News Update: Army Unveils New Award

Subject: Combat Briefing Badge (CBB)

Recognizing the need for an award for troops assigned to headquarters units during combat operations, the Army today announced the approval of the Combat Briefing Badge, or CBB. "People don't realize that being in a major headquarters can be just as stressful as going on patrols or convoys," said MAJ John Remf. "When you're briefing that many General Officers, your career can end in a heartbeat. And it can happen to anyone at any time, not just combat arms soldiers." DOD statistics note that CSS personnel are more likely to suffer career-ending incidents in rear areas than Combat Arms Soldiers. "This just reflects that reality," said Pentagon spokesman LTC Roger Pogue.

The award ranks in precedence below the CIB and CAB, but above the EIB and PowerPoint Ranger tab.

The criteria for the award is still under discussion, but preliminary guidance authorizes the award for 30 days of continuous briefings of officers at least two grades higher than the briefer without incident while serving in a theater of operations in which the awardee is eligible for hostile fire and hazardous duty pay.

Wow, when I started reading that I thought it was real.  Wheew

They already have these...they are called.Bronze Stars....

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............................


Didi you here that?  it was the sound of the fishing line being pulled out of the reel at speed.

I read past Maj Remf & finally slowed down on LTC Pogue.

Good one.  I had to see some REMF POGUE die of a paper cut hurt or himself changing the bulb in the projector before his next power point briefing.



7mmm

Wow...I was about to get angry. (Well, angry-ER than the army makes sure to keep us grunts already)

they are called.Bronze Stars

sad but true....... I have always been told that a Bronze Star was awarded for valor in combat. If that were true, then how the hell can you be awarded a BS without ever actually seeing COMBAT. True enough, our BN TOC was in a combat zone, but not actual combat. But anyone over the rank of E7 that worked in the TOC was awarded a BS.

The sad thing is there are BSMs given for real stuff too, short of a V device, but every bogus one out there undermines them.  

Yeah no shit as it seems every fucking E7 and above that has never left the wire is being put in for one. The guys that have been going out every day or every other day and on ever mission assigned are getting ARCOMS and below.

Im printing this out and posting it anywhere the Fobbits dwell.

Not in my battalion.  by the BC's guidance, non-line soldiers are not eligible for BSM as an end of tour award except for CO and 1SG under some pretty difficult criteria.  Non-line soldiers would only be approved for a BSM for valor, and the awards they could get were MSM, AAM, or nothing whereas the line guys were eligible for BSM, ARCOM, or nothing.  Only 3 guys in my platoon did not get submitted for an award.

A lot of guys don't take into consideration what it takes to effectively manage tasking and missions for 4 or 5 companies in a battalion...there are certain positions that are very much behind the scenes but that deserve recognition for the incredible amount of responsibility and work required.  That said there's a lot of guys at that same level that think they can just put something on powerpoint and *poof* it happens without a lot of sweat, blood, and tears from the line guys.

yeah, id have a joke about that but its too fucking true. good soldiers get bullshit awards while cpt nomissions gets a bronze star for drinking soda and fucking things up.

CAsoldier - were you at QWEST within the last year?

I got in this argument when the BSM recommendations starting getting written, like 2 months into my deployment.  If you read the criterea for the BSM, it reads more like a servicaward, equal to a MSM, but in a war zone.  Obviously, the V device is a completely different animal.
In the interest of full disclosure, I got a BSM as a service award, however, I was an 11b E-5  running a 17 Soldier, mixed MOS squad, with 4 Uparmoreds and 2 ASVs.  I saw combat, I was inducted into SAMC while there, and was (at the time ) the lowest ranking squad leader.  I was the only squad to work at night, and had the tightest squad in my unit.  
That being said, should I have gotten a BSM as a service award?  Or a MSM, which really isnt given out in a warzone.  Should it be a blanket award, fuck no.  But the way it was sold to me was its a service award now.  

flame on
ETA:  I was arguing against BSMs , just so we're clear....

Yea I didn't understand why we had to write the awards so early in the deployment. Seems like an end of tour award should reflect what you did during the tour. But we were told they had to be submitted several months prior to redeployment so they could get all the way up the chain and back down, with corrections, as needed.

BSM / MSM, criteria was dictated from far above the Company level. Once all was submitted higher changed their minds and said MSMs would not be awarded. Anyone we had put in for a MSM was downgraded to an ARCOM. Of the BSMs submitted, a few were downgraded (so while they are "given out like candy", they aren't. They are given frequently though).

