Posted on Jan 23, 2014
What is the single most improperly worn ribbon?
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Every time I pick up a new issue of the Reservist magazine, I seem to see photos of people wearing the Armed Forces Reserve Medal (AFRM) improperly. It is probably the most complicated medal / ribbon in the military, but still, a Master Chief or Admiral should be able to wear it correctly. It is never worn without an attachment of some kind, so a naked ribbon immediately jumps out as just plain wrong. Are there other ribbons that rival the AFRM for improper wear?
Edited 8 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 113
The Iraq and Afghanistan Campaign Medals. Campaign stars are to be worn for each campaign in which the servicemember served one or more days, so no one should wear the ICM or ACM without at least one service star. <div><br></div><div>We all take pride in our service, and outwardly showing your pride is so simple that even this trivial matter becomes important. </div>
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SSgt Michael Cox
I have one service star on my OIF medal. I was deployed in northern Iraq for phase 1 and then returned in 2004 for phase 3. The first tour I received my medal I did not receive a service star. When I completed my second tour is when I received the star. The picture is incorrect you shouldn't receive a star with the initial presentation unless you were present for more than one phase at the time of issue.
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SPC Robert DeVolld
SSgt Gregory Guina I got two stars for my first tour in Iraq. We got in country during the literal last week of The Surge
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SPC Robert DeVolld
LtCol David Cooper Look up the dates of the campaigns for Iraq, purchase the stars accordingly
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I'm going to nominate the Presidential Unit Citation. Many people wear it upside down. The wheat along the border should be opening skyward, like a "V"
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SGT David Stead
You wear them with out the gold frame. I had to learn it. USN 1988 to 1994, US Army 1994 to 2000, US Air Force 2000 to 2004, US Army 2004 to 2008.
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I second that it is the AFRM. Primarily because almost no one gets the numerals right. Most people put a numeral for the number of times they have mobilized, but it is actually the number of operations you have mobilized for. So you could go to OIF three times but it still only counts as one. GOMO caught me on this prior to submitting for the GO board and I had to re-shoot my photo.
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SFC Bruce Pettengill
Forgive me as the Drill and First Sergeant comes out. I preached to my Soldiers and leaders before you put it on look at the AR it is in there. The confusing thing about the AFRM is that it can be rewarded for two purposes. Consecutive groups of 10 years, Hour glasses Bronze, Silver, Gold or Bronze and Gold 10,20,30,40 years if there are no involuntary mobilization the devises are worn in the middle of the ribbon. if a 40 year award the bronze ins display on the right (as worn)
for involuntary mobilizations The "M" device is worn followed by a number starting with a number 2 with the amount of times a reservist has been involuntarily mobilized BY GROUPINGS so if a reservist is mobilized 3 times for enduring freedom you do not get a new number for each mobilization, so the highest number worn or available is 6. if a reservist is award the medal for mobilization but has NOT served at least 10 consecutive years the M is centered on the medal. The M is displayed on the right (as worn)
potentially a reservist that has served 40 consecutive years and has been mobilized 7 times the devices from right to left as worn Bronze Hour Glass, Gold Hour Glass, M device the number 6. which would be the highest amount of devices worn on the ribbon. Hope this cleared this up. this all can be found (ARMY) At 600-8-22
for involuntary mobilizations The "M" device is worn followed by a number starting with a number 2 with the amount of times a reservist has been involuntarily mobilized BY GROUPINGS so if a reservist is mobilized 3 times for enduring freedom you do not get a new number for each mobilization, so the highest number worn or available is 6. if a reservist is award the medal for mobilization but has NOT served at least 10 consecutive years the M is centered on the medal. The M is displayed on the right (as worn)
potentially a reservist that has served 40 consecutive years and has been mobilized 7 times the devices from right to left as worn Bronze Hour Glass, Gold Hour Glass, M device the number 6. which would be the highest amount of devices worn on the ribbon. Hope this cleared this up. this all can be found (ARMY) At 600-8-22
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SFC Bruce Pettengill
Lt Col (Join to see) - sorry but according to AR600-8-22, The Institute of Heraldry, Uniformed Services ~ Army > Service Ribbons Accoutrements and DOD Manuel 1348.33 vol 2 if all 8 were awarded as part GWOT you only get to wear the M device. I know this stings a bit, but it makes your service no less honorable. As far as I am concerned you can wear whatever you like, however I would wear according to AR on your official photo, especially if the photo goes to a promotion board.
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SFC Dave Zaragoza
Heres the Reg, ea operation is grouped. Noone should have more than 7. Note all GWOT ops are grouped as 1 (ONE)
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Well, you already hit the AFRM, so the rest of my peeves are:
1) Backwards Combat Action Ribbons.
