General Wears his Medals Upside Down at State of the Union

YouTube ^ | 2/6/19 | Angry Cops

[Godebert]

National Guard general admits his ribbons were upside down during State of the Union (Air Force).

[CondorFlight]

Still, this was not a parade, it was the SOTU, and naturally he would also be in view of the TV cameras at some point.

He didn’t check to make absolutely positive that his uniform was correct?

[elcid1970]

Every time the general walks into the officers club they should strike up,

Into the air, junior birdman
Into the air, upside down;
Into the air, junior birdman
Keep your nose up in the brown;
And when you see all those birdmen
With their shiny wings of tin
Then you will know the junior birdmen
Have sent their boxtops in!

;^)

[gundog]

General Joseph L. Lengyel serves as the 28th Chief of the National Guard Bureau and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

ROTC and National Guard. Maybe that’s why. We had Guard guys in Basic, I think.

[Reily]

Well I might not willingly follow that guy into battle but I might follow him for the entertainment value!

[gundog]

He was a codger, pretty obviously retired, maybe in for a VA checkup and was wandering around in the BX.

[lowbridge]

He did that too???

;-)

[Reily]

ok so not on active duty...

[I want the USA back]

Because Trump is getting us out of wars? Sorry, even as a general you don’t get to decide which orders you will follow.

[Openurmind]

I was so wanting him to come out in front of the podium and thank them then bark “A-Ten-Hut!” and make these guys hold a salute until he was ready to let them go... :)

[gundog]

Well, he was ROTC as a college student, I think he was commissioned out of college. Combat vet...F-16s...I wouldn’t take anything away from him. But a 4 star out of ROTC? Seems odd. His aide probably makes up ribbon racks all the time, or farms it out, keeping them pretty and new.

[Bull Snipe]

another example, not mentioned in your link. Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda. Enlisted in the Navy, advanced to E6, then was sent to OCS. Before his death by suicide, he was the Chief of Naval Operations.

[CIB-173RDABN]

My gut tells me to take the General at his word, unless more information comes out.

---

That is my take on it as well.

[Yo-Yo]

What’s the Air Force regulation for wearing of the uniform? Make him eat the entire manual.

Back in my day it was AFR 35-10. These days, who knows? (Answer: Google knows. It is AFI (Air Force Instruction) 36-2903.)

So the General put his ribbon board on upside down on his freshly- pressed uniform. An embarrassing mistake, to be sure, but not something worth firing over.

[jonascord]

When was the last time a general was responsible for pinning his own uniform? Even as we speak, there is some former O-1 aide, on his way to Peterson AFB, assigned to count penguins for the rest of his career.

(Yes, I know about where penguins are found. And, Peterson is abandoned.)

[BuffaloJack]

Was he a draftee?

[SMARTY]

Does he sign his name upside down when he cashes his checks?

[Godebert]

"So the General put his ribbon board on upside down on his freshly- pressed uniform. An embarrassing mistake, to be sure, but not something worth firing over."

You would think that at least ONE of the other Joint-Chiefs would have noticed his medals were jacked-up before sitting down for the SOTU speech.

[DoubleNickle]

Peterson is abandoned? Don’t think so — maybe you’re thinking of some other base.

[jonascord]

There was a SgtMaj at Hdq, 1st Mar Div who had the MOH. He would wear only one ribbon, a different one, each day. I understand that he could go several months without repeating.

He'd wear The Big One on 10 November...

[mass55th]

And then he tried to blame the error on an aide. What a doofus. Guy can’t even dress himself. Or maybe that aide is a female who he’s been having inappropriate relations with.