Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

Pentagon creates new medal for cyber, drone wars

Discussion in 'Free Fire Zone' started by Kai-Petri, Feb 16, 2013.

Page 1 of 3
  1. Kai-Petri

    Kai-Petri Kenraali

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Messages:
    26,461
    Likes Received:
    2,207
    Pentagon creates new medal for cyber, drone wars - Yahoo! News

    They fight the war from computer consoles and video screens.

    But the troops who launch the drone strikes and direct the cyberattacks that can kill or disable an enemy may never set foot in the combat zone. Now their battlefield contributions may be recognized with the first new combat-related medal to be created in decades.

    Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Wednesday that the Pentagon is creating a medal that can be awarded to troops who have a direct impact on combat operations, but do it well away from any combat zone.
     
    Kai-Petri, Feb 16, 2013
    #1
  2. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2002
    Messages:
    9,683
    Likes Received:
    955
    I've read a few versions of this..I have to say I'm somewhat uneasy with this. CO's commendation yes...Medal? Bravery is one thing. Campaign medals even...but this I think dilutes things rather.
     
    urqh, Feb 16, 2013
    #2
  3. belasar

    belasar Court Jester

    Joined:
    May 9, 2010
    Messages:
    8,515
    Likes Received:
    1,176
    Don't we already have some form of meritorious medal?
     
    belasar, Feb 16, 2013
    #3
  4. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2009
    Messages:
    9,148
    Likes Received:
    2,508
    There are various medals already available that I think would be more than adequate. Higher than a Bronze Star !? If so then every Airmen that actually sat in the cockpit should have been awarded at the least a Silver Star. With Oak Leaf cluster for landing the aircraft! That might be a bit much but come on.

    Officials said the new medal will be the first combat-related award to be created since the Bronze Star in 1944.

    A recognition of the evolving 21st century warfare, the medal will be considered a bit higher in ranking than the Bronze Star, but is lower than the Silver Star, defense officials said.
     
    Biak, Feb 16, 2013
    #4
  5. luketdrifter

    luketdrifter Ace

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2009
    Messages:
    2,349
    Likes Received:
    304
    There are several meritorious awards, most known is the Bronze Star, which states on the back "Heroic or Meritorious Achievement" and is awarded with a "V" device if awarded for combat valor. I agree that the modern battle field is changing, and though drone controllers are not in any danger, their contribution must be recognized, and a medal is a great way to do that, when awarded for circumstances that call for it. A blanket award is wrong...and ranking it ahead of a Bronze Star is tricky...the drone they fly helps take out an ambush and saves lives, or takes out a fortified position that would cost lives? Yes, place it above the MERITORIOUS Bronze Star award...but to ever place it above a Valorous award is an insult.
     
    luketdrifter, Feb 16, 2013
    #5
  6. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,023
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    How about the Bronze Star with a new "N" device. N for nerd. For nerding above and beyond the call of duty. Where no nerds have gone before. A nerd's nerd. A warrior nerd. King of the nerds.

    That's like decorating one of those freaks who dresses up and hangs out in front of the theater for days dressed up like Yoda, Spock or Darth Vader waiting for the opening of a new Star Wars/Trek installment. It just validates their own delusions of grandeur.

    This is total crap. Really, a combat award for never leaving the confines of an air-conditioned computer arcade? Every service has an achievement medal. Give them that with the above mentioned "N" device and that's that. The very idea makes about as much sense of a bag of buggers.
     
    A-58, Feb 27, 2013
    #6
    USMCPrice likes this.
  7. USMCPrice

    USMCPrice Idiot at Large

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2009
    Messages:
    5,168
    Likes Received:
    2,140
    Location:
    God's Country
    What is a bag of buggers? I know what a "bugger" is in English slang. Or is that the Louisiana spelling of "boogers"?
     
    USMCPrice, Feb 27, 2013
    #7
  8. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,023
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    That's a bag of nerds packing the pudding with each other after getting the bronze star with the new "N" device. They'll call it "nerding down the nerd".
     
    A-58, Feb 27, 2013
    #8
    USMCPrice likes this.
  9. USMCPrice

    USMCPrice Idiot at Large

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2009
    Messages:
    5,168
    Likes Received:
    2,140
    Location:
    God's Country
    So it is related to the English slang term buggered, I appreciate the clarification. Now I have a clearer picture. Ewwwwww!
     
    USMCPrice, Feb 28, 2013
    #9
  10. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,023
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    Been over on the talk a lot lately.
     
    A-58, Feb 28, 2013
    #10
  11. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2002
    Messages:
    9,683
    Likes Received:
    955
    Well I aint got a clear picture...Is that like Band of buggers?
     
    urqh, Mar 1, 2013
    #11
  12. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,023
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    That's what decorated nerds should be called! A band of buggers! Urqh has (by accident) done it again!
     
