Do combat arms soldiers look down on fellow combat arms brethren if they have deployed and not been awarded a combat badge/medal/ribbon?

It was, for all of us VN Vets! If you served honorably , you didn’t have to have a medal to be respected , when you serve in combat or not you earned respect!

I think a lot of it has to do with your security in yourself. I know that I have aided in saving hundreds of critically burned Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen in the time I served stateside in a Medical MOS, and I am proud of being able to get those Rangers and Recon Marines back in the fight. That was MY job. If someone needs a CAB to feel fulfilled I feel a bit sorry for you. If you did your job and can look yourself in the mirror at night and know you did what you trained to do....and did it your best...THAT is something to be proud of. Patches and badges stand out, sure, but being able to put your money where your mouth is in terms of your capabilities matters a lot more to me. You can look real pretty, but what you know, how you act, and how you lead will come to light eventually, no matter what your wear on your arm or chest.

Combat survivors deserve some respect for their experiences, but as any vet will tell you some inept dumbasses survived combat. You get the respect you earn. A good Marine or soldier (in my opinion) will most always have more respect for the combat vet, but combat vets need to remember they may deploy again with the individual they’re being arrogant with, and that might not be a good idea. A good Marine or soldier will teach others what they learned and encourage them to be better. Those vets earn respect.

A brother in arms should never look down on another regardless of their achievements. A certain respect should be expected but just because John got hit by an ied on Tuesday and Joe did the same patrol on Wednesday and did not doeant mean Joe is lesser a soldier than John.

I do not have a combat action ribbon but expect to see a sea service award on a Sailors Uniform and a warfare insignia at the least. I saw a LT the other day with any warfare qualification on his working uniform and I was thinking “what does he know”

The human side says yes, of course they do. The practical side of this is, what does it matter. At the end of the day these are just badges and ribbons and "should" not define anyone.

And then there are those that where in actual combat and because they were/are in a branch that doesn't/did not have a CIB/CAB. They were there ,they saw action, or it was before all the awards. I personally think if you are more concerned what some is wearing on their chest you don't get it. I feel every one that raised their hand, picked up a weapon flew in a combat zone or what ever is a hero. Looking down on someone who does not have what you do on your chest does not make them any less of a hero than you are. IMHO

I was a non combat arms drill sergeant at Fort Knox after Desert Storm. The majority of the drills we're combat arms with combat patches. I had to prove myself for quite a while to get accepted by these professional soldiers.

I’m a Viet Nam Vet who was a crew chief / door gunner I saw plenty of combat we weren’t eligible for any combat type award exept the Air Medal and you received on for every 25 combat missions. I don’t begrudge any award but I think the combat action award was given out liberally

Yes, military definitely pay attention to what's on your chest. Even though I earned my CAB by going out on missions with my 11B brothers on a regular basis on multiple deployments, I constantly had infantry guys that didnt know me looking down on my CAB. At least until we put on our Blues and they saw my Purple Heart and Bronze Star with "V".....