Candidate possibly embellishing military career with unearned ribbons & medals

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac161/paulbunyan_2010/misc%20stuff/ribbons.jpg ^

[paulbunyan69]

There is a current politician and candidate running for reelection here in SW Ohio who is a peacetime Air Force veteran. She served honorably for 6 years as an officer. She never saw combat nor was in theater.

What is troubling is that this politician goes around wearing a chest full of military ribbons as if she were some sort of war hero. She wears them on her shirts, jackets, and other articles of clothing at public events. She almost resembles General Patton. She also let's you know that she is a veteran over and over and over again. She campaigns on it. John Kerry would be very proud of his Democratic colleague.

Here's where it gets interesting; when she first ran for office the ribbons she wore were those she was awarded while in the service. We can identify all of 7 them and I have her official USAF photo.

BUT, since then, they have more than doubled and now she is sporting 18 ribbons!! Some people are wondering if she is wearing ROTC ribbons or just bought some at the flea market and is trying to puff herself up even more.

I have identified awards she initially sported. They appear to be legitimate. HOWEVER I cannot identify the rest (11 others). I have searched through AFROTC, CAP, etc as well as other military award charts and just cannot find any of them.

Any help exposing this potential fraud would be greatly appreciated. Please see the posted pictures below for more details. I could be wrong and she might have earned them, whatever they are. But we need to know for sure to protect the honor of all servicemen & women. Thank you!

[Red Steel]

That’s the AF Outstanding Unit Award.

[razorback-bert]

That jumped out at me too.

My cousin has one and is on his four tour flying c130s.

[screaming eagle2]

one of these look like the Cold War Commemertative medal,a medal not recognized by military authorities,but presented by medal companies to honor a vet or group of vets

[pasodave]

She does not seem to display any wings. I have not seen anyone display the DFC who is not rated. There are some commemorative medals that can be purchased online. She may be using some of those.

[paulbunyan69]

Here is how she describes her military record on her web site. It still doesn’t explain her 11 extra ribbons & medals AND why she wears them around like she’s some sort of war hero:

On active duty, I achieved many accomplishments and received many honors: Outstanding Unit Award (three times). Highest possible operational readiness rating. Best Combat Crew Communications Branch, USAF (two consecutive years). Outstanding History Award. First Local Area Network for USAF Europe. Officer of the Year at Tempelhof Central Airport, West Berlin. Company Grade Officer Association, vice president. Tripled Enrollment (as ROTC recruiting officer). Top Retention Rate in Ohio (as ROTC recruiting officer and instructor of freshmen cadets). Physical Fitness Award. Women In Military Service for America Memorial, Charter Member. Special Olympics Committee Leader,
North Dakota. Air Force Commendation Medal (three times). Army of Occupation Medal. National Defense Service Medal. Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Medal. Service in Support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

[Brucifer]

I believe that the Arkansas and Louisiana Army and Air National Guard were actually awarded the Cold War Victory Medal. There has been an effort to authorize the medal at the federal level, but it never went anywhere.

By today’s standards it wouldn’t be unreasonable to award it.

[IYAS9YAS]

Third row, left-most is the small arms expert marksmanship medal.

[IYAS9YAS]

Top Row From Left: Unidentified (not on USAF list), Distinguished Flying Cross, WWII Army of Occupation

Second Row: National Defense Service Medal, Over-Seas Service Ribbon – Long Tour, Longevity Service Award

Third Row: Small Arms Expert, Air Force Training Ribbon, Unidentified (not on USAF list)

Fourth Row: None Identified as USAF

Fifth Row: None Identified as USAF

Sixth Row: None Identified as USAF

[IYAS9YAS]

That’s the AF Outstanding Unit Award.

Nope. The Outstanding Unit Award looks like this: Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.

The prior poster is correct.

[Red Steel]

Nope, I'm correct.

The candidate's words posted #25 above:

"On active duty, I achieved many accomplishments and received many honors: Outstanding Unit Award (three times). Highest possible operational readiness rating. "

You notice the two bronze oak leaf clusters? And the above picture is not of true colors.

The position of the OUA ribbon is to the left of her Commendation ribbon. If it were a Distinguished Flying Cross, it would be to the right of her Commendation ribbon. If she was awarded 3 DFC medals, she would toot her horn about them.

The Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon

The Distinguished Flying Cross Ribbon

They are similar in design.

[Hotmetal]

Bottom row from her left to right
AF training ribbon
Small arms expert marksmanship ribbon
AF longevity service award

Second row from her left to right
National defence service medal
Army of occupation medal (same as the medal on her left)
__?__ with device

Top row
Looks like AF commendation with device (looks like same as the medal on her right)

[Hotmetal]

Look here

http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/library/awards/index.asp

[IYAS9YAS]

I stand corrected. Maybe it’s my screen. It’s weird, though, the black on the unit citation (middle) looks bluish/purple (which is why I went with DFC), but the medal to the right of it is clearly black and red. Even your pics of the individual medals show distinct color differences on my screen.

[airdalechief]

Top row... 3rd medal (Black/Red/white borders) is the WWII Occupation Medal issued to the Army/Navy/USMC/USCG. This medal is similar to the Kosovo Campaign medal.

That one stood out.

I don’t have time to research this today but some could be Commemorative medals which are not issued by the government and not authorized on military uniforms BUT can be worn on civies. You can buy a bunch of them and be somebody, eh?

[IYAS9YAS]

I see it better in the link in post 32. The Outstanding Unit Citation is blue, not black. Funny, they all have different hues (your pic looks black), hers bluish/purple, and the link in 32 is definitely blue.

[Red Steel]

The Outstanding Unit Citation is blue, not black.

Yes.

[cqnc]

her actual number is on the website - 513 792 0668

[cqnc]

Connie Pillich - I reminded her she wasn’t even BORN when he Army of Occupation ribbon was issued.

[Red Steel]

Her Tempelhof Berlin, Germany assignment is the likely source for the Army of Occupation Medal.

[paulbunyan69]

Here is what we have been able to figure out:

Air Force Commendation Medal, 2x
Air Force Gallant Unit Award, 3x
Occupation Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Air Force Training Ribbon

But what in the wide wide world of sports are the rest of those ribbons? Did she just buy a bunch and slap them on?