Are ribbons overrated? Do we give out too many?

SMSgt Tony Barnes - People respond to positive recognition and ribbons and medals are one way to recognize and promote outstanding accomplishments and performance. Not sure who the arbiter of "what is too much" is or how it could be ascertained.

I think that, instead of limiting the number of awards that are presented, standards for the awards should be clearly established and awards should be awarded strictly by those standards. Anything less cheapens the awards...

One of my pet peeves as a senior commander was when subordinate commanders recommended soldiers for awards that were clearly not warranted, knowing that I would downgrade them. In that way, they could tell the soldier that he/she had been put in for a higher award, but the "old man" downgraded it, which they assumed made them look good in the eyes of the affected soldiers.

Yes, no, maybe?

Recognition is almost always a good thing. But it really depends on whether the recognition is "noteworthy."

Now, each service is a little different when it comes to the medal/ribbon philosophy. The USAF tends to be high, while the USMC would be low when looking at the spectrum. Not good or bad, just comparing. But, there are factors to consider like the USAF doesn't wear hashmarks so they have the longevity ribbon instead. Weapons qualification ribbons in lieu of badges are similar.

Now, some ribbons just don't really make sense to me, like the Air Force Training Ribbon or the Army Equivalent. You're in the service, so the ribbon seems redundant, but that's me.

Now, when we get to things like PME ribbons, I get the idea, but are they really "necessary?" They again seem redundant as in theory PME would be completed when you attain specific rank.

The ones that really seem odd are the Basic Honor Grad ribbons (USAF & USN). These seem like something that could be better recognized with meritorious masts, or promotions, or other awards than a dedicated ribbon.

Having been enlisted in the Navy (and serving at two notoriously "hard" commands when it came to awards) and currently an officer in the Army (who's mentality on awards is completely more relaxed then I grew up with in the Navy) - it's been one of the harder adjustments for me to make. That being said, There are a lot of "handout" ribbons that I wish would go away (I'm not referring to campaign medals). I dislike wearing my "rack" - because I'm often singled out with the Insert foreign military" General comment. I'm proud of what I've earned - but sometimes I think just awarding someone a ribbon because you served here can be a bit much. Just my .02