A good example of how as resources free up, rabbits prefer to see the extraordinary made banal:
Time to reform the Pentagon’s award system
There has been a jarring addition to U.S. military uniforms since the end of World War II. Seventy years ago, high-ranking officers wore relatively few ribbons or medals?—?and awards for valor were rare. Go back farther to the Civil War, and it was common for officers to not wear military decorations at all.
But for the modern officer, it’s now possible to perform one’s duties without being a hero and still have a chest full of ribbons that are indecipherable to all but the most dedicated students of phaleristics.
Most of all, the typical 21st-century American general is a walking wall of multi-colored “great job” ribbons, none of which are awards for valor.
The ribbons have spread so widely that it has become difficult to differentiate heroes from bedecked bureaucrats, assignment-junkies and dedicated self-improvement types?—?which, I suppose, is partly the point.
Rabbits feel the only fair situation is if medals are awarded freely. To them, any hint of someone exploiting a superiority to gain more medals than everyone else is inherently unfair. That is, it is a condition so foreign to their cognitive programming, it is painful, and thus it must be immoral according to their rabbit code.
A lot of people try to apply logic to ideology, especially their own. But it doesn’t apply. We each have the environment we are designed for, either glut or shortage, and we either like what we see, and feel it is right according to our moral code, or we do not.
While I recognize a K-selected psychology is more logical from the standpoint of minimizing suffering, I strongly suspect many of us who support it, myself included, do so more because it fits with how our brain operates, than any logical reason supporting it.
[…] Free Resources Rabbitizes The Military […]
A large portion of those, “ribbons,” are not for, “medals.” In actuality they represent certain military training, professional military education, tours of duty, etc.
For instance, My board includes (but not necessarily limited to) the following
Basic military training – Completed BMT
Expert marksman qualification – Can shoot real good
Non Commissioned Officer training – Completed PME for NCO rank
Short Tour with oak leaf – Deployed to two tours, of less than 180 days
Iraqi Campaign medal with Star device – Combat deployed to Iraq in two separate campaigns
Global war on Terror Campaign ribbon – Served during the period of the Global War on Terror
National Defense Service ribbon – Served during a period of war
Actual military honor awards (stars, medals etc.) are put at the top of any ribbon board in order of descending honor. Of which I have a few.
Typically, military dress codes specified only certain ribbons for officer wear; allowing the officer to not display all of their ribbons in certain forms of military dress. This was due to the manner in which officers tended to, “earn,” their medals; which was vicariously through their troops. Most officers felt it was bad form to display awards they received due to the actions of their subordinates. However, shortly before I left the military, new guidelines were given, from the chiefs of staff (civilian leadership) requiring all officers to display all of their ribbons in every form of military dress.
I read a number of years ago that among the military, the only important badge or ribbon on someone’s tunic was whether it included the Combat Infantryman’s badge.
I had a ribbon rack four rows deep by the time I got out. Most all of it was BS ‘good job’ type stuff. Either that or they were awarded just for showing up. They even award a ribbon for completing basic training in the Air Force now. Looking back I can’t even really identify most of them. Only one I really took any pride in was the one I got for marksmanship.
Thing is, aside from the combat arms, there really isn’t much opportunity to distinguish oneself and show valor anymore. Most jobs in the military are non-combat support type roles. What they really need to do is come up with some sort of award system for the non-combat support guys that recognizes them for doing their job well, while ensuring that their decorations can’t be mistaken for decorations for valor earned in combat.
Even better, I would think, would be to have separate uniforms for the combat vs non-combat troops.