My thoughts on military awards

Andrew Exum aka Abu Muqawama apparently does not like military medals. More specifically, he does not like medals awarded for non-combat deeds/events or non-valor. Exum states in his blog that if were up to him he would get rid of all medals not related to valor or campaign-specific service.

I have a lot of respect for Exum, his service, and his blog but I am completely baffled by his position. It's a very infantry-centric position for him to take...well he was a Ranger afterall.

Have certain awards and medals lost their meaning by being over-awarded? Perhaps, but to essentially state that one can only get a medal by being in a firefight seems ridiculous. What about the truck driver who puts in 100,000 miles while on a year long deployment but is fortunate enough to never be struck by an IED? Or the supply clerk who does everything he/she can do to ensure his/her company has more than enough supplies to achieve the mission? Should they not receive awards because they weren't in combat and did their job? According to Exum they should not.

But if an infantry soldier gets in a firefight and shoots back, is he not just doing his job, the one he was trained to do? If awards are only given to combat arms soldiers, does that not widen the already extensive culture gap between combat and support MOS's?

Despite going to Iraq 3 times and going "outside the wire" more times than I could keep track of I was only engaged by insurgents on one occasion (not counting mortars and rockets) and was awarded the combat action badge because of it. For two of my deployments I was awarded Army Commendation medals and a Bronze Star at the end of my third for several reasons, two of them being "his partnering role with the Iraqi Security Forces was easily the most challenging. Mike's ability to synchronize ISR assets is further advanced than most field grade officers."

Is that worthy of a Bronze Star? Probably not, but my leadership thought so.

Medals and pretty looking awards are the military's way of rewarding a job well done. Civilian organizations do the same thing only with plaques, raises, and other financial compensation. We can talk about duty, honor, and loyalty to the man next to you, but if I do a year long deployment or work my butt off for an organization for a couple of years, awarding me a colorful little ribbon is the least you can do.