SN1 brought me a couple o' goodies when he came to visit this week. These thingies:
Two takes on the (now) ubiquitous challenge coin. The larger actual coin is the unit challenge coin; the other is Buck's personal coin that he awards sparingly. You'll note Buck's personal coin is in the form of a very useful bottle opener that one can carry on a key chain. That's where this one is gonna live.
I never once saw a challenge coin in my 22-year Air Force career and I suppose there's a reason for that. From The Wiki:
I'll add the above to my small but highly treasured coin collection, which also includes these two guys:
Just by way of explanation... the USS Mason was the last ship launched by the traditional "down the ways" method at Bath Iron Works, where she was built. Sam was a member of the pre-commissioning crew and spent two years at Bath while Mason was under construction, which is how I came by that coin. The other coin is self-explanatory.
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| Larger than life size. |
Two takes on the (now) ubiquitous challenge coin. The larger actual coin is the unit challenge coin; the other is Buck's personal coin that he awards sparingly. You'll note Buck's personal coin is in the form of a very useful bottle opener that one can carry on a key chain. That's where this one is gonna live.
I never once saw a challenge coin in my 22-year Air Force career and I suppose there's a reason for that. From The Wiki:
Besides using coins for challenging, they are also used as rewards or awards for outstanding service or performance of duty. As such they are used as a tool to build morale. In the context as they are used by the modern U.S. military, the tradition probably began among special forces units during the Vietnam War. The tradition spread through the Airborne community, and by the early 1980s also into the 75th Ranger Regiment. As officers were reassigned as their careers progressed, they carried with them the tradition of awarding a unit coin for acts that were worthy of recognition, but yet lacked enough merit to submit the soldiers act for an official medal. Challenge coins were not very common until the First Persian Gulf War of 1990–1991, and have steadily grown in popularity since.You may remember I retired in 1985, so there's yer explanation.
I'll add the above to my small but highly treasured coin collection, which also includes these two guys:
Just by way of explanation... the USS Mason was the last ship launched by the traditional "down the ways" method at Bath Iron Works, where she was built. Sam was a member of the pre-commissioning crew and spent two years at Bath while Mason was under construction, which is how I came by that coin. The other coin is self-explanatory.
Like you, this geezer never saw (or even heard of the concept) a single coin while I was on active duty. I have mixed feelings about them, tho, mainly because I get the feeling that it has morphed into one of those "unofficial official"/"informal mandatory" things now automatically expected of commanders, etc. that brings a "forced" feeling to the concept--"taints the air" so to speak with the implication that commanders who do not utilize such things are somehow lesser men. IOW, the thing has become est. as practically a "right" of the troops to receive (all children must have prizes) rather than as a special and rare occurrence, Sort of like the expectation you once alluded to Buck, that by the end of your career, one was somewhat of a failed OIC/NCOIC if one didn't garner some kind of an award--bronze star, AF commendation medal--whatever--upon completion of EACH and EVERY assignment; which meant/means that everyone is constantly inflating each and every piddling unit "accomplishment"--no matter how minor-- in order to justify the self-aggrandizement. It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth--sort of like official "mentoring" programs--imho a bow to the "it's not what you know but who you know" philosophy of organizational life..
ReplyDeleteStill, If it improves overall unit morale perhaps I'm being too harsh in judgement. As an ex-coach I'm ALL FOR motivational techniques--so guess I can't squawk too much..
I hear what you're sayin', Virgil. I'm reasonably sure the coins are now "officially unofficial." And I didn't allude to the lack of an end-of-tour medal being prejudicial to one's career... I came right out and said it.
DeleteYes, I remember the post. I didn't comment at the time for some reason (probably because by the time I got there most of the gnd had been covered) There is NO bigger "political" animal in the world than the armed services, bar none..
DeleteQuestion: How does one go about getting a coin made? Does expense come from the pocket?
ReplyDeleteI'm spitballing here, but I'm reasonably sure there's a line item in the squadron (unit) budget for the coins. I also said Buck had his bottle-opener coin made, so yes... he paid for that.
DeleteThe Barco Skipper needs one o' dem bottle opener tags! Envy!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty cool lil device, Darryl.
DeleteBack in the day COs in the fleet, at least on the "small boys," would hold a meritorious mast. At such time they would award the good conduct medals and read letters of commendation into sailor's service records. As a "kiddie cruiser" I got neither.
ReplyDeleteHeh. I was never "awarded" a GCM either, but I DID get medal presentations for other things.
DeleteThose are pretty cool treasures. I like the idea of personal coins to give.
ReplyDeleteCool, indeed.
DeleteThere are ways to pay for command coins with government money; but when that happens, no personal name can be on the coin and each coin must be accounted for when it's awarded to a member of the command for meritorious service. Coins paid for with government funds are controlled material... and must be audited when CO's turnover.
ReplyDeletePersonal coins can be pricey and are given out sparingly... they do add to the morale of the members of the command. At least I like to believe that.
Thanks for that, Sam. I was pretty close with my guesses, right?
DeleteI recognize that UAE flag on one coin. We used to fly C-130 out of Al Dhafra in the first, second, and third Gulf wars. Course it was just a staging base. We had missions like fly to every fucking air base and move troops around. One time we landed in the Iraqi desert, at the coordinates given there was a white smoke to give us the winds. When we landed, these two guys who looked right out of central casting for "The Rat Patrol" climbed aboard, and never said a word. I swear they were Australian with British rifles, but none of our bets were paid, because they never said a word. We flew them to another dirt strip in northern Arabia and that was that.
ReplyDeleteThis was amazing to me, as this was before GPS, and coordinates on the Inertial Nav were sort of like melted ice cream after even an hour flight.
The thing about the UAE though, was it smelled just like every other Arab country - it smelled like Las Vegas - like hot concrete...
I recognize that UAE flag on one coin.
DeleteOops... Cat. Bag. So much for that "undisclosed location" thing. ;-)
You mentioning smells brings up an interesting phenomenon... I used to think every foreign city I've ever been in had a unique aroma. Now I'll have to re-think that. Then again, I've never been in an Arab city unless you consider Beirut to be Arab.