Distinguished Warfare Medal Created

[Hugh]

I think this is interesting. My 2 cents worth--22 years US Air Force, 7.5 years deployed in war zones.

The US awards system has some interesting issues--and has had so for a long time. In my experience the level of award was usually predicated not by one's proximity to combat, but the proximity of the recepient to the award writers during the deployment. I don't know how many times I saw people in support and admin functions awarded a bronze star when they guys out flying the missions came back with lesser awards.

I remember one colonel, a deployed squadron commander--who refused to be written up for his bronze star. He said there was no way he was going to accept a higher level award when his guys flying combat missions were not receiving the same. We all admired him for that.

We were always amazed at how many C-17 transport crews won distinguished flying crosses, which were very scarce in the AC-130 community.

The Air Force in particular is extremely award heavy. If you fly, and have an active career, you retire with a chest full of medals that would put a Soviet field marshal to shame.

These new medals are just a continuation of a system where everyone is to be recognized--which is the problem--decorations should be awarded for actions and performance--not proforma as is mostly the case now (and has been for many years.)

Paul

I'd say Paul nailed it!

H

[JPL]

Here is a link to another interesting article on this topic: http://www.stripes.com/distinguished-warfare-medal-is-off-to-a-rocky-start-1.210188

I found the following paragraphs interesting:

A trio of Republican veterans in Congress -- California’s Duncan Hunter, Florida’s Tom Rooney and Pennsylvania’s Tim Murphy -- have introduced legislation to lower the new medal in the order of precedence, a move military officials say is overstepping lawmakers’ traditional roles.

A companion bill is under discussion in the Senate, and the provision is expected to be part of the annual defense authorization act.

That’s key because the authorization bill is one of the few pieces of legislation to pass through Congress every year, regardless of the partisan gridlock. Lawmakers will likely finalize that measure in November or December, possibly before any of the new defense warfare medals are awarded.

Jean-Paul

[JPL]

The battle continues.

Add the U.S. Senate to the list of critics of the new Distinguished Warfare Medal. Four senators — two Republicans, two Democrats introduced legislation to drop the new medal in the military’s order of precedence, putting it below the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. In a statement, Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., acknowledged the need to recognize troops performing heroically beyond the battlefield, but “the folks who serve directly in the theater of war are at greater risk and we should fully acknowledge the risks that their service brings.” Officials from the Veterans of Foreign Wars said they petitioned President Barack Obama during a White House meeting last week to intervene on the issue, and he promised to review the controversy.

But Pentagon officials have said the criticism thus far has not forced any changes in the creation of the medal or its placement above the Bronze Star. The award is designed to honor “extraordinary actions” of drone pilots and other off-site troops performing noteworthy deeds on far-away battlefields.

Read the complete news article: http://www.stripes.com/blogs/stripes-central/stripes-central-1.8040/senate-too-wants-distinguished-warfare-medal-knocked-down-1.210939

Jean-Paul

[JensF.]

This is really crazy, especially the order of precedence. Imagine an old veteran from WWII who stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944 and got wounded or took out a machine gun and got the Bronze Star for valor and now someone is sitting in an air conditioned room on Edwards Air Force Base with a joystick in his one hand and a cup of coffee in the other and gets a HIGHER award!

Edited March 8, 2013 by JensF.

[Paul H2]

...four senators — two Republicans, two Democrats introduced legislation to drop the new medal...

Hope they put as much effort into avoding sequestration

Paul

[Paul R]

I just read on military.com that it was decided that the medal order of precidence will not be downgraded... This rule is made by someone who has never served?

[JensF.]

I just read on military.com that it was decided that the medal order of precidence will not be downgraded... This rule is made by someone who has never served?

Thats really like beating into the face of every veteran...

[Paul R]

Here is the story... and I was wrong- Hagel is a Vietnam veteran... he of all people should know what this means to those who served in the line of fire..

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/03/08/hagel-will-not-reduce-drone-medals-precedence.html?comp=1198882887570&rank=2

[Hugh]

Sounds as though someone is listening!

H

Hagel orders halt to production of drone pilot, cyberwarrior medal

By Karen DeYoung, Published: March 12, Washington Post

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the military to stop production of a controversial new medal pending a 30-day study of whether the award for drone pilots and cyberwarriors should outrank medals given for battlefield bravery.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said that Hagel was particularly attuned to the concerns of veterans organizations, which have complained that the Distinguished Warfare Medal was ranked above the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart in the military’s order of precedence.

Hagel, who received two Purple Hearts as an enlisted soldier in Vietnam, has a long history with the veterans groups, Little said. “He’s been a member of one. He headed the USO. He’s heard their concerns.”

A letter from committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and James M. Inhofe (Okla.), the panel’s ranking Republican, asking for reconsideration of the warfare medal was on Hagel’s desk when he returned Monday from a trip to Afghanistan.

While they were “supportive of the new medal,” the senators wrote that they were concerned “that it is given precedence above awards earned by service members for actions on the battlefield.” Drone pilots and cyberwarriors generally operate in the United States.

Little said that Hagel has placed Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in charge of that review, to be completed within 30 days.

“The fact of the matter is that production of the medal has stopped,” Little said. “No one has been nominated for this medal. No one is in training for this medal. So we do have time to make a final decision.”

[Hugh]

Here's a different look from Foreign Policy. To me, the appropriate action is to cancel the medal, and reward these actions with the Commendation Medal, the Bronze Star (without"V") or Legion of Merit, depending on the level of performance. Too many ribbons!

