Forget the Purple Heart, Drone Operators Deserve A Higher Honor says Military

I get the Change.org newsletter. I was surprised today when I found out the proposed medal for drone operators not only has been approved, But they count it a higher honor than a Purple Heart.

Higher than a Purple Heart for a guy thousands of miles away piloting a drone that reduces warfare to little more than a video game? What are these people thinking?

Here are the contents of the newsletter:

The Department of Defense has announced a new medal for operators of "unmanned drones" -- and it's being placed above the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and even the Prisoner of War medal.

I'm in Afghanistan right now, training the Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP) as a Security Forces Advisor in the U.S. Army. And me, and my fellow soldiers here, think that decision just isn't right.

I've known soldiers who've earned a Bronze Star because they sacrificed a lot. It's awarded for heroism and merit in a combat zone, and the people who get it are bravely facing real world danger.

I respect everyone in our military, but it doesn't make sense to me that drone operators working controls, thousands of miles away from an actual combat zone, deserve an award with "precedence" above those for men and women on the ground.

You're free to disagree, but if you think this isn't right, will you sign my petition asking the Department of Defense to reverse its decision?

We're making progress -- after hearing from soldiers and military families, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered a 30-day review of the medals' hierarchy. So we have just a short window to be heard.



Thank you,

Brandon Gulley
SFC, U.S. Army
AUP DHQ, Kunar Province

Of course there was a link to a petition but I won't post that on ATS. The DOD may be looking into this decision but it shows the child like mentality of those in charge of our nations security. They should have never placed a drone operator medal higher than a purple heart in the first place. I believe they did it to try and make the job of drone operator glamorous to new recruits.

Here's a couple more articles about the issue.

www.newsworks.org...

www.delcotimes.com...

What do you think?

but i thought the XBOX 360 already had the achievement system?

eg: Kill ten shepherds under the age of ten, blow up a wedding party and so forth

unreal drones are the most cowardly nasty machines ever to grace our sky's and no matter what the properganda machine spews out they have created more "terrorists" due to the huge amount of colateral damage and loss of civilian lives,its sick

The drone pilots are the reasl veterans we should be disarming when they get out of the service.
Killing by drone like that is bound to warp the psyche....
They arecreating mass murders out of these people.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Yeah because they have HONOR?? They are sitting behind a freaking controller killing people....

Purple heart awards are given to ACTUAL soldiers miles away from home and get shot by the enemy trying to protect us!!

This stuff makes me want to puke.....No wait.....I just did....TWICE...

Forget medals, just give them some gamerscore points....

Seriously, a medal for the equivalent of playing a real life video game? You have to be kidding me. No doubt the work is important, but medals for ZERO personal risk? Our grandfathers would be rolling over in their WW2 graves.

This is awful. I am in disbelief about this award. I had heard of it previously, but I hadn't heard that it was being ranked higher than a purple heart. That is complete and utter nonsense! You shouldn't be getting a high reward for sitting in a chair in absolutely no danger to your life and killing people 1000's of miles away. This is just trivializing the efforts of the soldiers who are putting their lives in danger everyday.

Only two weeks into his role as the head of the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the DoD to stop production on a medal that would have been awarded military drone pilots.

No medals for drone pilots

Don't worry. This medal won't fly Veterans groups are incensed. There are bills in Congress now that will reduce the status of the medal. It's not at all unusual to "earn" a medal for existing, however. Just joining the service earns you the "National Service Medal," called the "Geedunk" medal by the Navy. It just signifies you were present. (To give you an idea of its status, a Geedunk Wagon serves donuts and coffee.) Everyone in the service at the end of WW II earned the "World War Two Victory Medal" regardless whether they had seen combat. My father earned one. Though he went to the Phillipines, he never saw combat, though I suppose you could say he was in some danger as there were Japanese troops on the island at the time. My father-in-law also earned the exact same medal. He was on Omaha Beach at D-Day. Equivalent? I don't think so, and my father would readily agree.