2) Iraq and Afghanistan campaign medals with no campaign stars.
3)People not understanding the "knot/hitch" system on the Good Conduct Medal
4) People putting a star on their National Defense medal for getting out, and then reenlisting.
5)People not using shirt-stays! (Ok, it's not a requirement, but dammit people, you look like ass without them!
I have a ton more, but they're very Army award/uniform specific.
1) Backwards Combat Action Ribbons.
2) Iraq and Afghanistan campaign medals with no campaign stars.
3)People not understanding the "knot/hitch" system on the Good Conduct Medal
4) People putting a star on their National Defense medal for getting out, and then reenlisting.
5)People not using shirt-stays! (Ok, it's not a requirement, but dammit people, you look like ass without them!
I have a ton more, but they're very Army award/uniform specific.
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Second nomination here...almost forgot...and it's a pet peeve: misrouted fouregeres. The fouregere is meant to start at the button, go backwards BEHIND your shoulder and then under your arm-pit and then clasp on the button from the front, with the tip bending down in an upside down "U". I see people with it strung around the front and dangle straight off the shoulder.
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SGT Michael Glenn
one is worn correctly and the other is incorrect.... in this case its the Marine uniform that is correct.
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SSG Richard Reilly
I was helping the Aide to our General get her uniform ready...the Aiguillette is crazy hard to get right because its not in 670-1.
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SSG John Bacon
My Unit the 372nd ICTC was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for Normandy operations as Company A, 361st Quartermaster Battalion during WWII. There are two different Fourragère that represent this award one from WWI and form WWII. Both are similar in colors but with slight differences WWI being more green than red and WWII being equal Green and red. During Class-A inspections you could tell who was wrong almost immediately. We would always get strange looks when we wore them because our unit was the only one in the Battalion who had them. At one point the CSM told us we couldn't wear them because the battalion didn't have the award. Our Commander had to make a complaint to the COL but got it straightened out in the end.
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CPT Joseph Goss
SSG John Bacon - I used to see a number of soldiers who carried forward unit citations that they weren't authorized to wear. They would be assigned to a unit with such a decoration and continue to wear even after they left the unit. I tried explaining once to a drill sergeant that his PUC wasn't authorized anymore, but he didn't understand.
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SSG (Join to see)
SFC Jackson, who have you been correcting with the wear of the AFEM? I haven't seen someone wear one of those in a while. (i've got one from Bosnia so I am well aware which way is sits)
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Cpl Thomas Woods
Symmetrical except for the Blue-White-Red strip in the center. Blue is the senior color and therefore is displayed on its own right, the observers left.
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Cpl Thomas Woods
Cpl Thomas Woods - Got mine Operation Earnest Will, "The Persian Excursion" 1987-1988.
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Combat Action Ribbon
i just tell folks that when you look at the ribbon, the center should be red, white, and blue. People jack it up all the time.
i just tell folks that when you look at the ribbon, the center should be red, white, and blue. People jack it up all the time.
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SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S.
That's a Marine ribbon .. should probably be marked "this side up" on the back.
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Maj Michael Moore
SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. - Maybe "This Side Toward Enemy" would be more appropriate.
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Here's a fun one always got told by higher ups to place a gold frame around one of my unit awards that I had from prior service when it's not authorized a good frame.
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PO2 . Lancaster
LTC Jason Mackay - The USCG wears unit awards with everything else, not on the right lapel. JMUC is one of the few with the gold frame.
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LTC Jason Mackay
PO2 . Lancaster - all the Army unit citations have a frame. So when you have a sister service one that doesn't it looks weird. We wear then all on the left side an 1/8th inch above the pocket seam all by themselves. So when one of these things is not like the other, one of these kids is doing his own thing...it draws a lot of attention to it. We don't wear unit awards integrated with our personal decorations. We also have the back and forth of unit citations for temporary wear integrated with the ones we are authorized for permanent wear.
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SGT Daniel Rocco Ames
That's the 82nd for you, brother. Everyone is out to chew on your uniform! AATW
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"DEPENDS." Always lots of water boiling over any issue with medals/ribbons, etc. Always check with your local IG if there's ever any question about proper wear (I held every IG position there is during one stint of my 30 years). I've fielded a lot of questions about stars/numbers, and the best COA is to always go to the proper Reg for understanding. One example of a system gone wacky: When I wore a younger man's clothes, I flew helicopters in Vietnam (troop carrying 'Slicks' and some Gunships). At that time in our history, award of the combat Air Medal (AM) was predicated on hours flown separated by type of mission...one AM for each 25 direct combat mission hours and one AM for each 50 resupply hours flown. I accumulated 1,955 hours of documented combat flight time during my two tours, and earned "55" awards of the AM. The ribbon was displayed with a number of 54 on it; the ribbon itself constituting the first, basic award. Confusing...you bet, and a pain to explain. Subsequently, the entire manner of award of the AM was changed to a more manageable system for proper recognition (amen!).
