Posted on Sep 18, 2017
Do you think not having a combat patch means you are a less effective leader compared to someone who does?
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Combat Patch (SSI-FWTS)
Leadership
Effectiveness
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 31
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What you wear doesn't make you good or bad, your actions will speak volumes about who you really are no matter what bling you sport. In my own personal opinion the only way someone would be a POS for not having a FWTS-SSI would be if they actively avoided deployments multiple times with every fiber of their being. I would equate them to the other side of the coin the Patch hunters.
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LTC Russ Smith
This is on the money. The national guard is full of generals from their state HQs who carefully avoided deployment since 9/11. It's a disgrace.
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No. It'll be luck of the draw for young NCOs and Officers. Learn your job. Train your soldiers. That will be your credentials.
When I came on AD in 1994, it was about 50/50 for combat patches. I did not feel as high speed as others who had combat patches from Desert Storm, Somalia, and Panama. It was purely luck of the draw based on when you came on AD. Some had good stuff to pass on. Others were not so high speed, they were just there.
When I came on AD in 1994, it was about 50/50 for combat patches. I did not feel as high speed as others who had combat patches from Desert Storm, Somalia, and Panama. It was purely luck of the draw based on when you came on AD. Some had good stuff to pass on. Others were not so high speed, they were just there.
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SPC (Join to see)
"It'll be luck of the draw for young NCOs and Officers."
This is true. Ultimately a soldier cannot control what unit they are assigned to.
This is true. Ultimately a soldier cannot control what unit they are assigned to.
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SGT Dave Tracy
"When I came on AD in 1994, it was about 50/50 for combat patches...". And by the time we went into Iraq, my guess is there would have been even fewer with combat experience. Whenever there is a gap in time between one conflict to the next, a new crop of leaders; NCOs, WOs, Os, will matriculate into their positions having never had combat experience, yet still manage to lead effectively. It's true, there's no substitute for experience, but experience alone isn't the defining ability to lead and fight successfully.
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SPC Roger Giffen
I went active duty in Apr 1974. The Army was leaving Viet Nam. I was discharged in Jan 1980. I was in that time between Viet Nam and Grenada.
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LTC Jason Mackay
SGT Dave Tracy - exactly Dave. By the time I deployed the first time, a handful of people had combat patches any where from ODS, really late in Vietnam, Korea DMZ incidents, Panama, Somalia, and a few from the initial operations in Afghanistan. Right before I commissioned, I met a Specialist in the MA ARNG that had a combat jump in North Korea right before the Chinese invaded. Dude had been a Specialist since 1959.
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In the Marine Corps, we don't have d*** measuring contests using something as trivial as a patch. If you want effective leadership, find someone with 1+ more stripes than you on their collar who is willing (key word here) to teach you how to do your job. A deployment doesn't necessarily mean MOS proficiency or leadership potential/experience anyway, as many get tasked with augmenting other sections outside of their own.
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