Televised/online military family reunions

[Ooh-Rah]

I always enjoy watching these, but this one that The Rock pulled off on Jimmy Fallon got the duct-works goin' a bit.

a: I hope that The Rock is as good a dude as he is portrayed and I've always heard

b: A year and a half since they've seen each other. Damn.

c: Even for Air Force the Master Sgt. has a lot of bling. Someone able to translate those bobbles?

d: This time of year I think stuff like this is cool. I hope to see more of these posted in this thread.

 

[Teufel]

I'm no expert on Air Force awards (it seems they have a ribbon for everything) but the top few are the joint commendation, Army commendation, and Air Force commendation medals.

 

[CDG]

His function badge, denoting AFSC, over the top of his ribbon rack is for Public Affairs. The large circular badge below everything is an Air Staff Identification Badge. Which means he was assigned to a HQ level staff for at least a year, so Pentagon, Numbered Air Force, etc.

 

[Kraut783]

JCOM (2nd award), USAF Commendation medal, ARCOM, Joint Service Achievement (2nd award), USAF Achievement medal, Army Achievement Medal ....have to look up the rest

Continued..... USAF Organizational Excellence Award Ribbon, USAF Good Conduct medal (4th award), USAF Recognition Ribbon (4th award), National Defense Service Medal.....that's prob far enough, well will add OIF campaign with two stars.

 

[DA SWO]

I'm no expert on Air Force awards (it seems they have a ribbon for everything) but the top few are the joint commendation, Army commendation, and Air Force commendation medals.

Sadly I agree.
We create ribbons as often as possible, and the Army throws out impact awards at the drop of a hat.

 

[AWP]

I hate those shows/ moments. They strike me as cheap and exploitative.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

I hate those shows/ moments. They strike me as cheap and exploitative.

The ones I love? The ones with the dogs who go apeshit to see their master again.

 

[SpongeBob*24]

From the ribbons, I would say the guy has at least 2 deployments:
Looks like OIF +2 stars, right next to it (wearer's left) is GWOT Service. I don't know why he doesn't have GWOT Expeditionary.

My understanding is if you took the GWOT-E, you lose a star on either OEF/OIF/OIR....:-/

 

[AWP]

The ones I love? The ones with the dogs who go apeshit to see their master again.

All of them to be honest. If someone wants their business to be out there for all to see, something so emotional and personal....whatever, no one made them. I still consider them to be cheap and exploitative.

 

[Teufel]

Sadly I agree.
We create ribbons as often as possible, and the Army throws out impact awards at the drop of a hat.

The USAF has a ton of unit commendations too:

Presidential Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Service Cross
Gallant Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Silver Star
Meritorious Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Bronze Star or Meritorious Service Medal
Outstanding Unit Award: unit equivalent to a high five
Organizational Excellence Award: unit equivalent to a thumbs up

 

[DA SWO]

The USAF has a ton of unit commendations too:

Presidential Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Service Cross
Gallant Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Silver Star
Meritorious Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Bronze Star or Meritorious Service Medal
Outstanding Unit Award: unit equivalent to a high five
Organizational Excellence Award: unit equivalent to a thumbs up

Actually the Outstanding Unit award and Organizational Excellence are equivilant awards, one is a staff element awad and one is for operational units.
Do you consider the Navy/Marine PUC equivalent to a Silver Star?
Battle E a BSM equivalent.
Navy Unit Commendation the high fiver,
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation two thumbs up...

 

[Etype]

I still consider them to be cheap and exploitative.

Agreed. The rock didn't, "bring Todd home for the holidays." The dude was coming home one or the other.

 

[Teufel]

Actually the Outstanding Unit award and Organizational Excellence are equivilant awards, one is a staff element awad and one is for operational units.
Do you consider the Navy/Marine PUC equivalent to a Silver Star?
Battle E a BSM equivalent.
Navy Unit Commendation the high fiver,
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation two thumbs up...

PUC equals a Navy Cross. I think the Marine Corps had given it out twice during the GWOT.

NUC equals a Silver Star, MUC equals an MSM or Bronze star. The battle E is a ship readiness thing. To put things in perspective I've been in the Marine Corps for 13 years and I have two NUCs and one MUC for five deployments. I don't have any PUCs or battle Es.

 

[Blizzard]

If @Freefalling can't get behind this online reunion then he has no soul . The following story was in one of my feeds this morning. It speaks to the positive side of the internet, social media, and boards, such as this one. Nothing more really needs to be said, besides I gotta run...it's getting a little dusty in here:

In 1969, a four-man recon unit of the 173rd Airborne were conducting intel gathering operations deep in the jungles of Vietnam. During one of those missions, Mike Gude stepped on a land mine which blew off his right leg; his teammate Howard Hunt Jr. lay nearby with his legs shredded from the shrapnel. The other two members (Bob Bodemann and Grady Fox) worked frantically to stop Mike's bleeding, and carried him to an LZ where a med-evac managed to pick the team up.

