But my attention was caught by this post on the same Doonesbury blog.

And yes I'll admit that since I brought this subject up once before:

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/12/23/comment_of_the_day_time_to_end_the_cib#commentspace

I found this post particularly intriguing for reasons you'll soon discover. BLUF: do away with the combat badges, they do more harm then good.

Hunter

BLASPHEMY
Name: Old Blue
Posting date: 2/1/10
Returned to: Afghanistan
Milblog: Afghan Quest

The idea’s being kicked around -- probably not by anyone who is capable or motivated to make a change in the policy -- but it has been heard by these ears plenty, and from plenty of people. Most of them have “been there, done that.” They have the little knickknacks on their apparel to show it. The idea itself is about the knickknacks; the badges.

“Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!”
~John Belushi

Oh, yes, we do. We really really do.

We have a little phenomenon in the Army called “badge-hunting.” Although mid-grade officers, very senior NCOs and fobbits are most often accused of it, everyone wants their “stinking badges.” It affects how those who haven’t yet “gotten some” go about their business. They are looking for the fight that will earn them their combat badge, either the CIB (Combat Infantry Badge) or CAB (Combat Action Badge). Medics are less likely to go way out of their way to get their CMB (Combat Medical Badge), but if they earn it, they want it.

You have a tendency to find what you are looking for. Sometimes, it gets extreme.

"In late 2007, a Police Mentor Team assigned to train and mentor the ANCOP (Afghan National Civil Order Police) were operating in Konduz for a brief period. Miles away from their accustomed stomping grounds, which to that point had been mostly in and around Kabul, and many kilometers from the nearest flagpole, the PMT were wrapping up their visit to Konduz and would soon return to Kabul. No one could predict where their next mission would take them, or when. They had spent months in the classrooms and training areas to that point. There had been no contact.

During a CONOP, there was a loud explosion near the convoy and a gunner opened fire with his M240 machine gun. Finally, there had been contact! Sworn statements were drawn up, and paperwork was submitted for the vaunted combat badges. Then the wheels came off the bus; an investigation ensued.

The attack, it was determined, had been faked. The gunner, an NCO, had thrown a hand grenade, announced that the convoy was under RPG attack, and opened fire with his turret weapon without a legitimate target.

Weeks later, the same team was sent to the Tagab Valley to replace the Tagab District ANP while they proceeded to Konduz for FDD (Focused District Development) training. The NCO who had thrown the grenade was not present. The ANCOP PMT was involved in several legitimate firefights with their ANCOP, all “qualifying” for the CIB/CAB. Irony."

While the above is an extreme case, it is an actual event. It is very likely not the only case of its type. A Soldier endangered lives, both military and civilian, in pursuit of a combat badge. While extreme cases are certainly rare, what about the less obvious badge hunts?

Do we really need Soldiers looking for their CIB or CAB? I submit that we need Soldiers who are attuned to their whole environment in the current fight -- which often doesn’t require actual fighting as much as it does awareness of the other, more subtle signals of the environment -- not Soldiers who are attuned more specifically to seeking the kinetic contact.

“Well,” one may say, “we do need Soldiers who are attuned enough to the actual fighting aspect so that they don’t leave themselves exposed to potential danger. We want aggressive Soldiers.”

Granted. However, once the Soldier knows that he has the badge qualifications, the Soldier has a tendency to do a couple of things. First, he realizes that getting shot at is not a picnic, and it’s not glorious. Many discover that, for instance, RPGs suck. And they become a bit more circumspect about seeking that fight. If their unit suffers losses, the bloom comes completely off the rose. Violent death and injuries are not adventure.

But a tremendous amount of damage can be done in that in-between time -- the time between when unadorned Soldiers arrive in-country and the time that they are absolutely sure that they have qualified for their badge, the symbol that they, too, have “been there and done that.” If one were to accept that this can have a detrimental effect, the question becomes, “So what would alleviate that negative effect?”

Take a step back in time. In WWII and Korea, for instance, an Infantryman (there was no such thing as a CAB at that time) had to be of a rank lower than Colonel and be an Infantryman in an Infantry unit in a combat line unit for thirty days; then they were all awarded their CIB. There was no requirement for sworn statements and determinations that the Soldier individually was exposed to a specific danger that would reasonably be expected to potentially cause him personal and immediate bodily harm or death. There were no awards boards considering CIBs for each and every individual Soldier and officer. The rules have changed, and many of us who have seen what it does to a Soldier’s mind; or especially a leader’s mind, wonder if this is productive.

The recommendation is to go back to the old rules. If you are in a qualifying unit in a combat zone for the requisite period of time (or are wounded prior to that time) then you qualify. Take the pressure off. All you have to do is perform your job satisfactorily. When you are there, in a combat zone, you can be attacked at any time. Why is it a lottery? What is the purpose? Recognize that everyone risks it, and then take the pressure off of the individual to come up with a story to earn it with.

Deployments are always tough on families and I don't decry any attention and concern paid this aspect of military life. But I also remember Vietnam and the Cold War and the Navy families who put up with - for example - 7-month WestPacs, Med deployments, Northern Runs, and the 3800+ FBM deterrent patrols. This was treated as an in-the-family issue, the wives and homeport communities bonded together to get through it, and I don't recall much (hell: any) attention paid it by the general public or the Fourth Estate.

The real problem now is the grinding back-to-back-to-back nature of war-deployments in the current time. We seem to care enough about the conflicts to send our fine people to fight them, but not enough to mobilize the American public to evenly share the load. Welcome to the All-Volunteer Force, folks. The heavy burden falling on the families of deployed Service members is baked in to the AVF's utter unsuitability to extended conflicts.

You don't like the idea of a draft? Fine. Get used to the idea that we are burning up a generation of officers and enlisted members and burning out their families.

Suck it up and stop the incessant whining! If you're unhappy with your husband's line of work, then divorce him. It's really that simple! FF.

KUNINO;

Most depoyed Air Force folks are still working to fly and fix airplanes or support those who do...not trivial, not without danger, but probably safer than prolonged ground ops with the accompanying IED threat.

However, many Air Folks are deployed on the ground and they die in the same ways the traditional ground forces do. We've lost drivers in PRTs, EOD specialists, and others who were in the wrong place at the wrong time when a rocket landed or an IED or car bomb went off.

A lot of these Airmen volunteered to leave a traditional Air Force job to train for different one so that they could do their share.

Afghanistan is a very tough place to fly airplanes. It's the most dangerous flying environment in the world, combining high altitude airfields, higher mountains, bad weather, 24/7/365 ops, long supply lines for parts, and isolated troops that, when they need you, really need you.

Strafing in the Hindu Kush at night is the most dangerous thing I've ever done in an airplane. We recently lost an aircraft and crew practicing it so they'd be ready when they were needed.

Formation airdrops in the mountains in the weather come in a close second.

Helicopter CASEVAC at high altitude in bad weather has resulted in several totaled aircraft.

Just because professional crews do it safely doesn't mean it's not dangerous...or that their spouses don't worry about them.

It is interesting to hear the testimonies of military wives. They are to be commended because for the most part they are single moms. I hope that all who know military wives do what they online casino can to pitch in and help.