A Marine. And, he's alive. Heh. Odd how the dam seems to have broken. From an LA Times blog (haven't seen an official release yet):
Faster, please. And more. And it can be done without compromising the integrity and quality, either. This process takes waaaaaay too long, which usually means that waaaay too many people have to block-check it. I don't care how they defend it, the MoH process is sclerotic.
A Marine has been recommended for the Medal of Honor for actions in combat in Afghanistan, Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos told reporters Saturday in San Diego.
Amos said the recommendation, which must be reviewed by the secretary of the Navy, secretary of defense, and President Obama, was made by his predecessor, Gen. James Conway.
Amos, who succeeded Conway two weeks ago, said that the recommendation was made after a thorough investigation that filled a binder and detailed the Marine's bravery. "I read it cover-to-cover," he said. "It watered my eyes."
Faster, please. And more. And it can be done without compromising the integrity and quality, either. This process takes waaaaaay too long, which usually means that waaaay too many people have to block-check it. I don't care how they defend it, the MoH process is sclerotic.
It also loves wars, distracting attention away from trouble at home by "glorious conquest" abroad.
Worked for thousands of years...
The MOH Society is losing members faster than new ones become eligible, and that is sad.
Nearly every one of the MOH recipients will tell you they were only doing their job and are somewhat embarassed by any fuss made over their deeds. However, they have truly earned (the hard way!) the awe, admiration and respect that fellow warriors feel in their presence. And, they are representatives for the many more heroes who were posthumous recipients.
I salute them all, and thank them.
That depends on why it's happening.
If it's because just as many men and women are doing Medal-of-Honor-worthy things, but they're not getting recognized for it , that is indeed sad.
If it's because fewer men and women are doing Medal-of-Honor-worthy things because there are fewer chances for that, then that may be not sad at all. I know this is going to sound pompous, but we should never forget what the Medal of Honor is awarded for: "conspicuous gallantry in combat, at the risk of one's life above and beyond the call of duty." One reason there are fewer Medal of Honor qualifiers these days is that fewer soldiers are seeing the kind of vicious, desperate combat that produces Medals of Honor, and I consider that a good thing.
"I salute them all, and thank them."
Seconded.
A bomb-sniffing dog takes a looooong time to train, and is difficult to maintain in the combat environment. Don't any leaders have a clue that they will become the new targets of the turbanz? We have a cute-pet mentality going here, and WE wouldn't harm a dog, but the taliban will have no such compunction. They will just salt the roadside areas with bait, or worse, ethlene glycol. They might even resort to other means to take out the dogs.
Our major focus should be on killing taliban, not on detecting their buried mines. When we kill enough of them, the mine issue goes away. All the dogs represent to THIS old vet is another softening of our position vs. the enemy.
Anyway, it was rumored a few years ago that Israel had solved this problem with some sort of wide-area EMP generator which fires the detonators in the bombs, and ever since they did, IEDs have ceased to be a problem for them. What is holding up OUR adoption of their technology?
I don't think the Marines are being reactionary here about the Army bestowing on on a living recipient.
I recall the Commandant a year ago saying they were working on the process for a living recipient. I have a pretty good idea who this is, and it's been in the works a while.
It DOES take too damn long. Really? If we can't process an award in 6 months, we're doing it wrong.