FSTO
Army.ca Fixture
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I was at BOTC when the Berlin Wall fell.Anyone joining is rolling the dice on what’ll happen in the world; ask anyone who showed up to St Jean in August 2001.
I was at BOTC when the Berlin Wall fell.Anyone joining is rolling the dice on what’ll happen in the world; ask anyone who showed up to St Jean in August 2001.
Off topic:I was at BOTC when the Berlin Wall fell.
So you're the reason?I was at BOTC when the Berlin Wall fell.
Certificates are something you can't show off, unless you bring your "Brag Wall" out in public...just my opinion of course. The pins/clasps are outward recognition of stuff you've done that the public gets to see...and can chat about if you so choose.Now, don't forget, that there are other forms of recognition, than a medal. We have MIDs and other badges and clasps worn on the uniform; but other than accoutrements to be worn, we have Certificates, Letters of recognition, plaques, etc. that one would have on file or hang on a wall.
I always looked at my or someone else's rack as their resume/CV - where they've been, what they might have seen, who I might know that might have been with them, and who they did it for (Canada/UK/US/etc). They often do stimulate conversations - was in the Sussex Legion in NB one dreary Remembrance Day with some of my unit youngsters and I noticed a fellow with an odd medal on a Merchant Marine blazer. He had both a Burma Star (the odd one out) AND a Pacific Star, which generally cancelled each other out - you were allowed one or the other, I know this because my Grand-Dad had a Burma Star and he had to choose which he wanted. Turned out that the rule didn't apply to Merchant Mariners for whatever reason, but I had to ask the question...and did it in a way that didn't make the old blind dude feel like I was calling him a Walt. Turned out he'd been torpedoed twice in the North Atlantic before being sent on ships in the Pacific and SE Asia...and things went on from there.Right, but as I said I see there being a societal scale messaging component to this; show Canadians these vets are out there. There’s also something about a medal that a certificate or pin doesn’t match.
I wish I could remember where the post is, but I remember someone some years back posted here about someone telling the story of his medals to some civilians, and explaining his greatest pride being in the CD for all the otherwise unremarked sacrifices and labours it represented. I always liked that post. I feel like @Edward Campbell might have shared it.
I’ll argue that you’re not “competing” for a CD or the bars though. The criteria is to be still in uniform after X years, without being charged. It’s still something to serve for that time, but it’s not like you have to do anything special to get it.In this case, I'd probably have to go with our current culture, across all segments of our society, of giving out freebees, awards to everyone just for participation/attendance. We have the question raised of a medal for four years of service, where we already have one for twelve, with bars for twenty-two, thirty-two, forty-two, etc. It is sort of the idea that you no longer have to 'compete'.
Probably a calculation like the Sea Service Indicator - AKA the number of “full time service” days (minus the weirdness of “sea days” and how they’re counted). Or the same way they calculate your Reserve time when you OT to the Reg F.Concur. Theee or four years of evenings, weekends, and a Stalwart Guardian or two would not cut it.
I’ll argue that you’re not “competing” for a CD or the bars though. The criteria is to be still in uniform after X years, without being charged. It’s still something to serve for that time, but it’s not like you have to do anything special to get it.
Even then it is only major punishments that cause any forfeiture of time towards a CD. A AWOL charge or 129 with a fine or other minor punishment do nothing to reset one's time towards their CDWithout being convicted.
Good news! There's no such thing as a KR&O!Even then it is only major punishments that cause any forfeiture of time towards a CD. A AWOL charge or 129 with a fine or other minor punishment do nothing to reset one's time towards their CD
Annex T – The Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD) - Canada.ca
Provides Forces personnel with the rules and regulations for wearing, replacing and recommending national honours and awards.www.canada.ca
No member shall be considered to have a record of good conduct if during the last eight years of claimed service they have been awarded a punishment or sanction by a court martial, summary trial or summary hearing other than a fine, deprivation of pay, "minor punishment" or "minor sanction" listed in KR&O 104.13 and 123.02.
Yeah I caught that too.Good news! There's no such thing as a KR&O!
