Hi Lurker
Long time no see...
Long time no see...
To add a little perspective, when my battalion deployed to Saudi and Iraq the only Bronze stars awarded in the whole unit went to the Co, Xo, and CSM. For anyone interested I was 14S/16S Stinger/Avenger gunner/crew chief.
Glocktogo, did you ever get on one of those Lav/stinger/minigun vehicals? they seemed kinda bad arsed.
Glocktogo, did you ever get on one of those Lav/stinger/minigun vehicals? they seemed kinda bad arsed.
Petty because I pointed out that that the BS is a fairly common award with no special requirement for valor or individual combat, this is the important part so pay attention, in response to a post that said the BS was for face to face combat with the enemy?
Nope. Petty is flying off the handle and engaging in name calling and personal insults because your feelings got hurt...
And you are correct, posers are a special breed of lowlife.
(Congrats, you got another post in lol)
Since some people feel like dick measuring, maybe they can go ahead and scan a copy of their citations and orders and post them up...just so we can all see why the award was given. Until then a BSM without a V device doesnt carry much water.
FFS people, no body cares more than you about your awards. Anybody, IMHO, who feels the need to boast about their medal count on an internet forum to get respect needs to check fire on that narcissism.
At the end of the day, your experiences are their own reward, and hold the greater value, by magnitudes, over a piece of paper and medal threaded with ribbon. If you cannot understand that then you will be a slave to ascribing inherent value and self worth to an inanimate object.
FFS people, no body cares more than you about your awards. Anybody, IMHO, who feels the need to boast about their medal count on an internet forum to get respect needs to check fire on that narcissism.
At the end of the day, your experiences are their own reward, and hold the greater value, by magnitudes, over a piece of paper and medal threaded with ribbon. If you cannot understand that then you will be a slave to ascribing inherent value and self worth to an inanimate object.
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It extends well beyond combat vs. non-combat MOS rivalries, but it's not hatred. When I was in as a Stinger Gunner, we fought more with TOW Gunners than anyone else. Yet when the chips were down, we'd share a meal and a fire with them. It's just how things work.
Well howdy! No, they weren't quite ready to do field tests on the LAV-AD when I got out. I figured they'd never field them. Eight Stingers and a GAU-12 25mm Gatling Gun? It would've had the LAV-25 guys green with envy! If I'd have thought they stood a chance of being fielded, I might've stayed in longer. They only wound up getting 17 of the expected 125. They were ultimately phased out, due to maintenance issues from what I've heard.
For those wondering what unicorns we're talking about:
Did the two of you do something special that the rest of your battery didn't do? If not, does it really signify anything that a PUC or JMUC wouldn't?
Truth. I've known a couple of BSM recipients I wouldn't give a plug nickle for. I knew what they were like both in and out of the combat arena. I'll give boatz the benefit of the doubt that he isn't one of those. I'll also give him the benefit of the doubt due to being a Vietnam Vet. They didn't get the recognition they deserved at the time, due to the political climate. That doesn't mean the BSM is any more or less than what it is. The individual citation tells the story, not the medal.
Am I proud of my service? Sure. I just don't eat, sleep and breathe it. It's part of what makes me, me. I'm thankful for all who served. From George Washington to the guys in the suck today. Those drone pilots keep a lot of our guys safe, just like mud movers have always done. That doesn't mean they deserve more than a Commendation Medal (without "V" device), unless they were forward deployed in a combat zone.
Like it or not, correct or not, the Bronze Star is viewed by the uninitiated public as a valor award earned in a combat zone. Telling it like it is as SMS and I have done might offend some, but no offense was intended or given. In the immortal words of Oscar Gamble, "They don't think it be like it is, but it do!"
One thing this thread did do, is get me to look at some old pics I haven't looked at in quite a while. I need to get all of them scanned some day. This is the only one I have scanned so far.
That's the highest point on Gitmo. The background is a minefield, followed by communist Cuba. I'm particularly proud of that trigger finger discipline, even all those years ago!
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I dont see an IFF antenna deployed...is the battery in your left hand?
LOL, we didn't think too much of the IFF antennas back in those days. I was one of the guys trained to manually encode them using this overly complicated piece of junk the size of an extra large suitcase. Encoding NATO birds just made it worse. More often than not, they never squawked correctly. We relied primarily on visual ID skills back then. We didn't even get the first version of a field computer until 88. It sucked balls too.
The bottom of the BCU compartment is just out of the frame. That square box on the back of the tube indicates this is a trainer version. We were working A4 Skyhawk passes that day. Later that week, we did launch sims, which is a 22lb aluminum dummy with a live launch motor. I was an instructor in my unit for 3 years.
My 2 cents: The BSM was handed out to every E-7 and above in my AF unit after Desert Shield/Storm/Calm. These people did nothing more, and probably much less, than those of us below that rank. The explanation given to us at the time is it was a wartime equivalent of the MSM. Someone on here can probably correct me if I'm wrong but a MSM was given out to E-7 thru E-9 and O-6 and up just for PCSing. So unless I see the V device, I'm afraid that by conditioning, it's just another MSM to me. Doesn't mean it's correct in every case I guess, just my experience.
Nice. I never went to the school, just "voluntold" to attend the familiarization course while stationed with another ADA unit in Germany. Several days of working through scenarios in a specially built projector room like a planetarium. And stacks of visual recognition cards...
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