So DoD tried to create a separate medal to recognize their service. Remember all the wharrrgabbl that resulted? Because it 'outranked' (whatever the fuck that means) the Bronze Star?
Marines wear utilities because that is the uniform Marines wear in the field and most of the time in garrison. That was easy. Uniformity, simplicity, and the real possibility of "non combat" Marines seeing combat makes a lot of sense, but I think you already knew all of that.Why do non combat Marines wear cammies?
FOD free uniforms on the flight deck that we fly off of.
Walk into a MEF Planning exercise: "Who is that Aerial Recce SME guy? Did he not get the memo that we're in flight suits? Oh he doesn't have wings? He's not an aviator and therefore doesn't know shit."
It's a cultural thing. "Welcome to the MAG: we get that you fly airplanes around, but you don't get to wear the uniform- why? Because we're better than you." Yet a metric shit ton of people wear flight suits beyond just Pilots and NFOs.
Why does it matter so much to you that UAV guys don't wear flight suits?
UAV dudes do a lot of good work. It seems odd to me that they would wear flight suits. Do DASC guys wear them? ATC? Does anyone doubt their competence because they aren't wearing a costume?
It doesn't "matter so much to me". I'm curious why it's important to you.
I don't mind the medal but it should rate below current 'valor' awards.
Plenty of non-combat, non-valor awards "rank" above combat/valor awards. The DSM, which is pretty much an EOT award for flags, ranks above the Silver Star. The Defense Superior Service and Legion of Merit are in the order of precedence above the DFC and Bronze Star. "Non-combat valor" medals like the NMCM also are above the Bronze Star in precedence. The harrumphing over the "rank" of the Distinguished Warfare medal was based on a false premise. Proximity to bullets flying does not equal the precedence of the medal.
So you've got that going for you, which is nice.
Log flights at least used to be explicitly excluded from getting air medal points.
The whole USAF UAV manning problem is interesting. UAVs have made a huge contribution to the recent wars yet the service and the pilots don't seem to value their own contributions. It will be interesting to see what levers USAF pulls to solve this problem because it's not as though demand for UAVs will go away or decrease any time soon.
I could see UAS guys maybe receiving air medals / dfc if they really do something big but neither of those with combat Vs. have to actually be exposed to a threat for those. And to differentiate aviators air medals earned by points from the UAS allow aviators to earn combat action ribbons if they meet the same criteria in the air as those that earn it on the ground.
That was proposed a while ago by the USAF but shot down by the other services, and I think you would have to change the law to make that happen.
Air Force would give them out like candy probably anyway. DFC was on a point system like the air medal through the Korean War I believe. Given the amount of threat aircrew endured during that time especially during WWII I can definitely see that as justified.
What sort of recognition does an intel person receive when they make a significant contribution?
Since it is a combat-related award and it should be put in the appropriate place in relation to other combat-related medals, which would be below those that you can only receive for being in an actual combat zone. Rank it next to the Aerial Achievement Medal, that is a more appropriate placement for it since it is of similar purpose. And yes, placement and precedence matter.
Just because folks make a contribution to the war doesn't always mean they get the same recognition as those who actually put their lives on the line in combat, even if it is hanging out on a huge FOB with 10,000 of your closest friends. One of the soldiers who had the biggest impact on WWII but didn't serve in combat, Lt Gen Leslie Groves, got a standard non-combat award for his work leading the Manhattan Project. Not everyone can be winner.
Finally, UAV guys rate flight suits as far as I am concerned. The USAF has long let satellite and missile folks wear bags and UAV guys are a lot closer to actually flying something than they are. It is a little thing and not letting them do so just strikes me as being small, a lot like the Marines objecting to regular Navy folks wearing our desert version of the NWU's because it was too similar to their desert cammies.
Not following your argument there. Leslie Groves received the DSM for the Manhattan Project, which was and still would be the end-of-tour for leading a big Stateside project at the GO/FO level, and which is a higher precedence than the Silver Star. He received the Legion of Merit, which is above the Bronze Star, for building the Pentagon. I'm not arguing that placement and precedence don't matter; I'm just saying that the argument that combat-valor awards rate higher than non- isn't true.
My philosophy for UAS guys wearing bags is psychological. I want guys who are flying an airplane to think and act like it. I wrote an Approach article while I was doing Fire Scout on CRM for drones. It's way too easy for guys to slip out of the mindset that, though they may personally have their asses on the ground, they're still driving a large airplane through airspace, which is often full of things like CBs, icing, birds, and other airplanes filled with meatbags. They're not just watchstanders - they're aircrew. Having them wearing bags and earning wings reinforces that mindset and helps keep it there.