Give me some credit, 9 rows x 3 columns = DUUUH By the way, what is the badge to the right of the Ranger shoulder strip?
Ranger If you were "IN" when the cold war ended they would have asked you to apply for a nice certificate which you could hang on the "I Love Me Wall" if not then your SOL (Straight out of Luck).
I think i was in during the tail end I enlisted in 1988, but i didnt do much 1988 to 89 i fought THE WHORE WAR in korea lol..
ya took the time to count the rows... gee ya wana read the citations and post em like ya do for every brit who ever put on a pair of hobnailed boots LOL... it would be boring reading my stuff
this a damn good question actually! ive asked the same question on several occasions. was the "cold war" a real war? well in terms of what we, throughout history, percieve a war to be, no it wasnt! could it be looked upon as some sort of "phoney way"? Yes, deffinately! Serve in theatre for 28 days or more and you get your gong. many in the ww2 "phoney war" were awarded their medal for serving in France for just 28 days. No disrespect intended but many of them were never in reality in any danger whatsoever at that time. Falklands war - 28 days at Ascension (RAF Butlins) and you got your gong. first Gulf war - 28 days at RAF Pontins (AKA Raf Akrotiri), cyprus and you got your gong! my service carreer took place 1983 - 1996 RAF. that period took in NI, Cold War and 1st gulf war. Also two stints in the falkland islands, one was shortly after the conflict there. A medal coming my way? No chance! But why not? i was in germany when the IRA were carrying out their campagin against BAOR and RAFG, i lost mates in that campaign. i was checking my car for bombs. whilst this IRA campaign was going on i even had a Dutch bloke walk upto my wife in a car park in Venlo and pretend to pull a gun out of his breast pocket!! He pointed this pretend gun, point blank, at her head and pretended to pull the trigger. (Needless to say he thought that was funny untill he was face down in a muddy puddle with my foot in his crutch!) I suppose the point im making is this: Yes! The cold war and other types of conflict are "real" wars! The "cold War" was a war , beit a defensive war - it was still a war! If the serviceman in that period hadnt stood their ground, hadnt sat in sangars or trenches in the ground for days on end with rubber respirators on our faces and NBC suits on, then where would we all be now. I accept i never had a bullet pass by my head. Many in WW2 etc didnt either. But that doesnt mean myself (and many others like me) were not on "active service"! I, unlike many Vets, have sat in a hole in German ground in the depths of a European winter, up to my eyes in snow and ice. I spent 3 years on 19 sqn in Germany, an RAF F4 interceptor sqn. Many nights (and days) we were sending up "Battle flight" F4s to intercept Russian "Bears" that had encroached into our air space. We were, and we all knew it, fighting a war of some description! The job we did in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s was no less important regards National security than the job done by our respected WW2 Vets and the WW1 Vets that have sadly all passed. Ive never pulled a trigger in anger, but does that mean my contribution to the security of our country and the safety of its population is any less important to those that served in Akritir or Ascension? For that matter, does the role i played in what was a "preventative war" (the cold war) bear less significance than the contribution made by our very much respected WW2 Veterans played in their war? (bear in mind - i am a member of my local RBL - My respect and admiration of ww2 vets is 100% uncompromising!) regards
Ranger If you were "IN" when the cold war ended they would have asked you to apply for a nice certificate which you could hang on the "I Love Me Wall" if not then your SOL (Straight out of Luck). i was never asked to apply - "where do i get my cert"? lol
What do you class as the cold war and what people would be entitled to it, where would they have to have served to awarded this medal or is this another way of getting a NDM
What do you class as the cold war and what people would be entitled to it, where would they have to have served to awarded this medal or is this another way of getting a NDM to answer your question. personally i can only speak for my own period in service, but i would deffinately suggest that RAFG and BAOR be entitled to some sort of recognition
Well Germany was classed as a home posting and people were back wards and forwards to it all the time, many units like mine would go out there for a training period, so that would bring in a huge amount of of the RAF and Army
Many did not believe that Ivan had any intention of going expeditionary and that must have been the real thinking of the higher echelons. In truth how many units in BAOR could honestly say they were war ready. Clapped out AFV 432, ever shrinking resources. Units especially armour being cannibalized to keep other units at some sort of level. Had Ivan fooled us, he would have come after 1600hrs on Friday, he could have gone across to the coast before half of BAOR had put the barbie out and sobered up. It was a great posting and everyone played along, the thought of not having BAOR as a posting would have had many call it a day. Let's not kid ourselves about this, it was a cushy posting. Prevent the cold war, Ronnie Reagan did that when he looked Ivan in the eye and said I will keep spending - can you? Medals - let us not devalue medals by issuing pointless trinkets.
Many did not believe that Ivan had any intention of going expeditionary and that must have been the real thinking of the higher echelons. In truth how many units in BAOR could honestly say they were war ready. Clapped out AFV 432, ever shrinking resources. Units especially armour being cannibalized to keep other units at some sort of level. Had Ivan fooled us, he would have come after 1600hrs on Friday, he could have gone across to the coast before half of BAOR had put the barbie out and sobered up. It was a great posting and everyone played along, the thought of not having BAOR as a posting would have had many call it a day. Let's not kid ourselves about this, it was a cushy posting. Prevent the cold war, Ronnie Reagan did that when he looked Ivan in the eye and said I will keep spending - can you? Medals - let us not devalue medals by issuing pointless trinkets. Having spoken to quite a few East German and Soviet troops (after the wall came down), from the Cold War era, the general, clapped out, shrinking resources, poor maintenance etc was equally at home on the other side of the curtain from us in BAOR. Huge amounts of money were pumped into Europe by both sides, both feared the bogeyman on the other side, both had belief in their forces to defend against the other. The reality seems to be more that both sides were never actually capable of doing even half of what was expected with the kit they had. The Cold War was more a propaganda war in Europe than anything else.
Leccy The story of two British cavalry officers looking over the wall into EG one said 'do you know old boy they still plough with horses', it was reported the other - obviously from farming stock sighed and said ' well I rather approve of that!' Only a Brit and only a donkey walloper! There is an unofficial BAOR medal and a 'cold war victory medal|' on here: British Ribbon List