    A-58, Mar 1, 2013
    #12
  13. Carronade

    Carronade Ace

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2010
    Messages:
    3,282
    Likes Received:
    847
    There are, legitimately, awards for competent or extraordinary job performance; but those need to be kept distinct from medals for courage or sacrifice. Flying drones, however well and with whatever valuable results, is definitely in the first category.
     
    Carronade, Mar 1, 2013
    #13
  14. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2009
    Messages:
    9,148
    Likes Received:
    2,508
    It is also not just for the UAV hacks. Some geek sitting at a desk with a double-choco-mint-latte and nibbling Fig Newtons who blocks a Malware might be put in for the Distinguished Wimp Medal too.
     
    Biak, Mar 1, 2013
    #14
  15. formerjughead

    formerjughead The Cooler King

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2008
    Messages:
    5,627
    Likes Received:
    1,006
    A-Pogue-alypse Now!!
     
    formerjughead, Mar 1, 2013
    #15
  16. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    May 21, 2007
    Messages:
    18,047
    Likes Received:
    2,366
    Location:
    Alabama
    My cousin was an active duty naval aviator ("navy pilot" to the rest of the world), who is now a reserve naval aviator. He has was active duty for about 10 years, flying with the Pacific Fleet for about six of them. He was offered a buyout and took it, then hired on with homeland security, where he flies about four or five different aircraft.

    Three years ago he was recalled to active duty and was put to flying drones in a foreign country for a year. He hated it with an unmitigated passion. His comment was, "This is not flying, it is playing a boring video game for twelve hours."

    I need to tell him about this new award. He will probably get a good laugh out of it.
     
    Slipdigit, Mar 1, 2013
    #16
  17. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,023
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    Do the virtual-warriors get to different levels of nerdness by logging more and more "stick" time while "flying" drones? For every confirmed "hit" they make do they get to carve a notch in their arm chair? Will 5 or more confirmed hits make them an ace? How about carpel tunnel? Does that qualify them for the Purple Heart? If they miss their pizza delivery due to being locked in "the heat of virtual battle" do they get hazardous duty pay? The opportunities are endless here. I can't wait for the first movie about them to come out. A working title could be "chairborne garritroopers do it inside", or "climate controlled warriors" or something like that. "The Revenge of the Nerds" has already been taken so they have to steer clear of a lawsuit. Of course if whatever they decide to name it, it have to be a comedy, whether it was intended to be or not. Just saying....

    I can just see Sheriff Buford T. Justice shaking his head and saying "what de hell is da wirl comin too?"

    This is wrong on so many levels.
     
    A-58, Mar 1, 2013
    #17
  18. Carronade

    Carronade Ace

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2010
    Messages:
    3,282
    Likes Received:
    847
    "The Revenge of the Nerds" has already been taken so they have to steer clear of a lawsuit.

    One of the peculiarities of copyright law is you can't copyright a title, so they'd be o.k. as long as the drone jocks aren't drunk horny high school kids.

    For example there were two recent movies called Sahara, one a remake of the Humphrey Bogart WWII classic, the other from a Clive Cussler novel.
     
    Carronade, Mar 2, 2013
    #18
  19. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,023
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    Ok fine, now the nerds can ruin a good classic nerd movie.
     
    A-58, Mar 2, 2013
    #19
  20. Biak

    Biak Boy from Illinois Staff Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2009
    Messages:
    9,148
    Likes Received:
    2,508
    It ain't over yet;

    http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=119507




    Hagel Directs Review of Distinguished Warfare Medal
    By Amaani Lyle
    American Forces Press Service
    WASHINGTON, March 12, 2013 – In light of recent discussions concerning the new Distinguished Warfare Medal and its order of precedence relative to other military decorations, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered a review of the award, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here today.
    Little said Hagel directed Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to conduct the review and expects to make a decision about the medal’s fate after assessing the findings.
    “Secretary Hagel consulted with the chairman, the Joint Chiefs and the service secretaries and knows that the decision to establish the medal was carefully and thoroughly analyzed within the Department of Defense,” Little said.
    Opponents of the medal question the hierarchy of technology-driven warfare such as unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, missile defense and cyber capabilities, as the operators may not be anywhere near a combat zone.
    “Production of the medal has stopped,” Little said, adding that there are so far no nominations for it, allowing time to make a final decision.
    Little noted that the secretary has a long history of involvement and membership with veteran service organizations, including a stint as head of the USO.
    “He’s heard their concerns, he’s heard the concerns of others, and he believes that it’s prudent to take into account those concerns and conduct this review,” Little said. “His style as a leader is to be [decisive] and also to be a ready listener.”
     
    Biak, Mar 12, 2013
    #20
Page 1 of 3

Share This Page