Mr James’s submission is an excellent document and should be required reading for anyone interested in defense matters, particularly for those who have long held the belief that the whole military ‘Honors’ system is really just a way for more senior officers to pat each other on the back. The same applies to the award of ‘Theatre of Operations’ medals. Senior officers seem to make a habit of having to fly in for the minimum amount of time required to be awarded such a medal and then depart as quickly as possible. Basically the whole setup stinks to high heaven and needs to be thoroughly reviewed. I’m not holding my breath.
Far be it for me to throw any stones but my experience goes back to Vietnam in 1966 where there was a rather notorious battle (that I was not involved in) where two of the most senior officers, neither of whom had taken any direct part in said battle, arrived on scene after it was all over and both recieved DSO’s while a number of the soldiers who, by all accounts, had distinguished themselves in direct action, received only Vietnamese dolls because the DSO’s had depleted the available ‘quota” of medals.
Mr James’s submission is an excellent document and should be required reading for anyone interested in defense matters, particularly for those who have long held the belief that the whole military ‘Honors’ system is really just a way for more senior officers to pat each other on the back. The same applies to the award of ‘Theatre of Operations’ medals. Senior officers seem to make a habit of having to fly in for the minimum amount of time required to be awarded such a medal and then depart as quickly as possible. Basically the whole setup stinks to high heaven and needs to be thoroughly reviewed. I’m not holding my breath.
Far be it for me to throw any stones but my experience goes back to Vietnam in 1966 where there was a rather notorious battle (that I was not involved in) where two of the most senior officers, neither of whom had taken any direct part in said battle, arrived on scene after it was all over and both recieved DSO’s while a number of the soldiers who, by all accounts, had distinguished themselves in direct action, received only Vietnamese dolls because the DSO’s had depleted the available ‘quota” of medals.