AF LTC awarded BSM for Power Point Presentation
I know, it sounds like satire, but not that I can determine. There really is a Lieutenant Colonel Jon Trainer in the Ohio National Guard who is a chaplain. But according to the Dayton Daily, he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for his Power Point presentation. Apparently he arrived in the command in Afghanistan just when those Korans were accidentally burned;
The ensuing outrage claimed more than 30 lives, including two U.S. troops and two U.S. military advisers.
Within 48 hours, Trainer developed a PowerPoint presentation on the proper handling and disposal of Islamic religious material that was seen by every American — military and civilian alike — in Afghanistan. The presentation then was distributed to the U.S. for use in all pre-deployment training.
Ya know, I don’t want to downplay the good chaplain’s role in this whole thing, but it was pretty much overblown to begin with. The only reason those people over there stop rioting is when they’re tired of being killed and maimed. How did the rioters know that there was even a PPP?
He probably did more to earn his than I did for mine, but, ya know it’s no wonder that the Department of Defense is putting the Distinguished Warfare Medal higher in precedence than the BSM if this is what they think of it.
Thanks to Arby and Charles for the links.
Category: Military issues
The PC police didn’t have to try as hard to get in and start changing things in Air Force. There are a lot of individuals who think his decoration is a little too high. Course I’ve seen two TSgts get a MSM for working up in NYC during Air Force Week.
Not the Onion.
Not the Duffel Blog.
For reals?
Unfuckingbelievable.
and the boys in blue wonder why people mock the Air Force
Well, I am motivated beyond words…..by Chaplain Kapaun. This guy, not so much…..
Our E4 Generator Mechanic got a Bronze Star for just doing his job during Desert Storm. We were amazed.
I once got an LOC for something reasonably high profile but equally desk-related. At the time I thought there was some over-recognition involved, but clearly I should go back and see if they can upgrade me.
Well, I know one TAH reader who ain’t gonna like seeing this . . . .
He should politely decline.
And the dumb fucks who put him in for such an award, as well as the total asswipe who approved it should be shot.
In my company, E-6 and above got a Bronze Star if you completed your tour. Now those who got hurt got jack shit, but I guess that is appropriate since they were irresponsible enough to get hurt and abondon their people mid-tour. /sarc
“Trainer’s Bronze Star recommendation also credited him with overseeing the training of more than 36,000 deployed personnel in the Army’s Ask, Care, Escort suicide prevention program.”
Sounds to me like it is a poorly worded article. The above quote makes it seem like it was an end of tour award and not just for the PPP. Standard EoT award for an O5.
Just more suck up to the civilization that belongs in a petri dish.
http://www.nbc-links.com/powerpointinfo.html
A person knows if he has earned something or not. There is a poem that sums it up well, and I have the copy of this poem that my grandfather carried in his Bible all of his life.
THE MAN IN THE GLASS
When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what THAT man has to say.
For it is not your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back in the glass.
Some people might think you are a straight shootin’ chum
and call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest
For he’s with you clear to the end, and you have passed
your most dangerous test,
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
and get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you cheated the man in the glass.
Well, I don’t want to blame anyone who received a prperly awarded medal. It’s the a-holes who put him in for it that need a whacking. Of course, he can always do a Kerry with it if he likes.
Kind of a Drudgereport like juxtaposition of two stories here.
Aw, heck! How did I miss out on the gravy train? I made some bitchin’ PowerPoint presentations in my day.
So does this mean PPR will get a BSM for supporting the war effort; those comics are great at boosting morale…
The Marine Corps is reputed to be, and rightfully so, extremely stingy with it’s awards and I’m glad they are. I’m happy I was turned down for awards I was recommended for than ever be given something I didn’t earn. No disrespect zoomies but when a recruit has three ribbons on his uniform on his graduation day…
Cue SSG Michael Cox in 3…2…1
In all seriousness, are we sure this was for a PPP or that it was just a bullet in the end of tour award?