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CPT (Join to see)
Holy Cow! 55! Thank you for probably bringing my father supplies or taking him in to an LZ!
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I am going to double up on the NATO Medals. I received my first from Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995-1996. Got my second one in 2011-2012 in Afghanistan. First: wasn't aware that you can only wear ONE...and for the recod I think that's dumb. If you were in different campaigns with NATO, you should be able to wear them, but regs are regs. Second: You can only wear the FIRST one you were awarded. SO...even if I wanted to wear the Afghan Nato Medal, I couldn't because it was my second award. Even though it looks different with the silver stripes. I actually took a DA photo with them both on and thank goodness I showed it to my CSM for a "proof read."
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SGT(P) (Join to see)
Mine came with an ISAF attachment when it was presented to me. I've seen many wearing it despite it not being authorized for US personnel.
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LTC (Join to see)
Now that's odd. My SGM and the ref read that you can wear both. This calls for a thorough investigation.
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MAJ Raúl Rovira
We had a 42H HR E7 wearing both NATO medals. He was surprised when I showed him the reg on this. Also, often I see soldiers who only went to Afghanistan wearing the NATO medal for Former Yugoslavia.
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MSG David Rogers III
MAJ Raúl Rovira - They do this because they follow the wrong guidance.... the Military Clothing "Sales Clerk". Most of my Soldiers would reference them when wearing the wrong ribbons and badges. I talked to a clerk once, and she said the Base Commander authorized the NATO ribbon (Yugo) because they were out of the NATO-ISAF ribbons. When I inquired further, I found she only talked to an Admin Specialist who worked in the CG's office. And this is not the only time I found sales clerks giving wrong guidance. What's worse is when service members quote Ranger Joes, Quartermaster, US Cavalry Store, and other local retail sales stores.
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One that isn't "wrong" but does draw a lot of looks is when an individual has so many awards that they have to wear a second ribbon.
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TSgt Joshua Copeland
Max of 4 devices on one ribbon as I recall? I built a shadow box for a retiring command Chief that had to wear two Good Conduct ribbons.
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TSgt Joshua Copeland
TSgt Joshua Copeland, your right Cousin! I have 13 AFOUA's with a V device so I get the side eye every once in a while.
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MSgt Dan Calhoun
Yep, i have that issue with the Outstanding Unit Award, hate having to have that second ribbon
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CPO Jon Campbell l Funny story about an improperly worn ribbon: I rate a MUC and a NUC, however when I went to the PX I purchased a PUC. I mounted it, and one day while walking around base in my Charlie uniform a 1stSgt pulled me aside and asked me about my service, and how long I've been in, and how old I was...I asked why he wanted to know so much about me, sort of caught by surprise. He then pointed to the ribbon and asked me which one that was, I told him NUC, thankfully, he told me NO, that is a PUC, and the last time that was given out was during Vietnam and if I didn't want additional attention, I would change it as soon as possible. He was gracious to let me move out smartly to the PX and square away my rack. Never made that mistake twice.
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSG(P) (Join to see) Got one to go with that one. Had a new PFC report into my shop at Cherry Point - circa late 1982 - wearing 2 full rows of ribbons on his Alphas. Yes, the MSG squared him away but the best part was his initial answer. Completely honesty. "I went to the base near my home and just got the ones with the best colors." His saving grace was he did NOT have the baby blue one with the little white stars. This was a time when the Fire Watch ribbon was NOT a gimme for Boot Camp. He did collect a lot of attention on the next Charlie inspection for Payday.
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SFC Casey O'Mally
Don't know when that happened, but I have a PUC from 2003, so your 1SG was probably a bit out of date.... (unless you are talking about something other than Presidential Unit Citation)
If yiy are talking specifically the Navy version, multiple Naval units have received it in the 2000s... USS Parche, USS Liberty, JSOC, NSW Task Force, I MEG, and a couple different marine units, which a corpsman (or other Navy support personnel) could have been part of and recieved the Navy PUC (becaise the Navy one looks different from the Army or Air Force)
If yiy are talking specifically the Navy version, multiple Naval units have received it in the 2000s... USS Parche, USS Liberty, JSOC, NSW Task Force, I MEG, and a couple different marine units, which a corpsman (or other Navy support personnel) could have been part of and recieved the Navy PUC (becaise the Navy one looks different from the Army or Air Force)
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LCDR Ray Trygstad
My dad had a Navy doctor who somehow arranged ribbons he bought to show Mickey Mouse's head in the pattern they formed.
