It\u2019s common knowledge that there are serious issues with military combat decorations.\u00a0 To most civilians, this seems to be a minor issue.\u00a0 But as anyone in the military knows, to folks in uniform this is indeed a big deal.\u00a0 Inequity in awards is at the least a morale killer, and at worst can kill a unit\u2019s faith in its chain-of-command \u2013 and thus seriously degrade its effectiveness.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve done a bit of thinking about the situation over the past few months.\u00a0 And since you\u2019re reading this, well, you probably already have figured out that I\u2019m about to wax soporific on the subject.\u00a0 (smile)<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t personally think the situation is FUBAR at this point.\u00a0 But things are<\/em> IMO seriously out-of-whack; corrections are needed.\u00a0 I also think I have a few decent suggestions as to how to improve the situation.\u00a0\u00a0 They don\u2019t constitute a perfect solution, but they should IMO improve the current situation substantially.<\/p>\n Anyway:\u00a0 that\u2019s my story, and I\u2019m sticking to it. (smile)<\/p>\n Introduction<\/span><\/p>\n I won\u2019t attempt to detail all the known \u201cgripes\u201d about combat decorations today.\u00a0 A partial list:<\/p>\n There are, of course, many others.<\/p>\n IMO, many of these gripes are based on reality; some are at least partly perception.\u00a0 In some cases there is a reasonable explanation, while in other cases it\u2019s simply due to abuse of the system.\u00a0 My purpose here is to identify some of the factors that have contributed to this situation \u2013 and to suggest how to reduce the magnitude of the problem.<\/p>\n As my background is Army, I\u2019m going to discuss this from the perspective of Army decorations and practices.\u00a0 Fair warning:\u00a0 this article is kinda long.<\/p>\n Reason #1:\u00a0 Most Decorations are Multiple-Use<\/span><\/p>\n One reason that there is frustration over combat decorations is due to the fact that the vast majority of military decorations are truly \u201cSwiss army knives\u201d.\u00a0 That is, most decorations can be used multiple different ways to recognize various types of outstanding performance.<\/p>\n By \u201cdecorations\u201d, I am referring to personal decorations awarded for outstanding performance or acts; examples are the Silver Star and an Achievement Medal.\u00a0 The discussion which follows excludes campaign, expeditionary, and service medals, as well as the Purple Heart and (for the Army) combat badges.\u00a0 Criteria for these latter items are relatively \u201cbinary\u201d \u2013 one either qualifies or not for the badge or medal in question based on specific circumstances or criteria.\u00a0 In contrast, a personal decoration for outstanding performance is awarded at the discretion of the chain-of-command and involves a commander\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n Service or Achievement<\/i><\/p>\n Most personal decorations (Achievement Medal and up) are \u201cmultiple use\u201d in two distinct ways.\u00a0\u00a0 The first is whether the award is granted for performance over time (for \u201cservice\u201d) or for the performance of a specific act or acts (for \u201cachievement\u201d or for \u201cheroism\u201d – which is a specific type of act).\u00a0 \u00a0Indeed, surprisingly few personal decorations are truly single-purpose in this respect.\u00a0 In the Army, there are only four:\u00a0 the Medal of Honor (MoH), the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the Silver Star (SS), and the Soldier\u2019s Medal (SM).\u00a0 Each of these decorations is awarded only<\/em> for specific acts of heroism.<\/p>\n All other decorations \u2013 including all of the Defense decorations, such as the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) and Joint Service Commendation Medal (JSCM) \u2013 can be awarded for either service or a single act or achievement (and in some cases, for valor as well).\u00a0\u00a0 This dual nature of most awards \u2013 e.g., they can be either for a single act or for service over a period of time, and sometimes for heroism \u2013 leads to some degree of confusion as to their meaning.<\/p>\n Combat or Noncombat<\/i><\/p>\n The second point of confusion comes from the fact that, while there are theoretically combat and peacetime decorations, there is not now and has never been a particularly clear distinction between the two.