“I’m fine with awarding a ribbon to guys who are really good at their craft and make a contribution to the war effort..”
The services all have commendation medals for that. That’s sufficient.
I agree with you. Just another example of medal-creep in the military. When my son came back from his deployment in Iraq he told me that everyone in his battalion received a medal based upon their rank. He called them “Special Olympic Medals”, you get one for just showing up.