The Coffeespy

Sally Donnely of Time put the award process to the question in her recent article “Iraq: The War Without Honors.”  Ms. Donnely describes numerical inequities between the war in Iraq and WWII or even Viet Nam:

Three and a half years of combat in Iraq, for example, have produced only two winners of the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military award for bravery in combat. There were, by contrast, 464 Medals of Honor handed out during America’s involvement in World War II, which lasted the same amount of time. If the government had been as stingy then as it is now, adjusting for the number of Americans who served, there would have been only 30 Medals of Honor won in the fight against fascism.

I like this look at it because it doesn’t simply go by the number of medals, but rather the ratio of medals to soldiers.  Two other bits of Ms. Donnely’s piece jumped out at me:

Says retired Lieut. Colonel Steve Russell, an infantry officer who served in Iraq: “Many senior officers who decide these awards have succumbed to the notion that every soldier is doing a great job and no one should be held out as better than another.”

…and…

Army Lieut. General Tom Metz says he remembers clearly how a few soldiers in Vietnam took advantage of the system and won “air ribbons” often simply for taking flights in country. “[In Iraq] I was an award approver for all but the top two awards, and I was tough,” says Metz, who authorized a handful of Silver Stars during his two years in Iraq. “I am confident those who got an award with my signature on it earned it.”

I’m sure Lt. Gen. Metz was just trying to do a good job, but somewhere along the line he made the medal process about himself.  Medals he handed out are bona-fide, not like those “other” medals, those Viet Nam medals.  Unfortunately, in the quest to make sure his signature carries with it a certain value, that value is artificially inflated by overly-tough measures.

Medals should be given out on the stated criteria for the medal, not on the interpretation of a signatory power.  While most soldiers will deny it, medals are incredible morale boosters.  They inspire confidence in soldiers.  A confident soldier is the most dangerous thing on the battlefield.  Obviously the soldier nominated for a medal inspired someone or they wouldn’t have gone through the trouble to fill out all the paperwork for nomination in the first place.