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Note that there are several interesting discussions on Stasi uniforms and items on the DDR section of the Wehrmacht Award board at: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64

This chevron or winkle was worn on the sleeve of a short service soldier. Career soldiers wore two.

These are for the officer candidate school. The silver bar represents a first year student, two bars second year, and so on.

Nice, I don't have any uniforms but do have some Stasi shoulderboards and badges somewhere.

Quite true, all of the other medals in your photo can be normally be found on ebay.de but I've not seen a Held der Arbeit in some time.

Were you every able to find out more background through the Neues Deutschland archives? Are you collecting DDR medals or was this an opportunity you just couldn't pass up? Kevin

Dave thanks for the clarification. It also should be noted that the IRR soldiers are not immune to being called to active service on short notice. Even former soldiers who thought they had met their service obligation years ago are being called back to active service as highlighted a few months ago on the US Newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Kevin

I also see that his Bronze Star Medal is announced on the MoD's Armed Forces Operational Awards List #25 published just last year. So my assumption is that he received the Bronze Star for EOD efforts either in Iraq or Afghanistan. Kevin

The US Army is an ALL volunteer force, the difference with the National Guard is that they are under the control of the state's governor until "federalized" or "activated", i.e. brought on active duty. During WWII these units were brought on active duty for duration of the war, plus 6 months. While in state service these units are usually involved in training, disaster relief and on very rare occasions, civil unrest. Operation Iraqi Freedom (I guess OP Telic for the UK) has been the largest moblization of National Guard and Reserve forces since WWII. Several of these units saw service during Desert Storm and a few in Somalia, Haiti, Bosina, etc... but many had not been brought on active duty since WWII or the Korean War. These units have a good share of soldiers who completed their active duty term of service and are serving in the reserves either by choice or to complete their total service obligation (between 6-8 years of service so someone who served 4 years in the active force would have to serve 2-4 years in the reserves). Kevin

Does the fact that he was an EOD expert who worked his way up through the ranks help? Here his a write up on his service in Northern Ireland: Battling the bombers: 'Nerve ends were wriggling around like bits of spaghetti' 01 May 2005 SHARDS of metal blasted into Staff Sergeant Colin Whitworth's visor and the breastplate on his protective suit. He had been attempting to defuse a loyalist bomb placed under the car of man with Sinn Fein connections in Antrim's Rathenraw estate. Whitworth was holding the device, believing he had rendered it safe, when suddenly it exploded. "I didn't feel any pain," he recalls of that terrifying moment in March 1993. But when he removed his shrapnel-peppered visor, he says: "I saw my left hand was gone. "The nerve ends were riggling around like little bits of spaghetti. "Then the guys started putting on field dressing and I felt the pain, pain like I'd never felt in my life before. Unbelievable pain. "I was taken to hospital in Ballymena, conscious, bleeding all the way. There was a great clump of field dressings on the arm. "I knew the bomb suit had saved my life, prevented more injuries." At the hospital, the emergency team swung into action. "They were tremendous, superb. They offered to screen off my face, but I declined and told them the hand was already gone, that I'd seen it. "I don't think they believed me at first because of the clump of dressings on my arm, but then I offered to sell them my golf clubs cheap." Whitworth refused to be invalided out of the Army and, moreover, against, all the odds, worked his way back into his old job. After four weeks' hospital treatment, he was moved to Woolwich where he was advised his discharge papers would soon be served. There followed what he calls "a violent encounter" with the brigadier concerned, but the EOD establishment moved in and found him a job as number two at the Joint Services EOD operations room at Didcot. "The trade and the regiment looked after me and kept me involved in bomb disposal. "That meant a lot to me. I don't know what would have happened if I'd been discharged." But Whitworth was not content to run a desk. Over the next few years, with the help of prosthetic experts, he developed a set of special attachments to enable him to work as an operator again. He also made various adaptations so that he could carry the equipment with lanyards and clips. Such was his determination that he steadily worked his way up from staff sergeant to warrant officer 2, warrant officer 1 and captain. He regained his EOD operator's licence and returned to serve in Northern Ireland. Says Whitworth: "When I joined up, after choosing the ammunition trade, the recruiting sergeant asked me if I had a full set of fingers and he told me, I wouldn't have when I finished." http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=634792

