Posted on 06/17/2009 8:55:56 AM PDT by jazusamo
Defense official tells Hunter that modern warfare limits troop-on-troop contact
Is high-tech warfare making combat safer and leading to fewer Medal of Honor winners from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
That's the suggestion of a Defense Department official in a letter to Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-El Cajon, who says there are more deserving troops from America's current conflicts than the five who have won the honor.
Gail McGinn, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote Hunter a letter earlier this month suggesting electronic warfare may be one reason why only a handful of U.S. troops have been awarded the nation's highest military award for valor in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Technological advancements have dramatically changed battlefield tactics, techniques and procedures," McGinn wrote in the letter released by Hunter's office. "Precision-guided, stand-off weapons allow our forces to destroy known enemy positions with reduced personnel risk."
Hunter said Tuesday he was dissatisfied with that reasoning. He wants a congressionally mandated review of how the Medal of Honor award has been bestowed in recent years.
"It's true that some aspects of warfare have changed," he said. "But what hasn't changed is the close-quarter combat that is required to take ground from the enemy. That is what our Marines and soldiers do. Those actions are no different today than they were at any other time before."
McGinn also wrote that insurgents often rely on roadside bombs and rocket or mortar attacks and avoid direct engagement with U.S. forces.
"These factors could reasonably explain the smaller number of Medal of Honor nominations," she wrote.
Hunter, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan as a Marine Corps officer, cited house-to-house combat in Iraq and foot patrols in isolated areas of Afghanistan as examples of close-quarters fighting using traditional weaponry.
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
BTW, Mark Walker should know that our military awarded the Medal of Honor are not winners, they're recipients.
MOH Ping!
Being a vastly superior force likely does reduce the number of acts of valor in the face of enemy fire. Its a good thing that we have the capability to send a Maverick missile into a bunker, vice requiring infantry to deliver a satchel charge.
Even then the battles don't give a chance to expose personal valor above that of the average soldier. You don't have time to do something heroic in a thirty second firefight with some jihadis hiding in an apartment who were waiting to ambush some soldiers on patrol.
Gad. Again with “WINNERS”.
Agreed, and as pointed out in the article technology has made a difference. But as also stated there have been five Medal of Honors awarded in Iraq and Afghanistan, all posthumously but many acts of true heroism also.
I think it’s a good suugestion by Rep. Hunter that this is looked into.
Read SSG David Bellavia’s harrowing tale of combat in Fallujah, “House To House.” IMHO, his Silver Star should be upgraded to the MOH. His fight was as grueling as any in Aachen, Metz, Seoul, Manilla, or Hue.
I haven’t read “House to House” but am familiar with SSG Bellavia’s action, I agree his Silver Star should be upgraded. The battle of Fallujah was a very tough battle by any standard.
1st Sgt Brad Kasal, USMC, was awarded the Navy Cross for action in Fallujah in November 2004. In my view, should be upgraded to MOH.
I think the nature of the enemy also reduces MOH moments. Getting hit with an IED probably won’t warrant a MOH...even though it surely takes courage to go out on the patrol in the first place.
However, I’m sure clearing Fallujah and similar operations would have involved some very up close fighting.
I have long been decrying the reluctance of the Pentagon to nominate deserving living individuals for the MoH. There are now fewer than one living MoH recipient for every 3,000,000 Americans. This is not just an insult to the heroic individual, but an insult to the country as a whole.
Only 96 MoH recipients are still alive.
The Medal of Honor is not just given to a person for a great deed of courage, bravery, and action in the highest traditions of the military. The recipient is also that person’s family, community, church, State and the United States itself, for producing someone of such high character.
For the rest of their life, there is nothing a MoH recipient can do that transcends that recognition. It prefaces all other honorariums and citations, military or civilian. Were a recipient to become the President of the United States, their title would still be “Medal of Honor recipient and President of the United States.”
There is no regulation that other military personnel are required to salute a Medal of Honor recipient before they can salute a superior, but from private to top general, they will all do so.
But by denying our nation and its people living MoH recipients, the Pentagon is denying generations of Americans the opportunity to see unparalleled role models. Perhaps the majority of Americans have no idea what a Medal of Honor means, and have never seen one, or even a picture of one.
The late Medal of Honor recipient, Ace World War II fighter pilot Joe Foss was flying from Phoenix to West Point, to give a speech to the cadets there. But he was stopped at Sky Harbor airport by employees of the TSA, who had never seen a Medal of Honor, and knew nothing of what it was, or what it represented. What they saw was a piece of metal with pointed edges, that in their puny minds might be used by Joe Foss to hijack the aircraft.
It is solely the responsibility of the Pentagon that such ignorance exists. And when such heroes live, it is intolerable that they refuse to recognize them. And the nation that produced them.
Well said! Your point about Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss and the encounter with the TSA people that didn’t recognize the MOH for what it is is an outstanding example.
My recollection of the event was that they were Army reservists augmenting TSA screeners who couldn't identify the MOH.
My recollection of the event was that they were Army reservists augmenting TSA screeners who couldn't identify the MOH.
A most excellent post, very well said.
Do you know if there is a database anywhere of all the MOH recipients and their stories?
This is a good thing in that it reduces posthumous awards.
http://www.history.army.mil/moh.html
However, it should be noted that during the Civil War, the MoH was not held in such high esteem as it is today, and that entire units were issued the citation.
Excellent point. And usually, posthumous recipients.
Capt. (Rep) Duncan D. Hunter was in the Battle of Fallujah.
He is doing great work in congress.
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