Zerohedge has an article about how NATO Supreme Commander Gen. Tod Wolters had to walk back Biden's comments on Ukraine. That's embarrassing, but the photo of Gen. Wolters caught my eye:
Man, that's a lot of ribbons. Here they are in expanded form (via Wolter's Wikipedia page):
That's thirty-four ribbons by my count, plus Pilot and Basic Space Operations badges. Now compare with a different General who only had ten ribbons after a longer career:
It makes you wonder which General had the more impressive career, doesn't it? (Actually, it doesn't).
Our Navy ships are covered with rust and keep running into huge container ships in an empty Pacific ocean, we evacuated Afghanistan while leaving tens of thousands behind - after losing a 20 year war), the Military spends more time on correct pronoun use than on actual warfighting training. A fish rots from the head.
19 comments:
I'm sure he has at least one ribbon for regular bowel movements. It's important with the military today, and should be proudly displayed with the ribbon for knowing how to tie shoes.
It's all fake and gay.
We see this same thing in third world countries. In North Korea, the fat kid with the funny haircut is surrounded by fart-catching generals with more tinsel on them than a Christmas tree. Peak Globohomo was reached with that fat jewish guy in a vest posed for pics in a woman's uniform.
I wonder how many medals General Aesop has?
Take heart, men! This will not last much longer. It will probably end soon, and badly, and a sense of humour will be a required survival trait.
Or we could start stretching necks now and head off some of the looming body counts. We will deserve the gov't we get and the consequences that go along with it.
That rack reads "pure pencil pusher." They are all good conduct and achievement awards. Not one award for valor or bravery in combat. This is, as Glen said, typical of 3rd world militaries who want to glorify the ass kissers in the ranks.
Maybe they were given out in a cracker jack box, but I count 2 bronze stars.
Fredrick, I witnessed many flag offers writing each other up for "Bravery in the Battlefield" when the closest was a well-guarded tour of the "Action".
I had to detail a medical detail to provide EMS for such a "Tour of Action".
You NEED that stuff to rise in the RANKS of Flag Officers.
I notice that the Russian Generals ACTUALLY get in the line of fire (maybe too much but) and thus get killed to the delight of some of our bloggers.
Herr General has never been shot at. I'd bet 100 soon to be worthless fiat dollars on that if we could read the actual citations for those 2 Bronze Stars.
Frederick, I believe those are Bronze Service Stars, which I believe are different than the bronze start awarded for combat. Perhaps someone in the military could clarify?
I see a hell of a lot of participation trophies, including the 2 awards of the BSM (without "V").
Yeah, 2 Bronze Stars with no V device, but an Air Force UNIT award with a V??? WTF???
Glen,
I see I'm still living in your head rent-free, but when I think of you at all, I wonder if you ever served (not counting coffee and hash-slinging at the local diner).
Does Canuckistan even have a WAC-equivalent unit?
Or is that pretty much all of them?
As to the OP,
General NeverReallyDoneAnything has exactly a possible two combat awards - 2@ Bronze stars and Air Medals - (which aren't for that, as he hasn't seen any combat), despite 15 campaign-level and less ribbons. Most of the rest of his top 6 rows are mainly awards for 90 days consecutive without catching the clap or getting caught doinking his secretary (male or female) the brassholes love to hand out to each other.
He's the son of a general, a pure chairborne ranger, and he lists the Gulf War as one he fought in, but I am at a loss to explain how, or which part of the campaign we fought from Holloman AFB NM, where he was stationed for the entire duration of that effort. And he never got to A-stan until he was three echelons beyond flying combat missions, and if he had any of those, I expect he would have touted that too.
The Air Farce needs the equivalent of the CIB/CMB or the Navy & Marines' Combat Action Ribbon, to differentiate REMFs from BTDT warriors, but I expect that's exactly why the Air Farce doesn't want to have that.
(I'm betting the closest he got to enemy fire was either a spousal dispute in officer housing, or else while escorting Pete Williams and Shrillary Clinton to various safe rear-echelon locations where they all mis-remember ducking incoming rounds.)
He's a Chairborne REMF Warrior First Class for an entire career, despite America getting into four wars during his tour of duty (and never got closer to enemy fire than HQ getting shelled in Kabul), son of another general, and generally just someone who sandbagged his way to the top.