For the record I received a BSM. Written and submitted in January it reflected estimated missions / miles as a Platoon Leader. I ended up taking over the Company a few months after the BSMs were submited. I had to deal with a hold lot of issues in my Company, many of which I couldn't have fathomed to ever have to deal with. As a PL I had been shut out of Company Operations, micromanaged, not supported, and kept in the dark. When I took command it was like a fire hose for a learning curve on how to run a Company. I think I earned it.

sadly, in our BN the BSM was handed out to the "Popular" or "Chosen" group. If Battle NCO/CPT was a position that deserved a BSM, then all that performed this duty should have been awarded one right? Especially since our BN was AVN, and anyone that actually went on missions and earned an award was going to get an Air Medal or Flying Cross. The BSMs were being given out for actions on the FOB, not for combat action.

But only certain Battle NCO's or CPT's were given BSM. The funny part is that our awards were never presented in formation. They were just secretly put in your file and you kinda found out on your own. I honestly think this was because the command was ashamned by their actions and knew they were wrong. They didn't want everyone to see who got what.

For the record, I got an Air Medal.......

I feel the same as most on here, but am starting to understand the use of the BSM more.  All E-7s received one and everyone under mostly received an ARCOM unless they are a complete fuckup or retard.  My battalion consists of the battalion component and the HHC.  So of the 150ish ppl total, about half are MPs and the other half are everything else, from supply to medical to office jockeys, and my section R&U.  Kinda makes all the work I did seem not so important.  I'm done with this unit...

If that was real i would lose all hope in the army, Im already am constantly angry that 90% of headquarters is even getting there right arm combat badge, they dont deserve it, when i walk a mile in full gear to the motor pool to go out on mission and i see the headquarters roll by next to me in the gov full of v8 juice my fucking blood boils, they can drive around all day and pick up class 1 but they cant give the line soldiers a ride, there is 1 e-5 in all my my companys headquarters that actually works but besides that there all worthless. And i hate to single out the females but in my company they do absolutley 0 work i dont think ive seen a female take a pt test this whole deployment but for some reason passing pt cards for them are magically popping up. this is the shit that makes me not want to re enlist.

Our E7 TOC NCO thought he deserved a BSM during OIFII. He thought he deserved it so much, he put in his own award and even signed the S3's signature. He got caught when the S3 picked up the awards from DIVARTY that needed corrections. The TOC NCO's award recommendation was no top of the stack. DOH!

Don't know what the final result was but the NCO left Iraq in a hurry and was gone out of the BN by the time we got back.

1st ID DIVARTY had about 100+ soldiers and gave out more BSMs than my 500 man BN. The only DIVARTY personnel outside the wire was the DIVARTY CDRs PSD detail. Everyone else worked inside the wire or the TOC. Of course the DIVARTY CSM got one for making sure the new KBR DFAC was within walking distance from his and the CDRs hootch.

I received two BSMs during my career. Both for combat actions. One for doing a "no shit", behind enemy lines, combat artillery raid during Desert Storm. The other from OIFII and I would gladly give that one back for return of the lives lost earning that one. I was shot once and had a hand full of mortar/rockets land close enough to hit me with shrapnel and debris but couldn't qualify for the CAB because there weren't two witnesses present. Got blown/thrown out of the back of a truck during a mortar attack and "F'd" my back up. Couldn't get a purple heart because the policy was "no blood, no PH". WTF?

I'm "serving" on this tour with an E9 who did that for himself on his last one.  Put himself in for the only one in the company at the time, and got it.  

The NCO creed isnt something they teach anymore it seems...

The same E7 was having little tea parties with the local Iraqi workers in our shared living space. I walk in and theres iraqis all over our room, sitting on my bed, fucking with my shit, looking at my computer, etc. S3 came down the hall to calm me down as I was going postal in a major way.

It's not an NCO or officer thing IMHO- it's just a reflection that our folks in uniform (all uniforms, all ranks) are from the same worsening pool as our society in general.  

While the military is a reflection of ourr society, the military still has a much lower rate of oxygen thieves than the civilian world. And the amount of senior NCO dirt bags are extremely low. They just have a much greater negative affect on the unit's good order and discipline do to their rank and positions.

I had a E5 when I was in Iraq that got bronze star for doing nothing but sitting behind a desk and logging stuff down. Not something that really had to be done seeing how the LTC he was working for only wanted to know what was going on. It wasn't mission essential and he could've pulled up the information off of the computers, he just found it easier that this E5 be his bitch. A lot of NCO's there deserved a lot more recognitioin for what they did and they didn't get recognized for it.

oh man, i was falling for it too until i saw that

that gets me mad to im over here as a contracter and every time i see soldier carring there bags and stuff i ofer them a ride

This is Nov 1 not April 1!  

