TacHel

The Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation has changed the ribbons of it's service medals to move away from the standard military pattern. A bit odd when you consider only military personel can receive then anyway... The design of the medal itself remains unchaged but the usual red, yellow and green ribbons were changed to blue, yellow and green by order 7 of 24 Feb 2016. The medal VETERAN OF THE GUSP also has a new ribbon, haven't found one yet though.

All, One of my subordinates is retiring in a month's time after 37 years of service. He recently discovered while going through his deceased grand-father's estate that the man had served in WW2 and after, retiring with the rank of Adj-chef (CWO) with the Médaille Militaire and Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, the other possible décerations are unknown besides perhaps a Médaille de la Résistance. My colleagues and I would love to be able to hand him detailed information on his grand-father's service, any and all help would be sooooo appreciated! He doesn't even have a photo of him in uniform! Can anybody help in getting me service records? Citations? Photos? Adjudant-chef Marcel Yves Le Bihan, Service du Matériel At the beginning of the war he was in the 2e Régiment de Spahis Marocains. he quite possibly served in the resistance in Bretagne between 42 and 45. Our colleague is the last of his family line, there are no relatives to turn to... I visited the French army historical web site, might as well forget it... Any brave helpful soul out there?

Welcome back!

great stories!

Im my humble opinion, it is a complete fabrication aimed at deception for a quick buck...

Looks as new as the dime next to it...

So sorry... So far not a thing...

During the (now regretably defunct) 2011 Quebec city international military tatoo, there was a touching ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with at its center, the visiting NYPD band. The combined bands of the Royal Air Force (UK), Royal Air Force (Belgium), Band of the Royal Canadian Artillery and R22R band backing the central band of the Russian Army and Red Army choir singing GOD BLESS AMERICA... Yes, I know... The surprised faces of the Americans was only matched by those of the RAF personnel trying to chat with the Vandoos in the scarlets and bear skins that mostly only spoke French... It was quite amusing! This is the video of that ceremony, go forward to minute 3:06 for a short personnal story from the NYPD or to 05:46 for the musical portion... QUITE GOOD!!! We had front row seats barely 50 feet from the NYPD band... I still get goose bumps seeing this.

Might I suggest that before you do visit, drop an e-mail to the regimental museum, they might have info on your uncle. I've seen a few buddies of mine return from their visit with a treasure of previously unknown info on relatives including photos. It is an older model lapel pin from the American Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Nice stuff, great family history. If you haven't yet visited the R22R museum in the Quebec citadelle, I urge you to do so in the future. When you do, bring your uncle's items, especially photos and the note books, I guarantee you the curator will be interested. The medal collection at the citadelle is the largest I've seen to date.

I haven't seen any official numbers at all. I'll ask on a few Russian forums but don't hold your breath... They kind of lost control on numbers in the 90s. Add to that the fact these were also produced and bestowed in Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia...

It looks like a period piece but I always remain weary of anything German devoid of a maker's mark...

Just learned from an expert it's probably a fake... The maker's mark on the suspension loop is a bit off...

On the way from Moscow

On the way from Moscow.

Medal"Veteran of Chemical Disarmament"' Medal "For Active Participation in Chemical Disarmament"' Medal "For Contributions to Chemical Disarmament"'

Finally found the regulations for these!!! From August 2014. Awarded to military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and to military personnel of foreign armed forces who ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the annual WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TANK BIATHLON. This is the approved reduction medal for wear on the uniform as detailed in the official event regulations. The medal presented for the competition is of the same design but 60mm in diameter and hangs from a white 32mm wide neck ribbon.

Been a long time since I found a real state award for sale... And actually winning the auction... Jubilee Medal "100 Years of the Trans-Siberian Railway" 1901-2001. Awarded to employees of the railways who worked flawlessly in the industry for 20 years or more, as well as other citizens who have made a significant contribution to the development of the Trans-Siberian railway.

Some more badges recently seen for sale or up for auction.

Wow... Just wow... I feel so inept... Great great work as usual.

Established by order 342 on 18 June 2015 (I completely missed this one)... The gold badge is awarded to the winner of the annual contest "Best Young Scientist of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation", the silver badge goes to the two second place winners and the bronze to the three third place winners.

Apparently this trend is here to stay... A new Defence Ministry medal for being part of a parade, this time, for a naval review. Just established in 2017 by ministerial order 360, Medal "Participant in the Main Naval Parade" (Медаль «За участие В Главном военно-морском параде»). Minister Shoigu is reviving the large anual naval reviews, this year's gatherings of warships will take place on July 30th (Day of the Navy) in multiple port cities of the Russian Federation. (LINK TO REF)

So I should stop divulging my research and let the CIA err? I don't think it'll be necessary, Trump will probably abolish it any day now...