Extension of eligibility for battle honours

[quadrapiper]

Was reading the War of 1812 unit recognition thread, and the following came to mind...

...in this age of no defined front line, might it be time to revise just who gets battle honours? It would appear that all of HMC Ships are eligible - why not some similar allowance for traditionally noncombatant Army units that find themselves in a situation where a combatant unit would receive an honour?

That suggestion is better as the start of a separate thread. It could be a worthy examination of many factors, such as the modern battlefield, the way we generate and deploy forces in the modern world and the nature of combat today.

 

[Michael OLeary]

I will weigh in here to suggest that any credible discourse on changing conditions of award for battle honours needs to start with the existing terms. The last publication in Army Orders for such terms was for the Korean War, which referred directly to those published for the Second World War:

33-1 Battle Honours - United Nations Operations - Korea 1950-1953

33-1 Battle Honours - The Second World War

On particular point of note is the requirements for unit participation (HQ plus minimum 50% of unit), except where units were deployed at the sub-unit level as their primary tactical employment. This may have conflicts with out more modern forms of force generation and the construction of battle groups with multiple sub-unit cap badges.

Another point to consider is the cumulative contributions of a unit to an ongoing theatre of operations; by this mechanism some of the awards of "South Africa" were made.

Since this particular thread deals with non-traditional recipients, it is possible that even a successful argument may always be set against the question, "Why not "Ubique" as a generic Corps award?"

 

[McG]

...in this age of no defined front line, might it be time to revise just who gets battle honours?  … why not some similar allowance for traditionally noncombatant Army units that find themselves in a situation where a combatant unit would receive an honour?

Do you have a for instance where you believe such a situation has occurred?

 

[quadrapiper]

Do you have a for instance where you believe such a situation has occurred?

No particular instance - just something that came to mind after seeing threads dealing with unit recognition, and coming across the DHH note regarding which units can be awarded battle honours. The thing that actually got me thinking about a broadening of eligible types of unit was the note that HMC Ships are eligible, without the distinction based on intended unit role used for Army battle honours.

I have insufficient knowledge to form an educated opinion on the subject.