TacHel

Bundeswehr medal designs aren't really important, they don't wear them. Even during my years in Germany with NATO, I never saw a single German allowed to wear his medals. Parades, official functions, weddings, name it! Undress ribbons only. I saw 2 German officers wear their minis ONCE at an embassy function and it was in Canada. I was on a NATO base working with many Luftwaffe colleagues in the very same shop, everytime there was a medal presentation of NATO or einsatzmedaillen, they'd look at us and say "another one for the bottom of the drawer". Quite sad...

No, I have no reference books on Russian uniforms, only on Soviet and Russian awards.

I forgot to mention... They've also revamped the embroidery on generals' service caps. The pic below shows the 2010 pattern air force general cap.

Personally, I wouldn't read too much out of it... They got their nice new blue air force uniform and I think they're trying to truly identify themselves from the army. A feeling I can really relate to.

The picture above shows the transition for air force officers' cap badges from the Soviet Era to today. 1991 to 1994 transition period where many service people wore the Soviet badges well into 1994. 1994 saw the new orange and black Russian cockade and national eagle common to all services and ministries. 1997 saw the new pattern eagles representing individual ministries and departments. (Here Defense Min) 2010 saw the air force readopting its wings and star.

I spend approx 10 hours a week in Russian phaleristic sites and follow ODM stories in Russian papers but have yet to see any of the revamped Orders bestowed. Mind you, most of them are awarded for "defense" of Russia, not attacking an outside enemy or taking care of internal matters.

Some great dioramas in there! Love the Mi-24, definitely from a master modeler when you see the panel outlines and individual dzus fasterners. Am a bit perplexed about the Panzer IV though... Seems the POW is Polish, I thought the very first early Panzer IVs only appeared in the battle of France... Am I out to lunch on this one? Any expert around?

Sweet! Great looking set! Congrats! :jumping:

Does it come in a single class or 3 like the regular medal?

Thanks for that great info Greg! Are there any plans for a new Cossack Host or are the Cossacks simply extending into that region?

Below is yet another example of a Cossack award... Cross for Fidelity to the Black Sea Cossacks. A bit on the crude side. I believe the person is supposed to be Tsarina Catherine, I think...

Oh man... I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you... Cossack = Xenophobia-R-Us You're more likely to earn a young Cossack a medal if you get my drift...:whistle:

This is the Cross for Fighting in Chechnya (2nd class). As you can see, quite crude...

I know of a place in Moscow where there's one for sale for 9500 roubles ($310 USD). Good luck getting out of there though. Below is the award 2nd class. BTW, both of these pics are of the actual items up for sale. (Not to rub it in or nothing... )

The crosses below were established by the Union of Don Cossacks in 1993. Awarded with swords to Cossacks involved in the fighting in the Moldavian Republic of Transnistria, awarded without swords to Cossacks who did not participate in hostilities, but contributed to victory in the Russian Trans-Dniester. Reverse incription: For Transnistria 1992. There's no denying the resemblance to the Cross of St George, and Cossacks use the St George ribbon on a great majority of their military and combat awards.

Here's an example of a pretty common award. The Cross for the Revival of the Cossacks. It comes in various classes, various colours depending on the host, slightly varying designs, different ribbons etc. But as you can see, it is of quite simple manufacture. This is actually one of the higher quality examples.

I recently started researching the awards of the re emerging Cossack societies and related military units. In case you didn't know, one automatically comes with the other, and we're not simply talking about regiments here, we're talking about entire armies. For military historians, FYI, they've reformed the Grand Don Cossack Army. Cossack units have fought alongside regular Russian troops in Georgia, in Transnistria and in the Caucasus. Amur Cossacks, Astrakhan Cossacks, Baltic Cossacks, Black Sea Cossacks, Central Cossacks, Don Cossacks, Kuban Cossacks, Orenburg Cossacks, Siberian Cossacks, Terek Cossacks, Trans-Baikal Cossacks, Ural Cossacks, Ussuri Cossacks, Yakutsk Cossacks... Quite the list. They have developed their own ODMs and wear them alonside official Russian Federation ODMs, public awards, Umalatovas etc. Their WW2 veterans who served with the Wehrmacht have been seen even wearing their German WW2 decorations. Each Cossack "host" (society) has its own ODMs, and the Union of Russian Cossacks (of which all hosts are part of) also has its own ODMs. Below is not the norm for Cossack ODMs, it is quite THE exception... To date, although a few quality medals have been minted, the majority of their awards are borderline crude and of low quality. The award below if the Order of Ataman (chieftain) Platov 1st class. Again I must stress, this is exceptional for a Cossack award. I thought I'd show you the top, then we'll move down...

I included the size under the picture in the original post.

The reverse.

Just got this beauty in the mail today! Commemorative Breast Badge for 25 Years of the Federal Protective Service (FSO). From the initial pictures I was afraid it migth be plastic but no, solid heavy all metal multi piece contruction badge. Height = 1 7/8 inch (4,6 cm) Width = 1 5/8 inch (4,1 cm)

Awesome set! Congrats!:jumping:

Thanks Karnet! Unfortunately, the new model Orders are still only depicted as drawings, albeit slightly larger.

Here's the imperial model, well, one version anyway. The modern award has modified eagles and for some reason, the rider goes the opposite way. I think the imperial model did not have the central yellow stripe on the red ribbon. (Can somebody confirm this?)

The other awards all came from the Soviet Era. This one has imperial roots, they went all the way back for this one.