I remember when I was in Kuwait, the Army guys were already writing their bronze stars for being desk jockeys within the first three months of their deployment. I agree with Yat Yas’ comments…
I agree with Loarch, This sounds like someone who did not understand how awards work wrote it, it sounds to me like the PPT was one bullet amongst many. And laugh all you want but the sheer numbers involved are what is important. Seems to me like a standard Combat zone EoT award for an O5, unless you think he was so unworthy he should get the same ARCOM the company clerk E2 who never left the FOB got. I do disagree with the statement about the DWM though, for one simple reason, as much as he may have been a fobbit (something you all 1.assume, I saw lots of chaplains moving around a lot more then one would think. 2. is irrelevant unless you are saying a CAB/CIB should be required to be submitted for a BSM, or it should be MOS restricted) he was still in an active combat zone, where there was a threat to his life, the same as an infantry man, no but still more then 99.55 of Americans face. And being in the combat zone is what makes a non valor BSM different then a MSM and why it should rank higher then any award you can get for not being in a combat zone. Lastly I find it sad in a away that we continue to denigrate our brothers in arms based on MOS. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely proud to be a combat arms officer and it pissed me off beyond words when I saw all the people never leave the FOB when i did. That said with time comes perspective. Every single one of them did the exact same thing as you and i and every other vet, we raised our hand and took the oath to defend the constitution. After that, we had limited control of where we were sent and what we did, based on the needs of the service, some chaplains go to BAF or KAF, some go to FOBs and often go to COPs and get shot at. Some infantrymen work in a TOC as… Read more »
What shitbags.
Keep that standard high chairforce!
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/04/air-force-tech-sergeants-take-heat-bronze-stars-041612/
@20.
That is quite possible, due to the approval time line, If i remember right i had to have my awards for my guys in 105 days prior to redeployment if i put them in for a BSM and something like 75 days prior for an ARCOM. has to do with processing time. a BSM has to go all the way up to Division (RC) level for approval. that takes time and they try to give EoT awards before redeployment.
I know the Bronze Star is some folks’ penultimate award, but it is dead to me.
Just don’t hate on the awardee.. He didn’t write himself up for it.
could’ve had a BSM for my last tour (any E6 or higher who left the wire was “eligible”) but I asked that it be changed to an MSM. didn’t want to be sporting the Fobbit Good Conduct Medal.
Naw, I don’t hate the Chaplain for getting a BSM. He’s likely a modest, hard working guy.
Beyond that, it just seems to me that the BSM has slowly replaced the Commendation or Achievement medal. Back in the day, it REALLY MEANT SOMETHING to be recommended for and receive such an award. To get the BSM was unthinkable, even for “Fobbits”. Times have changed.
I’m with what YatYas outlined, and applaud Stacy0311.
Sounds about normal these days. Our “Camp Mayor” a SFC female who NEVER once left the safe camp got a BSM…and she only lost about 10 or 12 rooms keys…never got us something to sleep on (we had to steal our own)
A Soldier was asking why we had a bunch NATO medal ribbons last week, and I told him most likely for a recent awards ceremony. Sure enough, I got to looking through the box and there are tons of loose NATO, ARCOM, and BSM ribbons in it.
I wonder how many of those BSMs went to the guys we’re (staff) replacing, and how many of those ARCOMs went to the guys the line units are replacing.
My 1ST SGT was a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart. He said the wounds were pretty light (shrapnel) and when he had it pinned on he was standing next to guys with missing body parts and scarred for life. He said at that moment he was embarrased to be getting the PH. He said he never wore it after that day…at least I never saw him wear it while he was our 1ST SGT.
Redleg JO is spot on above, with one exception. Without a “V”, the BSM is merely an MSM for service in a defined “combat zone”. And everyone in a bona fide combat zone is at some risk of injury/death due to enemy action. No, the risk isn’t equal for all. But it’s there.
The exception I’ll raise relates to the bona fide aspect. We’ve so loosely defined “combat zone” during the last 20 years that you no longer need to actually be at risk to get one. IMO, if you never are at risk of being engaged by hostile fire a BSM isn’t apropos. However, exactly that occurs in some commands in Kuwait, Qatar, and other locations in the CENTCOM AOR.
That latter point is sad, but it’s reality.
Awards are being given out for frivolous reasons it seems like. In 2006 I got put in for a PH that I didn’t want because it was only a couple of small slivers of shrapnel. I was able to hide out from my 1SG for a full day before he found out that I had stopped a very very tiny portion of an IED with my face and he had me escorted to the aid station. Thankfully it was denied by the approving authority because I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror if I was awarded it.
#3 As an AF weenie, no we don’t wonder why we’re mocked at all. In fact, we encourage and often participate in the mocking.
#22, yup, should have been an AFCM. But hate the game, not the players.
@32 Sometimes, reading this blog, I mentally skid to a halt at something I just read.