\u00a0\u00a0 Some decorations are very obviously awarded only for acts performed during armed action against the enemy\u2013 but it\u2019s a short list.\u00a0 In the Army, there are precisely three such awards:\u00a0 the MoH, the DSC, and the SS; a fourth, the SM, is awarded only for noncombat heroism.\u00a0 All of the other personal decorations may be awarded for acts that do not involve personal participation in combat.<\/p>\n The situation got even more confused circa 2004 due to changes in policy allowing formerly prohibited noncombat decorations (in the Army, the MSM and AAM) to be awarded in a combat zone.\u00a0 That policy change allowed the MSM and AAM to be awarded for service in a combat zone, retroactive to 11 September 2001 – but only for service that can legitimately be characterized as \u201cnoncombat service”.\u00a0 The result has been even more confusion (as well as more dissatisfaction and perceived and\/or actual inequity) regarding just how to appropriately recognize combat service.<\/p>\n Bogus Current Combat Zone Designations<\/span><\/p>\n Another major contributor to the current problems with recognition of combat service is the fact that, bluntly, many of our current combat zone designations are . . . well, bull.\u00a0 “Combat zone” – technically hostile fire pay\/imminent danger pay zone – implies ongoing active hostilities and a bona fide<\/em> threat to one’s life\/health due to enemy action.\u00a0 On that basis, many of our current combat zones simply don\u2019t qualify.<\/p>\n Prior to the 1990s, DoD\u2019s declaration of combat zones appeared to make some degree of sense.\u00a0 A combat zone was declared for a particular war or operation, or for a more limited area where there were ongoing sporadic hostilities (e.g., Korean DMZ).\u00a0 When hostile circumstances no longer applied, the Combat Zone designation was revoked.\u00a0 Only a few (Iran since 1979, Colombia since 1985, Afghanistan since 1988) seemed to drag on open-ended – and there appeared to be a good reason for those few.<\/p>\n We seem to have quit doing that in the 1990s.\u00a0 The combat zone declared for Desert Shield\/Desert Storm is essentially still in effect, and has been since 1990.<\/a> It covers huge areas where no significant hostilities have occurred for in some cases over 20 years.<\/p>\n Here are the current hostile fire\/imminent danger pay designations, along with the dates they were so declared:<\/p>\n Unless I’ve miscounted, that’s 49 countries (giving Somalia the benefit of the doubt) plus some designated areas at sea.\u00a0 Yes, most of them are pretty nasty places.\u00a0 And some of them deserve the designation and probably should remain hostile fire\/imminent danger pay locations.<\/p>\n But all<\/em> of them?\u00a0 IMO, not only no – but hell no<\/span>.<\/p>\n Since 1991, the only combat zone\/quasi-combat zones I know of that have ended are the Bosnia\/Croatia\/Macedonia quasi-combat zone (1995-2007) and the eastern Mediterranean (apparently recently; I cannot find the exact date it ended, but as of last year it still qualified).\u00a0 All of the others are still active – whether or not there are any significant ongoing hostilities involving the US.\u00a0 <\/em>Oh, and I especially like the Guantanamo Bay (but only those assigned to the detention facility) declaration.\u00a0 Must be a lot of shooting going on at that detention facility!<\/p>\n The reason for this appears fairly easy to discern:\u00a0 DoD wanted to reward troops for deployment with tax benefits.\u00a0 Plus, supporting the troops was also politically popular and played well with Congress \u2013 who funds DoD.\u00a0 So the end result is that combat zones today never seem to end, even when hostilities do.\u00a0\u00a0 This contributes to the next problem:\u00a0 a blurring between combat and noncombat service.<\/p>\n\n
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\nSomalia Basin (1) Land area and airspace. Sep 28, 1992
\n(2) Water area of the Somalia Basin with coordinates: 1110N3-05115E2, 0600N6-04830E5, 0500N5-05030E8, 1130N5-05334E5; and 0500N5-05030E8, 0100N1-04700E1, 0300S3-04300E7, 0100S1-04100E5, 0600N6-04830E5.\u00a0 Dec 26, 2006<\/li>\n
\nLand area and airspace of the Republics of Montenegro and Serbia.
\nJun 22, 1992<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n