Do you call yourself a Desert Shield, Storm, or Iraqi Freedom Vet? If you didn't serve in the theatre of operations, are you really?

Blessings to you and thank you for your service (and wife)!! I usually say I'm a Gulf War vet, but when someone pins me down I'll say "Desert Storm' and/or OEF. Was a kid in '90-'91 and one of the old dudes in Paktia '09!!!! Thanks for sharing your experiences and for posting this discussion. Strike& Kill! Currahee!! AIR ASSAULT!!!!!

Sir, I answered or posted a similar question a few months perhaps a year ago, I see it like this. The Army ie the Generals in charge decide what the force requirements are. Your/my unit activated to support the Desert/ Shield Storm operation. You prepared to go to war. You were ready to do your duty. Whatever the reason for not being deployed, it wasn't your fault for not being deployed. So, in my eyes yes you are a desert Storm vet. Thank you for yours and your wife's service.

I will be honest with you. I feel guilty about being a Desert Storm Vet and saying it in the same breath as the men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002. These men and women are fighting in a "real" war as compared to Desert Storm. I understand that every war is different, but what is happening now is utterly ridiculous. I pray for our soldiers and marines and sailors and airmen constantly. It is wrong to have them over there with no clear directives or outcomes. AND it is even more wrong not to allow them to engage the enemy before the enemy engages them.

LOCK and LOAD soldiers and protect yourselves!!

I am an Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm veteran and I was in the theater and combat zone.

I've struggled with this question for a number of years now. For the past 20-something years, I've always considered myself a "Gulf War" veteran, but not a Desert Shield / Storm veteran. I was in Germany during DS/DS, but of course everyone was activated and ready to go. It was a time of war. We weren't deployed into Turkey and Iraq until April 91 in support of Operation Provide Comfort. We were awarded SWA service medal with one bronze service star and right-shoulder SSI. So I served in the theater of combat operations, but didn't exchange fire with the enemy, but rather repaired and maintained UH-60's and was aircrew on missions into the Northern No-Fly Zone in Iraq. But to refer to myself as a "combat" veteran, or even a DS/DS veteran, I don't think of myself as those. My veteran license plate says "Persian Gulf" - which seems accurate. I'm a member of the VFW, too. Thanks for bringing this topic up, it's a good one!

The VA puts us in "buckets" by "Era" because each Era has conditions which are unique to them due to Age of Participant, and Locale. You get different things when you are 60~ and served in a Jungle, than when you are 40~ and served in the Desert. They do this because it's administratively easy, not for any other reason. Don't over think it.

Now, we (vets) are our own worst enemies when it comes to these "caveats" especially when it comes to the "statutory labels" as applied by government agencies, as they are not common sense. Gulf War (era) Vets are those that served from X to Present. Vietnam (era) Vets are those that served from X to Y (longer if you were actually in AO). You're a Combat Vet if you stepped foot in a "Designated Combat Zone," which doesn't mean got shot at, just had the potential to get shot at (again "statutory label").

But we get into pissing contest about the labels bureaucrats & legislators put on us, when Veteran is the only one that matters. Why does it matter? Slap the club patch on the car. Buy the hat with the emblem on it. If someone says something, give them "the look," and go about your day.

Buy the hats!
Not everyone gets to go, because not everyone is needed. But you were in uniform, and got ready to go just the same.
From your descriptions you sound like a member who feels guilty because you weren't there. But you did the job they required of you. You were ready. Just because you don't get to go, doesn't mean you didn't earn it just the same.

I'll admit I don't read these much but I have seen some replies to my post and have a couple of answers that might be a benefit to my peers. I still refer to myself as era, but the state and the VA describe me as a desert Storm vet. Based on my service, my state you should meet the desert Storm plate. Some states do not with the same DD-214. I display this plate not to honor myself, my wife, or for personal benefit. For myself, I want people to remember the tremendous sacrifices my friends and loved ones. It does not surprise me that oef oif veterans do not seek honor for themselves this was not why we served. And I'm not talking about wearing a ribbon I did not earn. I was simply talking about wearing the old fart hat. I don't think anyone that wears a Vietnam hat, a Korea hat, or hats from our greatest generation who saw war like we'll never see the likes of which will never be seen again actually wears them to seek personal honor. I believe that we display such memorabilia to honor those we lost. I'm not a recruiter and I don't like a lot of what the army kid but I do honor those choose to serve when they might not he required to do so. Boots in the sand in the line of fire or not, boots on a ship under-fire or not, and the people wearing boots at home who have to pick up the pieces - even when those pieces spring unpleasantness upon their caregivers. The planes from the field, are soldiers clothing and their wounds exposed combat and non-combat soldiers alike too harm. I think this has been the case ever since we coined the term modern warfare. When we lost a nuke in England and a nearby airfield sent band and cook staff to clean up the broken pieces we didn't even acknowledge that radiation could cause many kinds of cancer and those veterans went without succour. It turns out that agent Orange caused problems for our soldiers who even bothered to clean the planes when they got back stateside. And airmen who cleans the planes as well as medical personnel who treated soldiers med evac act from the field we're also exposed. I suppose just like these airman from our base in England they will be dead before I country recognizes their sacrifice.

I thank you all for your service and for your thoughtful consideration has a question I posted so long ago. I still didn't buy the damn hat and it wouldn't matter now if I did. I'm the only person that would see myself in it now. So the hat is kind of pointless because I remember my brothers and sisters everyday.

If I could ask one boon of any of you it would be this:
Remember that someone who honors our country our service and our sacrifices does so with Goodwill even when they fail to comply with current regulations
A boy with tears in his eyes saluting my brother-in-law during his procession to internment in Arlington brought tears to my eyes even though he saluted with his left hand.

You should not call yourself a Desert Storm veteran unless you were present in the combat theater from 1/16/91 to 2/28/91. When I look at someone’s ribbon rack, if I don’t see the Saudi Liberation of Kuwait medal (the most exclusive of the three), I don’t consider them a real Desert Storm veteran.

yes I do, I did have boots on ground as an EOD tech