Combat patches: Are they for show or do they really mean something??

Big Sarge, I hate to break it down probably like everyone else has but Kuwait hasn't been considered a combat zone since January 1991. Your orders probably say your there for some sort of support or PEACE keeping mission. Who ever states a combat patch doesn't mean anything is more than likely a soft skill MOS , who's emotions were not played with in the dirt as your firing back at the enemy for your brothers on the left and right. Asked any paratrooper who landed on Omaha if their combat patch meant something. If you even know what I am talking about.

My combat patch means a great deal to me. It symbolizes (to me) that all the training that I recieved in the military had lead up to the point where I really was 'battle-tested'. I joined the Army in 1974, got out, and came back on active duty in 1976. In 1994, I again left active duty, but joined the IMA while I decided what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I used the GI Bill (the old, old GI Bill!) for college, went on to Graduate school on the University of Illinois' dime, and became a full time civilian. When I was called up for Iraq in 2004, I felt that I was coming back home to be with my true family. When the Army finally decided that age 60 was enough for them (last year), I took my boots and went home permanately. In all of my years serving, my proudest one was in combat. So, to make a long story short, my combat patch 'really means something'.

I think that answer is self evident. Those of us who have been over there (where or when ever that was.) It holds meaning it shows you were tested and are proven to some extent. However it does not mean we are better just that we know. It shows those junior to us that we have some experience and can teach with having practicle application not just training and book knowledge. For those who only look at what we have on our uniform and dont try to understand what it means its just a way to show off. A understanding of symbolisim is needed today at all levels in and out of the military.

When the war first kicked off. I mean actually started in May 2003 we had all the scud missiles coming in and the in-coming alarms constantly going off. Yes it was an easy duty but we had our own hardships like not knowing if I wanted fried chicken or not during chow.

Now does this make my 101st patch no good from Mosul 2005-2006? I was with a maintenence company then and we really didn't do maintenance. We ran convoys from Turkey into Iraq delivering supplies to all the FOBs. We constantly to mortar fire and small arms fire while on the FOB but we were lucky that none of our convoys were ever hit. Convoys that rolled through behind us were hit but never our company. So with the thinking of you didn't actually engage the enemy means my patch is shit. I say you're wrong I did everything and was in the same area as everybody else when they got theirs why is mine different?

I earned 3 combat patches in Iraq. I put a small amount of pride in each one, not so much for showing what a bad ass I was but for the men and women who served and died on the battlefield with me. Messing with that is a no-no. Also, the patch from my unit means the most to me because they retired the Unit after we returned from Iraq. We were the last company to wear that patch into battle. Messing with that would defiantly piss me right the hell off.

As with any of the accoutrements we wear on our uniforms, the combat patch represents an outward demonstration of accomplishments. This is also why we wear rank. Wearing a patch, a tab, rank, medals, wings, etc. is merely a method to demonstrate a given person's presumed abilities and background. How much each of those items "means" is a personal judgment. People might believe they went to the last "hard class", tough deployment, or whatever. Alternatively, someone might think, "That was easy" about Airborne School once they've graduated. The point is that not everyone does these things or accomplishes the same degree of distinction. If you wear an item (patch, badge, etc.), wear it with pride in the accomplishment and with pride for others who have also worn it. To do less denigrates yourself and the accomplishments of others who have earned it.

I left mine at THE WALL many years ago (4th Div.) and my children asked me why, I told them that's were it belongs and it does mean something to me

The patches did lose a little bit of their meaning but that meaning is making a comeback. Taking the reserve for example, the last number I saw was that only 40% currently serving in the Army Reserve have been deployed. That means the number who don't have one actually outnumber those of us that do. The patch is also a motivational tool to the reserves as I have heard and seen a number of Soldiers volunteer for missions because they want one. Ultimately the patch is what you make it. If you have one, wear it with pride. If you don't and you want one, step up and go get it. If you don't care either way, that's fine too. Just serve your country to the best of your ability as you swore an oath to do.

It means something to me. My fist patch was given to me by my NCO just matter of fact without ceremony. He told me and the others that it didn't make us special, that it was just a symbol of experience and that those of us who had one would be held to a higher standerd accordingly. He did not make it home. So to me it became a reminder of him and to hold myself to that higher standard. It didn't make me better than anyone who had not deployed, just different.

The four I have mean a hell of a lot!!