For the RCMP if you have ever had a conduct finding at all- you are forever ineligible for these commemorative medals. Theres an equation for the long service medal- so it’s in theory harder to get these than the long service medalNow, I don't agree with that. That, in my opinion is going way overboard. After all, that is what the CD is. You have just reduced the time, to create a redundant award, and a "Gimme". I even have a bit of a problem with what is now considered a Veteran that includes people, who in extreme cases, "signed on the "Dotted Line" and quite two days later".
RCAF 6 Group also seemed to have some leadership issues as well . They're dealings with PTSD sufferer's for a start . It's just a lack of moral fibre.... seriously?
I've gotta ask you to take nice kids and fly them until they can't take any more, and then put 'em back in and fly 'em some more. We've got to try to find out just what a maximum effort is. How much a man can take and get it all.
There always needs to be a criteria for awards. A recruits 1 day of service then quitting isn't equivalent to your 12 or 15 years.But in this thread you’ve already started deciding whose service should count as what for even your imaginary medals. Four years- but only if it’s reg time or class B. And not if you lived in shacks (sarcasm). Service to Canada is service to Canada.
I still think of the number of Australian resources I have worked with that wore this award. National Emergency MedalYeah, initially I was thinking a ‘domestic’ bar to the SSM, but I’ve leaned more towards something like an OSM-Domestic. I’m not sure how viable op specific bars would be given how DOMOPS are likely to be an accumulation of multiple short but kinda shitty deployments. But maybe something similar to the rotation bars for cumulative service? Someone would need to pull data and get a sense of what’s reasonable on that. But I could see a low threshold - 30, 45 days - for an initial award, and maybe high thresholds for bars.
Recognition, I think. For me personally it’s all academic. I have my modest rack, already got a CD so a short service medal wouldn’t apply, and I didn’t do enough DOMOPS that I’d see anything under reasonable criteria for that. I’ve come to strongly few that what CAF does for Canadians should be more loudly celebrated. A DOMOPS medal would help with that (and would incentivize reservists stepping up), and I’m coming to think a short service medal for OFP and a basic engagement might indirectly spread a bit more awareness that we’re out.
i don’t disagree. I just think we Canadians are very gun shy about us giving a misleading impression with our racks that we have done “so much” because of gongs like these. I’d suggest, as usual, we re so far the other way that in an international context we accomplish the opposite where our experienced folks look like they gone nowhere and done nothing. Which isn’t true.There always needs to be a criteria for awards. A recruits 1 day of service then quitting isn't equivalent to your 12 or 15 years.
Likewise we don't get a campaign star for a 3-day trip in country.
i don’t disagree. I just think we Canadians are very gun shy about us giving a misleading impression with our racks that we have done “so much” because of gongs like these. I’d suggest, as usual, we re so far the other way that in an international context we accomplish the opposite where our experienced folks look like they gone nowhere and done nothing. Which isn’t true.
That said. There are some impressive racks out there inside this honour system we have, so it’s not like it doesn’t happen.
I suppose it’s this. Let commemorative medals be what they are. Let valour be what it is. Let operational medals speak for themselves. Conflating commemorative medals with merit just kinda seems odd. Like if that’s the case we probably should have another award
How about the folks from NDHQ who facilitated the handovers in Bos/Her? Flew in, checked some papers, flew out, stayed in in hotel, allowed to amass/accumulate small visits to gain "I was there" gong. Know of at least 1, any more?There always needs to be a criteria for awards. A recruits 1 day of service then quitting isn't equivalent to your 12 or 15 years.
Likewise we don't get a campaign star for a 3-day trip in country.
Wasn't there some groundswell a while back for a domestic service gong that included the FLQ thing and Oka?I still think of the number of Australian resources I have worked with that wore this award. National Emergency Medal
Note this is the national emergancy and many states have a state (provincial) version for their own local emergancies.
Part of it to me though is everything seems to be Ops Lentus for Dom. Ops. so makes it tougher to tell what is where.
I shouldn’t have grown my chest in all this anticipation of free bling.Luckily we have long lived regents or very few people would have any chest bling at all