Posted on May 12, 2015
GWTSM do you use yours? Do you even know if you have it?
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I've seen that the Junior Enlisted don't comment that much in discussions posted here so, here one so you can participate.
Last week I saw a lot of E1-E4 walking around in ASU's and I noticed that most of them wasn't using their GWTSM Ribbon. When I got out of AIT I used just 2, the NDSM and the ASR, but when I got to my First Unit, in my first ASU's inspection, every NCO was asking me about my GWTSM and if they didn't give it anymore. Which E1-E3 doesn't want another ribbon in their barely empty ASU?! So I checked my ERB and there was it! I ran to the MCS and got my ribbon, got to admit that even when I didn't know I could use it, I was excited about my new ribbon.
Do you use yours? Do you know if you are authorized to use it? Do you even know what is the GWTSM? If you are a NCO, do your Soldiers use them? If you are tagged, feel free to response.
For reference, a recent post from HRC: https://www.hrc.army.mil/tagd/global%20war%20on%20terrorism%20expeditionary%20medal%20gwotem%20and%20global%20war%20on%20terrorism%20service%20medal%20gwotsm
Last week I saw a lot of E1-E4 walking around in ASU's and I noticed that most of them wasn't using their GWTSM Ribbon. When I got out of AIT I used just 2, the NDSM and the ASR, but when I got to my First Unit, in my first ASU's inspection, every NCO was asking me about my GWTSM and if they didn't give it anymore. Which E1-E3 doesn't want another ribbon in their barely empty ASU?! So I checked my ERB and there was it! I ran to the MCS and got my ribbon, got to admit that even when I didn't know I could use it, I was excited about my new ribbon.
Do you use yours? Do you know if you are authorized to use it? Do you even know what is the GWTSM? If you are a NCO, do your Soldiers use them? If you are tagged, feel free to response.
For reference, a recent post from HRC: https://www.hrc.army.mil/tagd/global%20war%20on%20terrorism%20expeditionary%20medal%20gwotem%20and%20global%20war%20on%20terrorism%20service%20medal%20gwotsm
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Junior Enlisted
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 14
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Bottom line if you are my Soldier and you are authorized a ribbon no matter what it is you will wear it if it is on your ERB. If you dont make Soldiers wear all there ribbons and set there uniforms up correctly they willi never know how to do it when it is time to prepare for a DA photo for a centralized promotion board. And yes I do spot checks of ERBS when I do ASU inspections.
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SGT(P) (Join to see)
That's just what my NCO told me, I didn't know about until he let me know. ALso the importance of updating the ERB with S1 in case there is something wrong on it.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
This issue is actually easily explained. He didn't actually earn the award until after he got to the unit (30 days later). Since it is functionally automatic, no one bothered to tell him. It's much like the 3rd or 4th Good Conduct or Sea Service. You just "get it." For a young troop, if you didn't know, you wouldn't know.
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A lot of great advice on here. One more thing I will add, PFC, is to start an "I Love Me" (career book) if you haven't already. It's good keep copies of all your paper work (promotions, orders, SSD certs, training certs, etc) in one place. Get a big 3 ring binder and document protector sheets and organize your paper work. While the majority of your stuff can be found on iPerms, it never hurts to have copies for yourself.
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SGT(P) (Join to see)
SFC(P) (Join to see) I already have mine, you can't leave or trust everything to S1. Thanks for the advice SGT!
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SGT Richard Ellis
SGT Kimberly Hall, I couldn't agree more. Especially with Medical Records. The army lost half of mine, too bad I always made copies of all new entries. How could they lose half when they are all in the same file.
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