{"id":135323,"date":"2022-12-24T12:34:40","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T17:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=135323"},"modified":"2022-12-24T12:34:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T17:34:40","slug":"christmas-eve-short-takes-navy-up-or-out-new-sma-new-infantry-2lt-march-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=135323","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Eve Short takes – Navy up or out, new SMA, new Infantry 2LT, March awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s the day before Christmas. Sun is out, wind has dropped, we will get above freezing today (first time in several days) and three of the four vehicles started during the snap. Life is good.<\/p>\n

The Navy is suspending its high-year tenure\u00a0 program (we used to call it Up or Out in the Army) wherein eventually too much time in grade\/service\/time in grade forced sailors into retirement (“Fleet Reserve”, I believe the floatie lads call it? ) in an effort to increase retention amid the current recruiting difficulties.<\/p>\n

Now, active duty sailors who have surpassed their high-year tenure threshold may apply for new jobs in the MyNavy Assignment portal, or opt to extend and complete another full-length tour at their current command. This allows sailors to remain at sea, return to sea, or fill a shore billet, the Navy said.\u00a0 Military Times<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While I remember some ‘dull thuds”\u00a0 who stayed in ‘WAY too long, I also remember some career E-5s or E-6s who were perfectly happy to do mediocre jobs forever…and seemed to know everything.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At the other end of the spectrum, the Army has nominated SMA Grinston’s replacement, Special Operation’s Command best and brightest CSM Weimer.<\/p>\n

The sergeant major of the Army, or SMA, is the top enlisted soldier, advising the Army secretary and chief of staff. The senior soldier often acts as a spokesperson for enlisted soldiers to Army leadership, on topics ranging from general readiness to uniforms and family policies. The SMA also frequently testifies at congressional hearings and fields questions from the media.<\/p>\n

Weimer has spent nearly his whole career in the special operations world, most recently as command sergeant major<\/u><\/a><\/span> of USASOC since August 2021 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the home of special operations. Coffeeordie.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Man has an impressive resume and looks good on paper. Maybe someone knows him and can comment? Too often in the last generation (to paraphrase “White Christmas” we have sung ‘What do you do with a warrier, who isn’t a warrior, any more?’) when their post-service roles have been somewhat, shall we say, disappointing. I am sure you have a list of candidates for that list, too. McRaven? MacChrystal? Mattis?<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 And a huge BZ to 2LT Anna Zaccaria, who is the first female reservist to graduate Infantry OBC.<\/p>\n

\n

The lieutenant not only graduated but also earned a spot on the Commandant\u2019s List and won the Ironman Award, according to the statement. Only the top 20% of the infantry course graduates make the list.<\/p>\n

The Ironman award is earned by the officer with the highest combined score on physical fitness events or specific company competitions, according to the statement. Military Times II<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Doesn’t sound like she needed ‘relaxed standards’, does it? Good on yer, lady!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Army has decided to let soldiers wear foreign march awards after all. Because there were application fees. Because there were application fees, someone decided foreigners were ‘soliciting’ troops and disallowed wear:<\/p>\n

\n

The Holland Four-Day Event Cross, better known as the Nijmegen Cross, and Luxembourg\u2019s International March of Diekirch Medal are once again approved for soldiers to accept and wear on their dress uniforms, according to an internal announcement shared with Army Times.<\/p>\n

The Dec. 14 reauthorization is \u201cbackdated\u201d to Aug. 31, according to the internal announcement. That means troops who received the awards during a period when the Army had banned their acceptance for permanent wear can now petition the first one-star general in their chain of command to add them to their ribbon racks. Military Times III<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Maybe we should require that anyone wanting to disallow an award has to earn it first. Just a thought.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the day before Christmas. Sun is out, wind has dropped, we will get above freezing … Christmas Eve Short takes – Navy up or out, new SMA, new Infantry 2LT, March awards<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":668,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[478],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-none"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/668"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}