ehrentitle

In terms of reading uniforms, what can our forumites tell me about Stimpy's career based on the photo in post #18. I already gave away some bits of information.

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

Historical Footnote - After the Berlin Airlift many of these bunkers were used as warehouses to store tons of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies should the Soviets have decided to blocade the city again. They were still in use in that capacity when I was stationed in Berlin in the late 80s. 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

Combat

Unteroffizier, Unterfeldwebel

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

This has something to do with the Uneteroffizier level, but I don't know what. it was a freebie from the seller.

It's a "Winkel" worn on the lower right sleeve of a non-career soldier. A "Dopplewinkel", two chevrons, represented a career soldier. Kevin

No problem, I do have a small collection of Armor/Cav crests and patches, but have mostly concentrated on Infantry over the years. Kevin

One additional note, I think the Armored Force RTC was activated in 1940 or 1941 in the general moblization before WWII so this may be pre or early WWII. Shortly after the start of WWII the Army stopped producting DUIs for new units to conserve metals essential to the war effort. These also could also have been produced near the end of the war as the need for metals was reduced. There was an article on silver DUIs in ASMIC's "Training Post" many years ago, but my copies are burried somewhere in the house or garage. Kevin

The reverse.... Again, any and all opinions are welcome. Thanks much.

According to my ASMIC Motto list it as the WWII Armored Force Replacement Training Center (RTC). This was mostly likely at Fort Knox, but there many have been several of these in the US and overseas. The Quartermaster Corps, for example had two RTCs, one at Fort Lee and one at Fort Francis E. Warren in Woyming.

Just got this one today

Infantry Musician Sr NCO

Good stuff, these devices and pips are often harder to come by than the shoulder boards! Kevin

Unit awards - U.S. Presidental Unit Citation, WWII Philippine Presidental Unit Citation.

The ribbons are the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, American Defense Service WWII, American Campaign WWII, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign WWII with three campaign participation bronze stars, WWII Victory, Occupation Medal WWII, Armed Foces Reserve Medal with two hour glasses (30 years service) Philippine Liberation WWII, Philipppine Independence.

The patches are for the Army Material Command (AMC) and former wartime service in the U.S. Eighth Army in WWII.

Cheers Guys, you`ve all been of great help. I`ll look into it and see what I can find, and post it on the site. Interesting that he only died recently as I only bought his medal a week before he passed on!!!!!

Don't expect an immediate answer. These organizations often get hundreds and in the case of NARA thousands of e-mails and letters a week from the public. They also usually give priority to queries from other government agencies before responding to the public. Some will even tell you that they are so limited on staff that you would have to visit their location to do research in person. Kevin

Laurence - Love this thread, I'm a sucker for East German shoulder boards. I too have had a problem in the past identifying Stasi from Artillery SBs. But I have enough of them now that I can do a side by side comparison. Although it is still hard to pick them out on on-line auctions. Sometimes have that problem with Signal and Para because of the low quality photos some sellers use. If anyone is up for some trading I have lots of police, some Stasi and Army SBs to trade. Kevin

Yes. There was also an unofficial Combat Artilleryman's Badge. People basically took a CIB, removed the rifle, repainted the plate in the appropriate branch color, and put the appropriate branch insignia on top (tank for armor, crossed cannons for artillery).

The "unofficial" and unauthorized Combat Armor Badge and Combat Artilleryman's badges were made by recognised insignia firms and they are several floating around out there in the collector community. If memory serves, I recall someone telling me that some of these were also made and worn "in country" during the Vietnam War. The Armor community was pushing a combat armor badge initative up to a couple of years ago when the Chief of Armor turned it down.

Kevin

Here is the site for the National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records (NPRC-MPR) http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel

Unless you are next of kin (a relative) they will probably not grant you access to his records.

Kevin

I found an newsletter on Google called the California Sentinal Reserve Association of the United States dated Sept 2002 which lists BGEN Cullen U. Gulko Bishop, California who donated funds for the newsletter. So this confirms that he was a reservist. Kevin

Also looks like he was a reservist (U.S. Army Reserve), at least at the time his bio was published because it refers to his "Moblization Designation". Kevin

Try the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, VA -

http://www.transchool.eustis.army.mil/Museum/Museum.html

If they don't have info on him ask them for the telephone # of the Transportation Corps historian.

Kevin

The combat infantry badge is timeless.

This?

When the army changes bayonets again, this will simply be an outdated bayonet with a grenade noone recognises.

A k-Bar with a WW2 Era US grenade would have been more instantly recognisable.

This looks more like a close-cbt instructor badge. maybe folks who get it will have been in a combat situation, but will they have any connection to fighting with a bayonet?

Maybe the guy who did the design had "connections" or it was decided to go overboard with a design intended to raise moral?

An award like this should be timeless... this looks like a display in a surplass store

Not sure what your point is on the outdated bayonet with a grenade in the CIB. The rifle in the EIB & CIB is an outdated weapon, so are the crossed rifles of the Infantry branch insignia and the flintlock pistols of the Military Police branch insignia, the wheel in the Quartermaster & Transportation branch insignia, etc... Can you tell what models they are without looking them up? When the CAB is worn long enough it will be instantly recognized for what it represents. What is important to Infantrymen (and ex-Infantrymen like me) is that this badge is never mistaken for the CIB.

The CAB may not be an elegant design, but I see soldiers here everyday wearing them with pride. The Field Artillery and Armor Branches have been asking for an "equivalent" to the Infantry's CIB for decades. The CAB fills this need as well as giving other non-Infantry soldiers who have been involved in direct combat a badge. Kevin

This badge was designed The U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry (TIOH) at Fort Belvior, Virginia. I believe this was a Chief of the Staff of the Army directed badge that was requested on short notice (I believe 30 or 60 days). So this may account for the less than impressive design. Generally when TIOH gets a request for a design they get guidance from the command that is requesting it and provide several different design drawings to choose from. So I imagine that part of the guidance was for it not to look like or be mistaken for the Combat Infantry or Expert Infantryman's badges. Thus the smaller size and the addition the bayonet and grenade. Kevin

No problem Kevin...

I find it odd that this is the only real site that has them for sale?! Although there are a few on Ebay at very reasonable prices... I guess that these were cranked out by the thousands. If I were a betting man, I would count on these being the real deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/A11-Medal-WWII-Allies-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Yup - I'm not expert, but it appears to be real. Not quite the same as mine though, there are several variations in design and text. Interesting that most of these medals appear to originate from the UK. Is this considerred a British Medal? Kevin

Thanks Paul! Interesting that the website has three of these medals for sale, all for the same high price, with different ribbons and one with a different image on the medal. I recall being told that these were knocked out by local merchants and sold as souviners to any soldier. Kevin

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