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Army members wearing Marine combat patches. I had a 1SG tell me to buy a 2MARDIV patch at the Surplus store for my uniform. I opened up AR670-1 and showed him where it said that Marine Unit patches were not authorized for wear on Army uniforms. Main reason for this is that the Marine Corps stopped using unit patches after WW2, and therefore, no current unit patches exist (hence the reason he wanted me to get it from a Surplus store). I carried a copy of that page of the ref with me because I saw so many prior service improperly wearing Marine patches.
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SGT (Join to see)
Actually for the units listed in the orders covering the Ramadi service for the 1st MEF did receive a signed exception to policy memo by the Army G1 authorizing the wear of the specially created 1st MEF patch. So, yes, a handful can wear it.
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SGT (Join to see)
In 2005 my battalion of 488 soldiers were given the memorandum authorizing us to wear the 1st and 2nd Mar Div patch
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After scanning over topics and running across your original message about the AFRM, I realized I was wearing mine wrong. I mobilized shortly after 9/11 and have since deployed twice (for a total of 3 mobilizations supporting ONE,OIF/OND, and OEF). To be honest, I never read the reg and went on word of mouth on the "M" device. Improperly had a "3" on there and flicked it off because of the post. RP keeping me straight!
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CPO Jon Campbell
The AFRM regs have changed several times. When I first joined, the hourglass was bronze for 20, silver for 30, and gold for 40. Now it is bronze for 10, silver for 20, and gold for 30. It changed when mandatory retirement at 30 years kicked in. Older guys would stop and question me for wearing a bronze hourglass and not having enough service stripes for 20 years. On top of that, the supply of silver hourglasses disappeared and it was very hard to find one anywhere for many years. Mine is still a 'theater made' silver hourglass - bronze with tinfoil wrapped around it.
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Not so much a normally wrongly worn ribbon but a funny story. I'm 2009 I was at RAF Alconbury in the U.K. During a Change of Command for our new Security Forces Commander coming in, somehow something caught my attention. During our new Commanders introduction address I start looking him over trying to figure it out. From approximately 50 meters away I figure it out. His AF Basic Training and Expert Ribbons were reversed.
Being a SSgt at the time and the new Commander being a Major I wanted to be sure so I just held it in. Once we were back at our unit, I was able to get a close enough look to confirm the mistake. I waited for the Major to finish speaking with a SNCO and when the opportunity presented itself I introduced myself as his UDM/NCOIC Supply/One man logistics person. After asking if I asked if I could speak with him for a second, I was able to get him out of earshot where anyone could overhear the conversation. I told him I had noticed there must have been an accident during preparation by the local creators and that his ribbons were displaying incorrectly.
He thanked me, corrected it and I never heard grief from any leadership on it. Will always be the best Commander I ever served.
Being a SSgt at the time and the new Commander being a Major I wanted to be sure so I just held it in. Once we were back at our unit, I was able to get a close enough look to confirm the mistake. I waited for the Major to finish speaking with a SNCO and when the opportunity presented itself I introduced myself as his UDM/NCOIC Supply/One man logistics person. After asking if I asked if I could speak with him for a second, I was able to get him out of earshot where anyone could overhear the conversation. I told him I had noticed there must have been an accident during preparation by the local creators and that his ribbons were displaying incorrectly.
He thanked me, corrected it and I never heard grief from any leadership on it. Will always be the best Commander I ever served.
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The biggest mistake I see on Army uniforms is the number of Overseas Service Bars (combat stripes). They always count their months wrong. If a soldier deployed on a 12 month rotation and was there from June 28th, 07 to July 1st, 08, that counts as 13 months when calculating the months for the bars. If they have several deployments, a lot of times they have extra months that add up to another bar. You can't go off the month total tallied on your ERB. That is for HRCs total for other things. You actually have to count your month separately. Even one day of a month counts as a total month but it will not calculate as a month on the tally if it wasn't 30 days. I've corrected SGMs and 1SGs on this even.
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I feel like I should make a joke about ribbons being worn upside down...
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CPT (Join to see)
Many Soldiers with three ribbons (for the last 10 years the most common is ASR, GWOTSM, NDSM) have their ribbons 'upside-down' in that they reversed the order.
In those cases I help them fix it as kindly and privately as I can, since it generally means they have barely been in long enough to know better.
In those cases I help them fix it as kindly and privately as I can, since it generally means they have barely been in long enough to know better.
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CW2 Jonathan Kantor
I recently found out I had been wearing the wrong NATO ribbon for two years. It's the one they gave to me and it wasn't the right one!
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