“…I had stopped a very very tiny portion of an IED with my face…”
GOOD. GOD.
Twist, I hope there was no permanent injury, and it’s my opinion that you’ve got a ton of heart. And grit.
@35, it was very tiny pieces like getting a splinter in your finger and gave me a black eye. The only thing hurt was my pride having to endure my 1SG telling everyone that he had done wall to wall counseling with me because of the black eye.
SSG Cox is not going to be pleased….
@ 32 ………. WHAT?
What if that shrapnel was a few inches removed … and it was your eye.
Anyhow … I would have approved it …
Twist….you SOB, I love you. You are such an !@#!$#!! in spades.
the “guidelines” for rank appropriate awards is a joke too. I had a SGT (E5) filling a billet normally filled by a MSG(E8) who did an outstanding job in Iraq. But I was not allowed to recommend the SGT for anything higher than an ARCOM due to BDE/DIV policy. Like fm2176, I went around after the mass awards ceremony and picked up approximately 30 ARCOMs that soldiers had left laying on chairs in disgust
I am seriously embarrassed!! Between this and the stupid medal for drone operators, I almost don’t want to admit time served. Then again, I was in when SAC was still around and this BS didn’t exist to the extent it does today!!
This is from Allen West’s Facebook page, and it does sound like there’s quite a bit more to the award: http://www.facebook.com/notes/allen-west/to-the-national-review-online-this-wrong-needs-to-be-righted/10151506323478307 This Chaplain (COL) served as my Battalion Chaplain when I was a Battalion Executive Officer. He has asked me to right this wrong. I want everyone to know this email was sent to me by someone I served with and completely trust, and no one should defame our warriors for an agenda. Here is the email in its entirety: Gunslinger 5, The National Review Online is running an article about CH (LTC) Jon Trainer implying that he received the Bronze Star for creating a PowerPoint presentation. This is false! I served with Jon Trainer in Kabul, Afghanistan and he is one of the finest men and chaplains I have ever worked with in almost 22 years. He received the Bronze Star for his cumulative meritorious service during his overall deployment to the combat zone. He did primarily produce the slide presentation per General Allen’s direction to do so. For the NRO to demean his months of faithful service and paint it like this is horrible. The author, Pat Brennan, has been notified that he is conveying a misinterpretation and told Jon “thanks for your service,” but this article speaks to a cause…. No apology, he’s content to run with a lie to pursue his agenda. Jonah Goldberg was tweeting the same fallacy today. A woman named Debbie Schlussel wrote a horrible trash piece propagating the same lie. No one called Jon to check the facts! Is this what conservative journalism amounts to? Ironically, Jon is very conservative and a fan of NRO and the blog that now is propagating a false and slanderous depiction of him. I write for two reasons: 1) if you know any of these folks from your time in DC, I ask you as a personal favor to ask them to retract the article. They are demeaning a true Patriot who has every right to be proud of his service to our country! 2) As a charge that now that you are more and more… Read more »
I remember when awards meant something. I saw award inflation happen during my last 10 years in the navy. When I received my 4th navy achievement medal a year before I retired I was pissed because I had actually done something rare and difficult to earn the 1st one. That’s why I walked from the award ceremony and threw the medal and certificate in the trash in view of all those who were present. When everyone gets an A+ for trying, or just showing up, it all means nothing.
We have to remember that the Bronze star is a war zone version of the MSM. During Desert Storm every commisoned officer, 1SG and above plus some select WO’s and NCO’s recieved a Bronze Star. How many of you that have seen that?Any of you that were in the 101 at that time can back it up. I don’t agree with it, but there it is. It means a hell of alot more with a V device. The Airforce giving a Bronze Star/MSM for a power point presentation? Typical and disgusting. Medal inflation at it’s worst and it demeans the meaning of the award even more. Show me a enlisted soldier with a Bronze Star with V and I will show a real soldier, not a power point Ranger.
Just read Gunslinge Chaplains post, is that Gunslinger from the 1st ID? I agree if it was for a cumulative service, ok. However if anyone gets a Bronze Star for just a PP presentation then that is wrong. As usual there is more to a story then just what you hear at first.
Know a guy who killed himself in theater and received a Meritorous Service Medal (MSM).
[…] The other day we discussed LTC Jon Trainer and his Bronze Star Medal award ostensibly for a power point presentation. CarlS sends us a link to a blogger at Patriot Post who talks to the folks involved in the award; […]