http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/05/military_restraint_medal_051110mar/
More DONKEYCRAP!
What’s so unusual about rewarding good judgment under duress? I’ll bet the family of Cpl. Tillman can appreciate the initiative.
Shit, just give them a medal for enlisting. Imagine the strain of having Obama as your commander in chief.
I think you do indeed get a ribbon for enlisting - awarded after AIT I believe.
“The idea is consistent with our approach,†explained Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. “Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those seen in combat actions.â€
The objectors seem to think this will encourage forms of restraint that will result in loss of their own lives. I wonder how many servicemen make decision based primarily on what medals they stand to gain, in the midst of a fire fight. Probably very few, I’d imagine.
I wonder how many servicemen make decision based primarily on what medals they stand to gain,
Didn’t John Kerry (who served in Vietnam, should you have forgotten) set up his own P.H.?
Not that I’m aware of. Of course, the swift boaters may have their own version of events.
It’s pretty hard to imagine how this would have a negative net impact. Courage is courage, whether you’re willing to take a bullet to save your buddy’s life or that of an innocent. Good judgment is a leadership quality worth recognizing, I would think.
The Army Service Ribbon.
I think that the Obama Administration has honorable intentions, but they also need to consider that our guys on the ground are making what they deem to be the best decisions under combat conditions at the time. Hindsight will always be twenty/twenty, but I worry that this may make our team leaders second guess themselves when winning the battle counts most.
Personally, I don’t imagine a lot of these medals will be awarded.
It could also be a PR initiative–drawing attention to the military’s effort to minimize civilian casualties.
http://www.navytimes.com/...int_medal_051110mar/
More DONKEYCRAP!
What a crock of crap on so many levels
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That would be Donkeycrap TfarkingM …
If I don’t post my true reaction to this notion, will I get some kind of medal?
It could also be a PR initiative–drawing attention to the military’s effort to minimize civilian casualties.
It could definitely be, in part.
For those who think it’s crap, do you REALLY think that a soldier on the ground is going to modify his/her actions based on the possibility of a medal? Are medals not supposed to be recognition after the fact, and not incentive prior to it?
Also, this could be part of a broader strategy to lessen soldier deaths. It is quite easy to see a direct link between civilian deaths and the success of enemy recruiting campaigns. Lessen the number of needless civilian deaths and you lessen the effectiveness of enemy recruiting. Less enemy soldiers, less dead American ones.
Pretty smart if you ask me.
This would be a individual award, not a unit award. when one person hesitates, it could cost a buddies life. should he still get a medal? every soilder, marine, sailor and airman not only have responsibility to themselves, but also to their fellow warrior.
Sounds like DONKEY CRAP TO ME…
Who will determine that “restraint”?
PS…is a DRONE eligible for this award too?
How about the pilot dropping the bomb from 20,000 feet?
This would be a individual award, not a unit award. when one person hesitates, it could cost a buddies life. should he still get a medal? every soilder, marine, sailor and airman not only have responsibility to themselves, but also to their fellow warrior.
Sounds like DONKEY CRAP TO ME…
Who will determine that “restraint”?
I would assume it’s determined in the same way that eligibility for other medals is determined. Is there something wrong with that process? Some reason that it wouldn’t apply?
I would also argue, further to my 2nd point above, that every civilian life saved is potentially an american life saved down the road. You kill someone’s brother or father or mother, that someone is a lot more likely to be susceptible to enemy recruiting strategies. Remember, your forces are ostensibly in the country to help these people. When one of them dies under American fire, that goes directly counter to the motivations of the mission in many different ways.
Is the mission important? If it is, then civilian casualties MUST be minimized by every means possible. If it’s not, then the best way to save American lives is to bring them all home.
PS…is a DRONE eligible for this award too?
How about the pilot dropping the bomb from 20,000 feet?
Are drones and pilots eligible for normal awards? You make it sound like the decision to award medals is made by a computer.
**Imagine the strain of having Obama as your commander in chief. **
The reason they have to enlist in the first place is because of Bush so I’m pretty sure they would have preferred Obama back in 2003.
The pilot or drone is directed by fire support from ground forces and intel…does a pilot or drone pilot say, awwwww, screw it, i am not going to drop this bomb, because i feel i have to restrain myself and there “might” be civilians down there…? If the grunt asks for fire support, give it to him!
“The reason they have to enlist in the first place is because of Bush so I’m pretty sure they would have preferred Obama back in 2003”
and why would that be?