Posted on Jan 14, 2014
CPT George Raileanu
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Wanted to share this article because I thought it was interesting and really made me think about combat patches.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-combat-patch-binary-indicator-or-something-more

Any thoughts or comments?
Posted in these groups: Combat patch logo Combat Patch (SSI-FWTS)
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SGT Cryptologic Linguist
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SGT Kristin Wiley
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LT,

Although I try to view 'slick sleeves' without bias it is very difficult for me when I spent most of my career in Fort Bragg where the norm in my unit was 12 months deployment/18 months dwell. There are many individuals out there who have valid reasons not to wear a deployment patch (ie. family crisises, medical issues, etc), but my experience is that these individuals were the minority and would end up on the next deployment or out of the military. Young soldiers may not have had the opportunity to deploy, and that is no fault of their own.

My issue, especially in Hawaii, is seeing E-7s, E-8s, E-9s, O-4s and O-5s walking around with no deployment patches when we have been at 'war' for over 12 years. How can leaders who have never been through a deployment truly understand their troops who have? And what have these leaders been doing that has kept them away from combat zones? Everytime I ask anyone in Hawaii if they have deployed, their answer is always I've been to Japan, Korea, Guam, etc. Yeah, I have too, but those aren't combat deployments and saying you've 'deployed' to a combat veteran takes away from the sacrifice's we have made, and the losses we have incurred.

I haven't been through nearly as much as many combat soldiers, but there are no words to describe having to deal with rockets raining down in the middle of the night, seeing blood and knowing it belongs to a friend, wondering who is going to be standing next to you and how many of them are still in one piece when you finally make it back home. Physical injuries are easier for others to understand then the psychological ones. It bothers me that some senior leaders have never deployed, and yet they claim to know how much we've sacrified and what we've been through. I look at these leaders with the burning question in my mind 'why haven't you deployed?' and 'what was so much more important in your life that younger soldiers had to make that sacrifice on your behalf?' Looking at how many young soldiers we have psychologically scarred from these experiences, it makes me angry that an older more experienced leader who should be able to handle these experiences didn't have to make that sacrifice.
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SPC Stephen Bobchin
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I'll be honest, I do view people without a combat patch differently, but mainly when it comes to training. Having a slick sleeve commo guy teach a class on reacting to contact, and tell a group of previously deployed medic that this is what it'll be like if they go downrange is mildly humorous, and kind of annoying, especially when they teach the class wrong.

That said, on a day to day basis, I care far more about competency shown than whether or not they have a deployment patch, and would much rather have someone who hasn't deployed that knows their job rather than someone who has who can't even put on a tourniquet.
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LTC Product Manager
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I personally try not to jump to conclusions, because as it has been said on here, everyone has a story. It is certainly somewhat jarring to see a senior officer, NCO, or Warrant officer without a combat patch and for many of the same reasons indicated on this thread. Mostly, I look at combat patches, the same way I look at someone's experiences, they are potential commonalities. The same as if I ran into someone who went to my school, is a QM branch, a loggie, or was at the same unit or station I was- similar experiences that allows for a relationship to be built.
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LTC Dr Richard Wasserman
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When I first joined, after Viet Nam; I was l guy without a combat patch.
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SSG Michael Garner
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Yup
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SSG (ret) William Martin
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I do not view SMs differently who are without a combat patch. I don't like to judge.
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COL Strategic Plans Officer
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It really only matters when they start talking shit. I had a general once who's one deployment was Kosovo who went on a rant to a room full of field grades who had fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and we are looking at each other like "who the hell is this guy to tell us what is what?". He had no credibility because he lost his temper and started lecturing on things he had no personal experience on to guys who did. If he had not lost his temper and gone on a rant, it probably would not have been an issue. But no combat patch? No slack given by those who had one.
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SSG Operations
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My first thought Sir is how does someone get to that rank without deploying? Between Command time at BN and BDE level and Staff time at both those levels they would not have at least fallen in on one deployment? Or did they spend too much time at Hudson High and the Puzzle Palace?
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COL Strategic Plans Officer
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Kosovo was their deployment. Twice I think. There was another guy O know, a LTC at the time, who did three back to back Balkan deployments, made O6 over there, then just last year did a deployment to Afghanistan as an LNO from the CJTF to ISAF in Kabul Greenzone. So, there are several ways to coast along.
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