Gude said, "I think I'm going to die." but Bodemann was having none of it. "You're a paratrooper and you're too mean to die." Bodemann replied; and then he took him in his arms to keep him warm during the trip.

When Gude and Hunt were carried into the aid station on Oct. 24, 1969, Bodemann and Fox were blocked from entering and that would be the last time the team would see each other again until 45 years later. “I didn’t even know if these guys were alive,” said Gude; wondering if any of his comrades survived.

Then things changed. With the help of an online message board, Gude found those lost comrades: By some miracle they were all alive. Each of them spent over four decades wondering if their brothers had made it.

On April 24, 2014, at Terminal 4 Ontario Airport, the recon team was finally reunited for the first time since that mission and this photo captures it all. “My life is complete, so if it ends today, I had a beautiful life" - Mike Gude. #stayzero #military #brotherhood

 

[Gunz]

The USAF has a ton of unit commendations too:

Presidential Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Service Cross
Gallant Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Silver Star
Meritorious Unit Citation: unit equivalent to a Bronze Star or Meritorious Service Medal
Outstanding Unit Award: unit equivalent to a high five
Organizational Excellence Award: unit equivalent to a thumbs up

I got two ribbons my first week in the NCANG.

 

[DA SWO]

PUC equals a Navy Cross. I think the Marine Corps had given it out twice during the GWOT.

NUC equals a Silver Star, MUC equals an MSM or Bronze star. The battle E is a ship readiness thing. To put things in perspective I've been in the Marine Corps for 13 years and I have two NUCs and one MUC for five deployments. I don't have any PUCs or battle Es.

Cool, can I make the same assumptions about Army Unit Awards?
Sad that the AF games their system to essentially ensure anyone who deploys gets a unit ribbon.

 

[Teufel]

@DA SWO I domt know anything about Army unit awards. I think they wear the unit awards their unit earned on the right side of their uniform even if they weren't there to earn them. I could be wrong though.

The Marine Corps is generally pretty stingy with awards. I remember getting an achievement medal (and 1 of 2 Purple Hearts I rated; way to go S1) for my deployment into Baghdad during the surge. All my Army peers there got Bronze Stars.

 

[Gunz]

The Corps being stingy with awards is nothing new.

My XO put me in for a Bronze with V after a heavy contact but I never got it. He told me on the phone a few years ago that I got gipped. Ain't no biggie because he and my former CO and my bros know what went down, but...it happened. I had a buddy named Red who went into a booby-trapped treeline to rescue a wounded ARVN...he got put in for a Bronze as well and never got it. But I knew officers who came out in the bush with us for one night who got CARs for watching tracers fly up from a contact 2 klicks away.

I had another buddy who was driving a jeep with a Sgt and Lt from An Hoa to Hoi An, and got caught in an L-shaped ambush. The Sgt was killed instantly, the Lt gravely wounded...My buddy grabbed the M60 and went total berserk on their asses until he got shot in the neck and bled until he passed out. If it hadn't been for him that Lt would've died. He did get the Bronze with V...but at any other time or place he would've gotten the Silver.

I also got 1 Purple Heart for two wounds but the first was a fragment in the hand and relatively minor (non-evac) and we'd just lost Greg Keller to a command detonated 105 booby-trap so my little scratch wasn't worth the gold. The other one I still earn.

I think in retrospect the stinginess of the Marine Corps to award ribbons is a good thing and a point of pride. As long as it's Corps-wide and fair and across the board, it let's everybody else know that Marines got to earn every goddam thing they wear.

 

[Devildoc]

The Corps being stingy with awards is nothing new.

When my father was in RVN (he had 3 tours), he was G2. Spent some time in the field, but he was an intel guy. I have a citation of an award. The NVA attacked wherever he was. Marines manning a mortar unit were killed in the attack, my father rounded up others, manned the mortar 'pit,' and assisted in repelling the attack. He sustained some very minor injuries. He was put in for a Bronze Star with 'V' and PH, the citation was from his Navy/Marine Comm with 'V." He never bitched about it, it was just what it was. I still have that citation somewhere.

As for these shows...I am a sucker for them, especially at holidays. My wife?? Forget about it....a blubbering mess.....

 

[Teufel]

The Corps being stingy with awards is nothing new.

...As long as it's Corps-wide and fair and across the board, it let's everybody else know that Marines got to earn every goddam thing they wear.

@Ocoka One unfortunately it's much easier and common for an officer or senior SNCO to receive a Bronze Star than an NCO. That being said, the bulk of high level valor awards have been awarded to junior enlisted Marines.