I think they ought to take a different approach entirely. In the Navy you "earn" pins ("pins," not medals) for qualifying to do certain jobs. For example, there is the "Surface Warfare" pin and the submarine warfare pin, rather large devices, I must admit, that are usually pinned above the medal area. Same with your pilot's wings or airborne pin. As a specialty, it seems to me that sort of recognition would be more appropriate than a medal.

It was also going to be above the Bronze Star as well.

I'm glad cooler heads are finally starting to prevail and they're holding it up pending review.

I think the whole thing is a complete joke.

This would be an insult to my grandfather, who EARNED his Purple Heart in WW2.

Originally posted by Zarniwoop

Only two weeks into his role as the head of the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the DoD to stop production on a medal that would have been awarded military drone pilots.

No medals for drone pilots

From your link it says,

The award, initially reported by RT in 2012, was formally revealed days before Sec. Hagel entered office. It was approved by his predecessor, Sec. Panetta, and was expected to be offered in the coming months to servicemen who, while vital to the US military, don’t necessarily ever enter the battlefield.

And

For now, though, plans for the medal will be put on hold. Sec. Hagel has asked the military to halt production while a 30-day study is launched to determine if drone pilots and other remotely-located servicemen could be awarded without being actually deployed.

So, it really does not say there will be No medals for this type of service. They aren't even questioning If this medal should be places as high in rank or higher than the Bronze star or Purple Heart.. according to this they only claim they will look at the laws to see if they can even issue such a medal.

This is misleading. Of course they can issue a medal for such service, That would be a good idea in itself providing the serviceman distinguished himself with high marks for service conduct But don't place it equal or above medals you get for personal risk of life and limb.

According to this.. they are not even looking at IF the medal should be placed equal or higher than the Bronze Star or Purple Heart. - Somethings messed up here.

15 kills in a day
I'm "Stationed" where it feels like play.
Sit in a comfy chair
rarely even muss up the hair
This job makes me feel like a winner
But sometimes I am late for Dinner.
So why not give me a medal for life?
have You ever been served cold meatloaf
By YOUR wife?

reply to post by spacedoubt


I'm sure those are lyrics, but for the life of me, I can't find the song.

Not sure if I agree with giving out medal for drone operators however just to be clear whatever medal they would receive would be for achievement in their field.

The Purple Heart is NOT an achievement award that is why it wouldn’t even be considered higher than ANY achievement medal.

Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges they are not even in the same league as each other.

You are really making a big deal out of nothing here because the entire premise is a misrepresentation of the situation.

Of course it would be considered higher because it would be an achievement not an eventuality. For those of us who have served in the military we understand the difference in the award structure.

Why is this so surprising to you?

We give Noble Peace Prizes to people not deserving and also call people Hero that don't fit the bill. And we call people stocking up on supplies terrorist. And people that don't like the President prejudice.

Does anything really matter anymore the whole system I was raised on is being flushed down the drain.

Makes me conjure up an image of a guy sitting at a screen, then all the sudden jump up and screams;


killstreak



Good job murdering someone who stood no chance against you, enjoy your bit of tin.

They deserve a digital medal, like the ones awarded while playing an actual video game. While I respect all American service members, I will never respect a medal given for drone operation as significant.

reply to post by Zarniwoop


Just some of my own poetry. As far as I know.
It may have been subconsciously inspired, but I'm pretty sure those are original words

It's how I felt after watching a documentary on these "pilots"...I think they worked from Las Vegas, and commuted home after each shift.

stereotype alert... drone operators are not 19 year old videogamers... there is an entire team behind each drone. they have to diagnose the sitrep and make serious split second decisions while living with the consiquences. being out of the combat zone adds to the confusion, its amazing there are not more innocent casualties. trust me no one wants a purple heart, its usually not a great thing to get one. once every country has drones they wont seem as diabolic. sad we should be sending drones to space or use them in disaster zones to spot refugees.