Bronze Star Medal woes cause problems
Our buddy Jeff Schogol sent us a link yesterday to the Air Force Times story about the Bronze Star “winners” we talked about last week. Apparently the two female airmen have been getting harassed over the award;
Stories about both awards were posted on the Air Force website and drew dozens of comments attacking the women as well as the decision to award them Bronze Stars. The Air Force removed the story about Gamez “because no one deserves that level of criticism for meritorious service in a combat zone,” David Smith, a spokesman for Air Education and Training Command, told the Times.
Many commenters said that the women should not have gotten awards simply for doing their jobs, and that the Air Force awards too many medals.
[Tech. Sgt. Sharma Haynes] could not be reached for comment by press time. In the story about her award, she said she was busy while deployed to Afghanistan, but it was time well spent.
“I know when most people see the news and read the papers, the majority of what they see are the bad things that occur here, but the U.S. presence is making a positive impact on this country,” she said in the story.
[Tech. Sgt. Christina Gamez] declined to comment for this story. In the Air Force story that was taken off the Web, she was modest about receiving the award.
“Ask me to recognize anyone else and I can talk for days, but to brag about myself, I’m not the best,” she said in the story. “I feel like I did my job, kept a very busy pace and made improvements any place I could.”
While I understand the sentiment expressed by many, that clerical work doesn’t really rise to the level of deserving a Bronze Star Medal just because it happened while the Sergeants were receiving imminent danger pay, neither is it their fault and they probably don’t deserve the abuse that’s directed at them.
I’ve told the story before that when my commander in Desert Storm told me he was putting me in for a Bronze Star Medal, I was violently opposed to it. I begged him not to give it to me and physically threatened him (COB6 will tell you that I physically threatened that moron at least once a week), but that didn’t stop him. Our First Sergeant had been awarded a Bronze Star in Vietnam for pulling his squad’s collective ass out of an ambush, and I didn’t think that anything I did rose to that level of proficiency or bravery.
Obviously, my Bronze Star Medal meant more to my commander than it did to me, but there was no way I could convince him to not give me it. So, because of my experience, I don’t blame anyone for the awards they get. I didn’t blame Jessica Lynch, and I don’t blame these two young ladies.
Giving them shit on the internet about it probably isn’t going to change the whole situation. Anyone who is bullying them should probably take a bottle of chill pills. Get pissed at their commanders, or the Air Force, or the culture that made someone think it was a good idea, but it’s certainly not their fault.
And I don’t think any of us want to be the squad leader of the patrol which everyone seems to think that those two airmen need to “earn” their BSM. There are enough things to be scared of outside the wire without giving an Air Force finance clerk a loaded weapon and putting them in a free-fire-zone.
Category: Air Force
{ WHATS COMBAT }????
What would all of you do if you could change the award structure??? I would make the MSM a dual award like the ARCOM for wartime since its the same level as the Bronze Star. This directive may help for higher levels of performance in a combat zone and respect those that go outside the wire. AS all you put it. What is wrong with this suggestion ??? Try as hard as you can to think if this policy was in place what impact that would be in a combat zone.
The performance of those that reach the level of performance higher than an Army Commendation Medal could receive an award properly for a non-combative nature in a combat zone equal to that of an award of a Bronze star !!!! OR, Maybe its all about having greasy hands trying to lay false claims that you were in combat by those of a higher rank. Maybe that is what all these comments are all about !!!!
The standard way the Military awards the Bronze Star may be good for spreading the award over a wide range of soldiers but it overlooks those who actually engage in combat other than those that receive it with a v-device. OR Is that what all of you supporting troops think.
The exploitation of the ranks of E-1 to E-4 is made by awarding them Army Commendations both in peace time and in war time and with a v-device but denying a higher award of the Bronze Star only in the case of death or with a v-device. This is not the same case if you are an NCO or higher and does not require a NCO or higher to be in combat to receive a Bronze Star in a combat zone. A higher award other than a Army Commendation is a MSM and could be a dual award for peace time and war time but it would then deny the NCOs and higher a combat award that is only given in a combat zone.This also apply’s to Infantry in the ranks of E-1 to E-4 who are in contact or combat far more often. THIS DOES NOT RESPECT THE REASONS WHY THE BRONZE STAR WAS CREATED AND MAKES IT AN EXCLUSIVE AWARD BASED ENTIRELY BY RANK !!!!