He only transitioned to F-15s after years in OV-10s, so he was a FAC flying a prop plane in peacetime starting out, which denotes he was pretty near the bottom of the flight aptitude totem pole starting out.
The Boyds, the Olds', the Yeagers, et al, are long gone from the top echelons, and mediocrities like this are the best argument for reducing the Air Farce to the Air Corps, and folding it back into the Army in perpetuity, where it should have stayed since ever.
Stolen Valor.
The same types have infiltrated the FAA while I was there. 26 years of working ARTCC and ATC-11 Tracon traffic had shown me that the folks that couldn’t work the traffic quickly got put into staff and support positions. Then, when it came time to fill a supervisory position, those same people who couldn’t DO the job had all the boxes checked and t’s crossed which somehow made them qualified to tell others they were doing it wrong.
One old guy I worked with told one of the wonder-kids, “Why don’t you get a headset and show me how to do it?” The ‘supervisor’ tucked tail and went back to the front desk to answer phones for the rest of the shift. It was funny as hell to see, but also a sad commentary on the state of affairs.
Dale
Eisenhower was nothing impressive. It was Patton who got stuff done. But yes, that's a lot of ribbons for someone who probably never saw any combat like those from WWII and Korea.
OK, for those of you who know these things, I count 15 of those bars that have what looks like a fried chicken wing drumette. Or possibly a turd. Anywhere from one to three (four? second from the bottom, left column)
What are those? Did he win a wing-eating contest?
those are oak leaf clusters denoting multiples of the same award or in some cases years of service.
riverrider - Thanks!!
Clearly those don't look like any oak leaf clusters I've ever seen.
I concur.
If memory serves, during the Grenada operation, the Army handed out more BSMs than they had boots on the ground.
Everybody on active duty gets the National Defense Medal, since we have technically been at war for the last 32 years. They give out ribbons for graduating from basic training, fer chrissake.
It is nuts.
Without the V device, the bronze star is a brown nose award
I only recognize two because I was Air Force and he is Army.
National Defense with a Star for 5 wars and Longevity for every 4 years of service, making his 24 years, 4 more years he gets a Star.
How does one get 5 medals for wars or conflicts with only 24+ years of service? That only goes back to 1998.
Of course there is no Good Conduct Medal as he was never an enlisted rank.
I don't think all those ribbons and medals are legit. He is too young to have that many.
He's only been in the Military since 1982. THREE wars. Gulf War, Afghanistan and Irag War. That's THREE, not 5.
His awards.
Defense Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (3)
Bronze Star Medal (2)
LESS that was he is wearing.
@SiG,
Wikipedia page in question lays it out.
And I spoke too soon: the Air Farce does have a Combat Action Award:
In General Douchebag's case, it is the red ribbon in row 5 on the left, with the diagonal gold stripes (which looks a bit like the UK DFC and AFC), which is supposed to be for those who
* Deliberately go into the enemy's domain (outside the wire) to conduct official duties, either on the ground or in the air, and have come under enemy fire by lethal weapons while performing those duties, and are at risk of grave danger.
* While defending the base (inside/on the wire), and must have come under enemy fire and engage the enemy with direct and lethal fire, and are at risk of grave danger.
* Are personnel in ground operations who actively engage the enemy with direct and lethal fires also may qualify even if no direct fire is taken, as long as there was risk of grave danger and meets other criteria.
Retroactive awards for anything prior to 9/11/2001 are not authorized, and Douchebag used to sport a second award star on his, but has subsequently removed that (I old love to hear that story), and the request for the award has to go through the first Col (O-6) in your chain of command, and colonels don't approve awards for generals, nor command them, so as a rule, it's for Lt. Col. (O-5 and below) only.
He's been a general since 2007, and was a full colonel himself since 2002, so it looks like he awarded the medal to himself as CO of the 485 Expeditionary Air Wing, chopped from Langley to Saudi for operations in Iraq between March and May of 2003, which was the opening six weeks of the Iraq War (OIF).
How...convenient.
It's thus barely possible that as wing commander he actually flew a combat mission or three, and may have actually been in aerial combat.
Unless I see sworn reports that he actually fired at enemy forces, or they fired at him, it still seems pretty fishy, but the Colorado Springs Protective Association seems to be firing on all cylinders here.
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