to create the new Distinguished Warfare Medal (DWM) and place it above the Bronze Star and Purple Heart in the order of precedence. Recipients of the DWM are recognized for their extraordinary service that directly impacts combat operations, while not being physically present in a combat zone.
“The brave men and women in our Armed Forces dedicate their lives to serve this great nation and often times put themselves in harms way to protect the freedoms and liberties all Americans are able to enjoy.The recent Department of Defense decision to rank the Distinguished Warfare Medal higher in precedence than the Bronze Star and Purple Heart does a disservice to our service members and veterans who have severed overseas in hostile and austere conditions. It is my hope that Secretary Hagel will change the Department’s decision so that our veterans who have earned the Bronze Star and Purple Heart will receive the appropriate recognition they deserve.”
Which wouldn’t have told me much if I hadn’t talked with my Dad about it the other day. Here’s what Stars and Stripes had to say about the issue
WASHINGTON — Critics have dubbed it “the Nintendo medal” and “the Purple Buttocks.” Veterans groups are lobbying the White House against it. Lawmakers are working to downgrade it.
Pentagon officials, ignoring the criticism, are moving ahead with the new Distinguished Warfare Medal, designed to honor “extraordinary actions” of drone pilots and other off-site troops performing noteworthy deeds on far-away battlefields.
It’s months away from being awarded. The military has to mint the new awards, establish guidelines for processing nominations and find heroic operators to receive the honor.
That gives detractors time to wage their own war against the “distant warfare medal,” inside top military offices and from remote locations outside the Pentagon.
It will be a tough fight.
“This Pentagon, they’ve been immovable on fixes and mistakes in the awards system,” said Doug Sterner, military medals expert and archivist for the Hall of Valor awards database. “They’re closed-minded when it comes to outside criticism. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.”…
My Dad wasn’t as dismissive as those critics the Stars and Stripes cites. But, as a recipient (more than once) of the Bronze Star for his actions under enemy fire in the Rung Sat Special Zone (a.k.a. “Forest of Assassins”) in Vietnam, he was at least taken aback by this development.
Surely, drone operators employ their skills in performing a war-fighting function that is increasingly central to our nation’s defense policy. And thousands have received medals for far less martial contributions.
But placing that honor above those for valor under actual enemy fire is just bizarre, and sort of turns on its head our traditional definition of heroism. Which is what medals are supposed to be for, right?
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Lt. John “XBox” Doe heroically piloted his drone from his La-Z-Boy recliner deep within a bunker located in the remote area of Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, deep into the heart of the enemy and released the holy terror of Hellfire missiles on the enemy. He then handed the drone over to his bunker buddy and then went and watched the end of American Idol.
This is just another example of “everybody gets a trophy”.
Don’t worry Brad soon they’re get rid of most of the service medals right after the DoD gets the army of T-800s they have always wanted.
Let’s not fool ourselves, though. That wouldn’t end the arms race. Because the bad guys would right away go to work on the T-1000. If they’re not developing it already…
I have questioned the morality of fighting wars with drones and robots to begin with. It makes decisions to wage war easier and killing an antiseptic action when no one leaves home to fight. I have complained often about the USAF approach to drone warfare when they are filling drone “cockpits” with rated pilots and treating them the same as aircraft cockpits when any young airman could do the task. They are protecting their own jobs and enjoying the air medals and flight pay without putting their skins on the line.
What qualifies as a moral war? War is state sponsored murder there is nothing moral about it. A necessary evil maybe, but it is still immoral. To somehow say there is a right and wrong way to carry out a war is absurd. You can kill your enemy by setting him on fire and melting his flesh off with a flamethrower, but kill him with a remotely operated aircraft…I call a foul.
Homer and warriors in the classical period thought killing people with projectile weapons like the bow and arrows was cowardly. They preferred hand-to-hand combat. Maybe we should go back to bashing peoples’ heads in with rocks and clubs since drones give you the ickies.
Since the beginning of human civilization people have been devising ways to kill each other from greater and greater distances. The spear begot the bow and arrow, which begot the musket, which begot the rifle, which begot modern artillery, which begot bomber aircraft, which begot UAVs or drones.
Of course they are “protecting their jobs” or do you prefer a bunch of dead airmen? Who likes a fair fight. Last time I check no country before they go to war says themselves, “You know our enemy doesn’t have as many soldiers has we do so maybe, to be fair, we’ll send in just enough soldiers so that we’re even.” Jeezy pete do you listen to yourself?
While the order of precedence in decorations is prescribed by DoD regulations, those actually in combat establish their own rankings. My father’s bomb group had over 3000 men who flew combat missions in 1943-45. Relatively few won a Bronze Star or higher, but the Air Medal or Distinguished Flying Cross signified that you had been in combat – rather like the Combat Infantryman’s Badge in the Army.