Dare I say it? It's not an Army thing getting awards not deserved, it's an officer thing.

All awards go through a LT, a CPT, and a LT Col at a minimum. BSMs go thorugh a Col as well. If a soldier gets an award they don't truely deserve, it is blessed off on by 3-4 officers before it's approved. So, where does the blame lie for diminishing the awards program?

You must have missed the 3 hour meeting I sat in full of CPTs, MAJs, and LTCs discussing this... er more like everyone proclaiming how it was done their "last time", AND disagreeing with what we were being told to do, but the guidance was given to us from higher, so we execute the lawful order. It came from higher than an LTC, least where I was.

And not all NCOs are professional enough to run awards through their PL. Some go around the PL and straight to the CO and S1.

Want some BS? How about every time a certain Platoon of a certain unit goes out, they nearly always encountered SAF? There was never supporting evidence of SAF, or there was damage, it was not caused by bullets. Maybe the unit was just unlucky and got hit much much more than all the other units (which rarely came under SAF). But I'm calling bullshit.

You can get all pissed off about awards being "diminished", when it's directed from higher and out of your control. How about flat out lying to get a CAB?

How about not following an immoral order to put someone in for an award they do not deserve. No one has the authority to tell any soldier what to write on a counseling, NCOER, OER or an award request. If they put the soldier in for an award you don't think deserves it, so be it. Let them jeopardize their integrity.

Make your life miserable if you do not comply to an immoral order? Yes it probably will, but what's your honor and integrity worth?

I'm speaking from experience and have been the unit outcast more than once. But they CoC had no legal authority to force me follow an immoral order. They didn't sign my paycheck or sleep in my bed, so I didn't care what they thought.

I once refused to send an E5 to the E6 board even though he met TIS and TIG requirements. He was a lying, stealing piece of shit and I had the counseling to back it up. The commander reassigned him to another section and that section chief recommended him for the board. Piece of shit made E6 that didn't deserve it, CoC ostracized me for over a year because they said I was ruining his career path. Motherf*cker was ruining his own career path. All I was doing was documenting his actions. My intergity remained intact.

Don't underestimate the power of being right.

Thats the personal view of it being an immoral order. Each of us may view an action or individual's actions differently than another. I can respect and agree with your view if the reason is that you believe it to be immoral.

As much as I hate to see shitbags get promoted (and I have), I can't agree with withholding promotion packets. Simply because I observed the opposite. My PSG withheld promotion packets of Soldiers he and his buddies didn't like, without proper counseling. E6s don't seem to like it when E4s know more than the E6. But the PSG had problem sending all his E5 buddies to the E6 board when they weren't ready. The regulation states (and for citing the regulation and demanding fair treatment of my Soldiers, I was chastised) that if a Soldier is in the zone, the packet must be sent to the Commander. The Commander does the points and checks "Recommend" or "Do not Recommend". Then the Board reviews the packet, INCLUDING the counsellings. Let the Board see all the negative counsellings.  Per the Reg no one at the Company level may withhold a packet. The reasoning I suspect has to do with a Soldier not being screwed by the "Good Ole Boys"... as it occurred in my unit until I took command.

TC- I think we agree more than it appears. Doing the honorable and right thing for our Soldiers is paramount. The standards must be applied equally and fairly to all. I simply will not let one of my Soldiers be discriminated against. I see a certain NCO in my unit always being given a poor NCOER. I always have to send it back to the rater telling them to support the negative comments and bullets with counsellings, that events didn't occur in the rating period, and that they seemed to have forgotten positive actions by the Soldier in the rating period. "But Sir, you are the Reviewer. All you need to do is make sure the Rater and Senior Rater comments jive". No. I won't sign something that I know is inaccurate and trying to destroy someone's career.

We are in agreement.

When I bucked the CoC it was within the regs. When I refused to recommend sending that NCO to the E6 board, I did have all my counseling to back it up and I used the same counseling packet to give him the worst change of rater NCOER I ever wrote. I can't prove it but I think the 1SG rewrote his NCOER and made himself his rater.

I hate it when an someone says they were forced to write an award they didn't think the soldier deserved. No one force him, he let himself be manipulated or intimidated by the CoC. My philosophy was always, "I can't control anything above my position but I control everything below it. I did the right thing despite what all my peers were doing around me. Most of my peers were under the impression that leaving their back bone at home was the fastest way to get promoted. I never worried about it. I made sure my ducks were in a row and IAW regs and was untouchable. I even called JAG against my CoC twice in my career. Never saw rats scurry so fast back into their hole.