Hugh

Hagel may be parting company with Panetta. After a week or so of pressure to re-think the Distinguished Warfare Medal for drone pilots, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is doing just that. Pentagon press secretary George Little announced yesterday that the Pentagon had begun a 30-day review of the medal former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced on his way out the door, setting up the distinct possibility that there would be a change to the "precedence" of the medal -- that is, where it resides in the hierarchy of medals. Concern has been mounting ever since Panetta announced it that its place above a Bronze Star, which recognizes military members for acts of heroism or merit in combat, was a bridge too far in deference to drone pilots, the unsung heroes of modern warfare. Indeed, the medal is long overdue for the pilots of all the services who fly drones as a way to recognize their service and the impact of the important work they do. But the precedence of the award in the hierarchy-hyper military is what has so many people concerned, from the uniforms in the building, more privately, to senators and congressmen, far more publicly, on the Hill. Just last week, Hagel had defended or at least explained the rationale behind Panetta's decision, which apparently came after consensus among the service chiefs, to members of Congress. But in a move that may buy him instant credibility with the Army and Marines, in particular, the former Army sergeant said he would take a look at the issue. Little, yesterday, to reporters: "Secretary Hagel consulted with the chairman, the Joint Chiefs, and the service secretaries, and those with the decision to establish the medal was carefully and thoroughly analyzed within the Department of Defense. That being said, in light of concerns about the medal's place in the order of precedence, Secretary Hagel will work with the senior leadership to review the order of precedence and associated matters, and the secretary has asked that Chairman Dempsey lead this review and report back in 30 days." By the way, production of the medal itself has been halted during the review."

Full transcript:

http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=5203

[JPL]

Here is another interesting take on the establishment of this medal:

Critics of the new Distinguished Warfare Medal have a new objection to the honor: Military officials broke more than 100 years of tradition by creating it without getting support from lawmakers first. Doug Sterner, a military honors expert and archivist for the Hall of Valor awards database, said the Defense Department went against protocol by not consulting with Congress before establishing a new award. Fourteen of the top 16 military medals by order of precedence — including the Medal of Honor, Silver Star and Bronze Star — all received Congressional approval prior to being established. The other two medals, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal and Defense Superior Service Medal, were created through a presidential executive order.

The new Distinguished Service Medal followed neither of those paths. “It’s almost as if they tried to slip this one in the back door,” Sterner said. “For a department that has been so quick to cite tradition on how they award medals, they went against it here.”

Read the complete news story: http://www.stripes.com/news/defense-department-broke-with-tradition-in-creating-drone-medal-1.211732

Jean-Paul

[Hugh]

Looks as though Sec'y Hagel has decided to do the right thing. This way, the appropriate level of award (Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, etc.) can be awarded with specific recognition of the nature of the award.

Well done.

Hugh

From the Washington Post

Pentagon cancels divisive Distinguished Warfare Medal for cyber ops, drone strikes

By Ernesto Londoño,

Apr 15, 2013 10:27 PM EDT

The special medal for the Pentagon’s drone operators and cyberwarriors didn’t last long.

Two months after the military rolled out the Distinguished Warfare Medal for troops who don’t set foot on the battlefield, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has concluded it was a bad idea. Some veterans and some lawmakers spoke out against the award, arguing that it was unfair to make the medal a higher honor than some issued for valor on the battlefield.

Controversy echoed a broader debate about remote-controlled aircraft in war against extremists.

The controversy echoed a broader debate over defense policy, irking those who feel uneasy about the extent to which remote-controlled aircraft have become the tip of America’s spear in the war against extremists abroad.

After ordering a review of a policy that was one of his predecessor’s last official moves, Hagel said Monday that he concluded no such medal was needed. Instead, he said, a “device” will be affixed to existing medals to recognize those who fly and operate drones, whom he described as “critical to our military’s mission of safeguarding the nation.”

Devices are used by the Pentagon to add a specific form of additional recognition when troops are lauded for exceptional performance.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, one of the groups that had been critical of the medal, praised Hagel for promptly taking on the issue.

“This decision will clearly keep medals that can only be earned in combat in their high order of precedence, while providing proper recognition to all who support our warfighters regardless of their distance from the fight,” John E. Hamilton, the head of the veterans’ group, said in a statement.

Former Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta announced the award on Feb. 13, one of his lasts days in office, saying that the evolution of combat warranted a new inclusion for men and women who perform game-changing acts remotely.

“Our military reserves its highest decorations obviously for those who display gallantry and valor in actions when their lives are on the line and we will continue to do so,” he said at the time. “But we should also have the ability to honor the extraordinary actions that make a true difference in combat operations.”

The Pentagon said no service members had been nominated for the new medal.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Hugh

[Ulsterman]

Bravo Hegel.

[JensF.]

The right decision. Anyone know if they already manufactured any of these medals? Maybe Lordship's "Medal of Honor backdoor" is still open...

[Paul R]

Great decision. I cannot wait to see what the new device will look like.

[dmiller8]

I'm glad that "chair-borne ranger" medal is being scrapped. If a particularly meritorious mission requires recognition, why not use the normal award system? Is using the Bronze Star for exceptionally heroic cyber-war operations (or the Commendation Medal for achievements of a lesser magnitude) that abhorrent? The attachment can be a metal miniature drone aircraft (think of the cargo plane on the Occupation Medal for the Berlin Airlift) for the drone pilots. The cyber-warriors, located far from scenes of violence, can get the MSM, Commendation medals or Achievement medals as appropriate.

[Paul H2]

"...heroic cyber-war operations..."

define?

Paul