The Bronze Star is awarded to any person while serving in any capacity while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States!!!! You aren’t serving in any capacity if your E-1 to E-4 according to your Leaders !!!! Its only based on your rank !!!!
@ # 156
I beg to differ on your account. While I do acknowledge the fact that the award is biased towards the higher ranks, your claim that E1-E4’s do not receive or are even put in for Bronze Stars is wrong. While deployed in Baghdad in support of OIF II (2004-2005), I was able to successfully recommend one of my Soldiers for a Bronze Star. He was a Corporal and a Mechanic. I have seen many times where Soldiers perform extraordinary jobs and would have had a justified cause for deserving such a high award, but the write up by their chain looked more like an afterthought instead of support. FYI, I recommended SIX of my Soldiers as deserving, but only one went through.
Personally, I have been recommended 4 times myself (4 deployments) and have none to show for it. Am I bitter? Hell no, there are more deserving Soldiers patrolling the streets that deserve it than me. Do I think the award system is broken? You bet.
FYI to your 152 comment, my last downgraded award was TO an MSM, so those are being awarded in theater and this was in 2010.
You were very lucky to have a recommendation go thru. Most of the time it gets kicked back as a ARCOM with the story from the company clerk saying it wasn’t wrote up good enough. MAINLY because it started out by saying SP/4 !!!! As a Vietnam vet in the Infantry with the 173rd Airborne Brigade we had soldiers receiving purple hearts with lose of limbs for life that didn’t qualify for Bronze Stars because they were E-1 to E-4. I suppose its the same way in your war. That is why I hate those that have no respect for awarding this medal based by rank. I guess those that receive these awards for non-combat reasons never think about other soldiers and what they go thru.
Supportive units have greatly out numbered Infantry units in combat zones! In some cases 10-1 so when its time to award the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service the Infantry receives extremely less and engage the enemy the most.The fact that this is true are in the deaths of over 75% in a war like Vietnam.{That people are just Infantry numbers alone}!!!! Their meritorious service can not be measured by rank. Their meritorious service must be measured by combat at the risk of their lives.This is not the occupation of Supportive Units!!!Everyone can get into combat is true but it doesn’t add up soldiers and you all know it at all levels.
I personally want to thank all those in supportive units for the long lines of volunteers to join the Infantry !!!!!
WWII Infantry received The Bronze Star for meritorious service if they were awarded the CIB. Some say its was given for no reason and have a hard time with accepting that.They forget to mention that Infantry made up over 70% of the deaths in WWII.
Being in the theater is not a combat zone like Thailand during the Vietnam war. The MSM was probably awarded in Kuwait not in Iraq itself.
The Bronze Star is not being awarded the way it was intended to be awarded !!!! When the Army decided { meritorious } only meant non-combat!!!
The Bronze Star for Meritorious Service is awarded to Infantry men E-1 thru E-4 and is excepted by their families on their behalf. Doesn’t that say something to all you in supportive units that their value placed on their lives in combat is less than those in non-combat units? To lay claim that they are awarded properly is totally false while the majority of Bronze Stars awarded for Meritorious reasons are Non-combative.
There are those in this forum that think just because an award is given in a combat zone makes it a combat award like the Army Commendation for Meritorious Service.If that was true then my Good Conduct Medal that was awarded to me by the 173rd in Vietnam is a combat award. I have 2 awards of the Army Commendation one for Meritorious Service and one for Meritorious Achievement and an Air Medal.I have the CIB but I do not have any Combat Decorations even though I was in combat.The combat decorations that were award only in a { COMBAT ZONE ] 90% of them were award to non-combatants in the rear whos jobs were not combat!! They were all awarded The Bronze Star for meritorious service.Our NCOs were awarded Bronze Stars for meritorious service but the E-1 threw E-4 did not receive them only if they were killed. This has been going on for along time in the Army. This also means that most those who risk their lives in ACTUAL COMBAT don’t get recognized with the Bronze Star.The CIB is awarded for people in our MOS {one time} but what happens after that in a MOS that requires you to make contact and requires you to risk your lives repeatedly { sorry you don’t deserve even the lowest combat decoration awarded only in a combat zone. You have to be dead or do something extraordinary to get one with a v-device. Meanwhile back in the rear you can get one for doing a good job for not even being in combat!! You can also get wounded a number of times in combat and still not receive the lowest combat decoration only given in a combat zone. The Bronze star is given for meritorious combat which means most of us that are in combat aren’t qualified !!!!!