Gordon - You bring a uniquely British perspective to this discussion. Vietnam era Infantryman were saying the same thing after Panama, Grenada and Gulf War I. They thought that the CIB was cheapened and undervalued because it was being awarded for very short periods of combat operations. My battalion commander, a decorated Vietnam veteran, took the CIB off of his uniform in protest after Panama. I also had a Sergeant First Class who worked for me years later who proudly wore the CIB and the 82nd Airborne Division combat patch. It turns out he was in Panama but never saw combat, he ran the mobile PX. So there will always be inequity in granting CIBs as long as the local commander is in control of the process. As for "gazzetting", that process is not know in the US Army. To my knowledge no central rolls are maintained on CIBs or even medals and decorations (except perhaps the highest like the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross). There are probably group orders awarding the CIB at battalion, brigade or even division level and some divisions may have even designed a certificate (there is no Army level certificate that I know of for the EIB or CIB). But for the most part, these badges, awards and decorations are recorded in individual service records: the Officer Records Brief or ORB for an officer and the 201 File for enlisted. Upon discharge or retirement they are recorded on a DD 214. As for unit honors these are maintained in a lineage and honors statement produced for a unit by the Center for Military History. Units can request update of their lineage and honors based on recent campaign participation, but it can decades for the Army to publish a centralized listing of unit campaign credit and decorations. The roster for WWII, for example was not published until the 50s and included the Korean War. U.S. Army General Orders (GOs) will on occasion be published with this information, for example in the first Gulf War there are three major GOs that cover most units, but there are omissions that may not be corrected for years. As for the 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, Wisconsin Army National Guard, it already has a distinguished combat record in previous wars. It served in the 14 campaigns in the Civil War, one in the War with Spain, five in WWI and four in the Pacific in WWII. It has two Presidental Commendations from WWII (the highest award a unit can receive) and French Croix de Guerre with Palm for WWI and A Philippine Presidental Unit Citation from WWII. The U.S. Army no longer has true Regiments like those in the UK. Yes, there are a few Armored Cavalry Regiments and some of the brigades in the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions are also called Regiments, but except for military lineage and honors the traditional regimental structure has been gone since the late 50s. Kevin

I feel your pain, there is a simular site for the Purple Heart that goes into great detail about WWI and WWII versions of the medal and how to spot fakes. But for the life of me I can't remember where it is. Kevin

I believe the key to your question about awarding the CIB for an IED attack is this line in the regulation, "... present and under hostile fire while serving in an assigned infantry or special forces primary duty, in a unit actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy." It is a commander's call to determine if an IED attack would justify the award of A CIB. My experience is that every unit has a different interpertation of the reg and thus standards vary. Some would be extremely strict and an IED attack would require that the velicle the soldier was riding in to be struck by the IED while others would be inclined to recognize as many soldiers as possible that were riding in the convoy. Same would apply to mortar or rocket attacks. Of course being an Infantryman there are probably numerous opportunities to come under hostile fire other than IED attacks, for example foot patrols. Also the Bronze Star is not connected to the CIB as it was in WWII, so the award is not necessarily automatic for CIB holders. Again, standards vary from unit to unit on who gets Bronze Star Medals. Some are very liberal, others very strict. Kevin

Gordon - See this CIB article on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Infantryman_Badge The exact verbage from the current U.S. Army regulation is included in this article as well as some interesting historical background. The Combat Action Badge (CAB) was authorized in 2005 for non-Infantry soldiers.

You are right, it is an excellent book and essential guide for Armor DUI collectors. James Sawicki, who worked years ago for the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry (TIOH) and still maintains contacts there, also published simular books on Infantry and Artillery. I own all of them. He also used to have a subscription service where for a small fee he would send out drawings and specifications for new distinctive unit insignia issued by TIOH. But I'm not sure if he is still doing that. Kevin

I would say that they are all real and post WWII. That is because they are clutch back rather than pin back. The subdued (black) para wings can out in the Vietnam era. So they could age anywhere anywhere from the 50s to 90s. Since these para badges were made by a variety of companies there are many variations. As for the jump ovals, since they are cut edge they are probably pre mid-60s when merrowed edged ovals started showing up. The red and blue is the 505th Parachute Infantry and I belive the gold and teal blue is Special Forces. Kevin

