Death of the Fobbit Medal

I've written about the Distinguished Warfare (Fobbit) Medal in the past, here and here, and it pleases me exceedingly to be able to share this message:

Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the Distinguished Warfare Medal

The Department of Defense announced on Feb. 13 the establishment of the Distinguished Warfare Medal to recognize the achievements of a small number of service men and women who have an especially direct and immediate impact on combat operations through the use of remotely piloted aircraft and cyber operations. I agree with my predecessor Leon Panetta that such recognition is justly warranted for these men and women and thank him for raising the level of awareness of their hard work and critical contributions.

When I came into office, concerns were raised to me about the Distinguished Warfare Medal’s order of precedence by veterans’ organizations, members of Congress, and other stakeholders whose views are valued by this department’s leadership.

After consulting with the service secretaries, along with Gen. Dempsey and the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I directed them to review the Distinguished Warfare Medal. The medal was originally conceived to be awarded only to those men and women who, while serving off the battlefield, have an extraordinary impact on combat operations. While the review confirmed the need to ensure such recognition, it found that misconceptions regarding the precedence of the award were distracting from its original purpose.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, with the concurrence of the service secretaries, have recommended the creation of a new distinguishing device that can be affixed to existing medals to recognize the extraordinary actions of this small number of men and women. I agree with the Joint Chiefs’ findings, and have directed the creation of a distinguishing device instead of a separate medal.

The Joint Chiefs also recommend further consultation with the service secretaries, the service senior enlisted leaders, and veterans’ organizations regarding the nature of the device as well as clear definition of the eligibility criteria for award of the device. I have directed that within 90 days final award criteria and the other specifics of the distinguishing device be developed and presented to me for final approval.

The service men and women, who operate and support our remotely piloted aircraft, operate in cyber, and others are critical to our military’s mission of safeguarding the nation. I again want to thank my predecessor, Leon Panetta, for raising the need to ensure that these men and women are recognized for their contributions.

http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=15934 

I think I can better support a device to be attached to an existing medal for the purpose of recognizing our cyber warriors and joystick jockeys, and I have a few suggestions:

For meritorious piloting of an unmanned vehicle in a combat zone: A bronze drone

For meritorious remote management of non-vehicular combat systems: On a bronze scroll, a binary letter "F"

 All kidding aside, this is a much needed move in the right direction.

Militarized Mer-men

Maybe they can get the Fobbit Medal as well:

Ukrainian Attack Dolphins Are On the Loose: Hugh Pickens writes "The Ukrainian Navy has a small problem on their hands. The Atlantic reports that, after rebooting the Soviet Union's marine mammal program last year with the goal of teaching dolphins to find underwater mines and kill enemy divers, three of the Ukrainian military's new recruits have gone AWOL. Apparently they swam away from their trainers ostensibly in search of a 'mate"' out in open waters. It might not be such a big deal except that these dolphins have been trained to 'attack enemy combat swimmers using special knives or pistols fixed to their heads.' Dolphins were trained at Sevastopol for the Soviet Navy as far back as 1973 to find military equipment such as sea mines on the seabed as well as attacking divers and even carrying explosives on their heads to plant on enemy ships. The U.S. has its own dolphin program in San Diego with 40 trained dolphins and sea lions and another 50 in training. U.S. Navy dolphins were deployed in Bahrain in 1987 during a period when Iran was laying down mines in the Persian Gulf to disrupt oil shipments. No word yet on whether 'sharks with frickin' laser beams attached' have been added to the U.S. arsenal."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Distinguished Warfare Medal, part II

The article below isn't new news, but a welcome development in the drama around the

Ranking of new "cyber-medal" comes under scrutiny: Two Republican members of Congress who are also military veterans have introduced a bill that would lower the rating of the new Distinguished Warfare Medal, which can be given to drone pilots and cyber warriors. The legislation would prohibit the medal ...See all stories on this topic »

I wrote about this last year when I first heard about the idea being floated, and I  still loath the notion of
a "Distinguished Warfare Medal" with such a high order of precedence given the low risk in obtaining it.  I am not the only veteran outraged by this, and the media has caught on:

• http://www.dodlive.mil/index.php/2013/02/dodlive-bloggers-roundtable-distinguished-warfare-medal/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/distinguished-warfare-medal_n_2775611.html
• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/26/sgt-shaft-distinguished-warfare-medal-outrank-bron/
• http://www.stripes.com/blogs/stripes-central/stripes-central-1.8040/lawmaker-asks-for-review-of-distinguished-warfare-medal-1.209597
• http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/24/17058421-medal-for-cyber-troops-draws-jibes-dismay-and-whiskey-tango-foxtrots
• http://www.armytimes.com/news/2013/02/air-force-new-medal-ridicule-merit-022013w/
• http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/14/does-distinguished-warfare-medal-degrade-military-honors/

The medal itself is not the issue: the precedence is. It is an insult to those who risk their lives in combat, and though I do not fall into that category, I hold those who did in too high a regard to allow this to remain silent. As I stated previously, the medal needs to be demoted significantly.

I think this sums it up pretty well:

http://www.brecorder.com/images/wall/2013/02/thumb/distinguished-warfare-medal-328x280.jpg

Here is a link to Representative Hunter's comments.

[Update: 6 March 2013]
Another link:
http://soldiersystems.net/2013/02/13/the-distinguished-warfare-medal-the-times-they-are-changin/

Also, in a meeting of the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the National Defense Industry Association, I heard this decoration referred to by the name that I will hereafter call it: the Fobbit Medal.

[Update: 12 March 2013]

• http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2013/03/military-senate-armed-services-committee-leaders-oppose-distinguished-warfare-medal-rank-031113/
• http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2013/03/12/official-hagel-orders-review-of-new-cyber-medal

The Distinguished Warfare Medal (formerly titled: New decoration for joystick jockeys)

I'm all for using technological advantage to win wars, but creating a decoration for drone pilots seems a little excessive:

Drone pilots to get medals?: Pentagon officials have been briefed on the medal's “unique concept,” Charles V. Mugno, head of the Army Institute of Heraldry, told a recent meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts, according to a report in Coin World by our former colleague Bill ...
See all stories on this topic »

First and foremost, I don't want to demean anyone's military service, but piloting a drone from somewhere stateside does not, in my opinion, for whatever that is worth, constitute "Distinguished Warfare" especially at the level that the medal would rank between the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Soldier's Medal. I believe there does happen to be (to quote from the article) "much difference there is in terms of risk “between 10,000 feet and 10,000 miles.”. There may be no difference in the risk to the machine, but there are orders of magnitude more risk for the pilot up in the air. UAV pilots can already receive the Aerial Achievement Medal, which has a much lower order of precedence, but is still ranked higher than a Commendation or Achievement medal.

This debate is sort of like the one several years ago for awarding Purple Hearts for service members who develop PTSD. Does it take a physical wound to warrant a Purple Heart, or will a psychological wound suffice? Granted that the effects of PTSD are as real, and the scar it leaves can long outlast the pain of shrapnel or a bullet, awarding Purple Hearts for it is outside the scope of the decoration.

The same is not true of the Aerial Achievement Medal. Its award for drone piloting seems to be completely within scope, and there is precedent going back to 1997.