Posted on Mar 27, 2015
How do Marines keep up with their full size medals on uniform? Does the Corps do this for you?
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How do you keep up with the full size medals for your uniform? Does the Corps do this for you? If not, I imagine maintaining them gets pretty expensive. Educate me, Marines.
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Dress Uniform
Dress Uniform
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 9
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It's easy. The one we are given at award ceremonies is kept as a display. And since we only wear them for the birthday ball, every year we buy another set. They are expensive but it's a once a year purchase
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You get 1 non-anodized medal when it is awarded. You buy the anodized ones.
It's not so bad when you have 1-4, because you can reuse them for the blues. When you hit 5, you have to "overlap" them. At $20~ each, it's expensive, and you almost pray you don't get another. So it's 1-4 side by side, then 5-7 overlapping. 8 is two sets of 4 side by side.
But... We also don't get them in the same quantities as the other branches.
I was in 8 years and I had: NMCC (End of Tour), NAM, GCM, ND, AFEM. I rated GWSM based on service time, but was never awarded it. So 6~, but only ever wore 4. Most folks I knew never went past 3 rows (15 medals), and that included Gulf War 1 stuff.
It's not so bad when you have 1-4, because you can reuse them for the blues. When you hit 5, you have to "overlap" them. At $20~ each, it's expensive, and you almost pray you don't get another. So it's 1-4 side by side, then 5-7 overlapping. 8 is two sets of 4 side by side.
But... We also don't get them in the same quantities as the other branches.
I was in 8 years and I had: NMCC (End of Tour), NAM, GCM, ND, AFEM. I rated GWSM based on service time, but was never awarded it. So 6~, but only ever wore 4. Most folks I knew never went past 3 rows (15 medals), and that included Gulf War 1 stuff.
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Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS
CPT Michael Barden I'm not sure if that is because of our Naval roots, or part of our "silly test" (what looks best). Most of our uniform items tend to go with a "simple elegance" motif, and the overlapping of medals supports that, as it keeps the medals from making the chest look too busy.
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SSgt Nick Cooper
Yeah my last Ball I went to I had to buy all new medals then get them mounted, I had 10 all together... It hurt a little when i had to pay for them.
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Sir,
Not a Marine but spent most of my career with them. Generally you will get one when it is awarded, after that it is up to the individual to maintain them, just like ribbons.
I usually only had to wear them a couple times a year at most, truthfully if it wasn't a new medal I wouldn't usually update for just a star.
My last set before I retired was about $150 (medals and mounting) and that wasn't even for anodized medals which are more.
Not a Marine but spent most of my career with them. Generally you will get one when it is awarded, after that it is up to the individual to maintain them, just like ribbons.
I usually only had to wear them a couple times a year at most, truthfully if it wasn't a new medal I wouldn't usually update for just a star.
My last set before I retired was about $150 (medals and mounting) and that wasn't even for anodized medals which are more.
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