Dave - Fascinating, I had no idea how hard the MOH rosette was to find. I happened upon my MOH rosette at the military clothing sales store at Offutt Air Force base in the early 80s. It and the MOH ribbons were just hanging on the peg board along with all of the other ribbons, insignia, etc... Kevin

It's the nickname of the 9th Infantry Regiment (not Division) of which the 4th Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment was stationed in Alaska prior to deployment to Vetnam and assigment to the 25th ID. Manchu came from the regiment's service in China in 1900 during the China Relief Expedition. Kevin

Here is an unusual cigarette box that I picked up at a flea market in Berlin in the late 80s. It is dated late 1945 with an inscription in Russian (something about him being a mechanical engineer in Berlin if I recall), but the insignia on the top is for a US Army signal unit (I think it was put there to cover the hole left when the orignal insignia was taken off). It is brass, lined with black painted wood. Below are a few photos. Since I don't smoke, I use it to hold some of the old challenge coins I was given when I was on active duty with the Army. Would be interested in hearing what you all think about it, who it was given to, and why it was given. Kevin

Great thread, made me think of an unusual cigarette box that I picked up at a flea market in Berlin in the late 80s. It is dated late 1945 with an inscription in Russian (something about him being a mechanical engineer in Berlin if I recall), but the insignia on the top is for a US Army signal unit (I think it was put there to cover the hole left when the orignal insignia was taken off). It brass, lined with black painted wood. Below are a few photos. Since I don't smoke, I use it to hold some of the old challenge coins I was given when I was on active duty with the Army. Would be interested in hearing what you all think about it. Kevin

Yes I read BHD a few years back, Anderson carried the SAW and went through basic with Sizemore. Kevin

It's a photo from around 1993 or 94 because he is wearing the black beret rather than the tan beret and you can just see CPT Mike Steele's name in the background, more on Blackhawk Down later. He is a Specialist, a qualified Infantryman (Hooah!!!) and a qualified Ranger (unusual for a first term soldier), Airborne Qualified (Hooah!!) and an expert marksman who was assigned to B Company, 3rd Ranger Battaion, Ranger Regiment. Looks like he has Thailand basic airborne wings, so he probably participated in an exchange jump while on exercise in Thailand. He most likely earned his Purple Heart as part of Task Force Ranger where Rangers and special operators were fast roped into central Mogadishu on a raid October 3, 1993. (The combat patch, CIB, AFEM and possibly the AAM are all from Mog as well) Can't tell though if he was on the raid or the rescue party. He has two Presidental Unit Citations, both historical, i.e. can't be worn after he left the 3rd Battaion. He also has a Valorous Unit Award earned in Mog which could be worn through out his career. If this was taken shortly after October 1993 he could have later been awarded a decoration for valor for Mog such as a Silver Star, a Bronze Star or qn ARCOM V Device since award recommendations sometimes take several months to make it through Army administrative channels. If he is still in the Army, here 13 years later, he would probably have around 15 years of service which means he is either a Sergeant First Class or a very senior Staff Sergeant. Is it SPC John Stebbins, Spc Dale Sizemore, Spc Peter Squeglia or SPC Shawn Nelson, all made famous by the book Black Hawk Down ? My vote would be Shawn Nelson. Kevin

Paul - These are East German, Klaus Walther's Uniformeffekten der bewaffneten Organe der DDR, Spezialkatalog Band II, says that the the blue cloth AF collar tabs with the silver wire insignia were worn from 1956 to 1965. So the date codes inside the jacket, which from the shoulder boards looks East German, you show should match this period. Kevin

Paul - Klaus Walther's Uniformeffekten der bewaffneten Organe der DDR, Spezialkatalog Band II, says that the the blue cloth AF collar tabs with the silver wire insignia were worn from 1956 to 1965. So the date codes inside the jacket you show should match this period. Kevin

Good buy. for some reason all of the subdued NCO boards from Unterfeldwebel on up have escaped me. I believe I have every other set of subdued boards except General Officer. Ironically I have several bundles of Unteroffizier subdued boards. Kevin