Do officers in the military

receive "Good Conduct Medals" as enlisted men do on don't? Having been an enlisted slob during the Viet-era I guess I don't really know. I wrote in to a local newspaper and mentioned I didn't see a good conduct medal on Bush's uniform. I was taken to task by an individual that said officers didn't receive this award. True or false?

It is an enlisted award, the only time you'll see an officer with one is if he/she were prior enlisted. So the answer is true.

I hate to be wrong.

and don't get awarded for living up to that expectation.

Enlisted men are stupid.
But they are sly and cunning,
and bear considerable watching.

were enlisted at some point. Nurses who were in the student nurse program were enlisted while they were in College. Officers are assumed to have good conduct. Hah

them quite similar to "Merit Badges" in the Cub Scouts. I really never new what I received it for; nor, did understand why I received a "Meritorious Service Award"?????

As far as "An Officer and A Gentleman"......the officers under whom I served were very good. Maybe I lucked out, I don't know.

I am a "Viet Nam Era" veteran who served in the US Army HQ in Heidelberg, Germany during the early seventies. I never served in Viet Nam!

During the late "sixties", I was attending college with a "2-S" deferment. I used to "hang" around with many real Viet Vets coming back for the GI Bill. Heard a lot of stories. Then, the most profound story that I was told by a source which I would consider to be MOST true and honest in his troubled reflections, was this: <paraphrased>

There was one time when a group of my fellow soldiers collected $1000.00 to have a Lieutenant eliminated. I took the money. One night I took out my M-16, and, hit him in the head. After, I went into Saigon and spent everything I had, to stay so F--- up on whatever drugs I could find for three days!

I could have been more descriptive of the conversation which was held 19 years ago. I am sure that there are members on this site, having truly been a Viet Nam Veterans, that may know of similar occurrences during their duty there. I could say that this individual's comrades may have felt that the Lieutenant was placing them in "UNDUE" jeopardy to advance his standing within the military.

WHAT IS "GOOD CONDUCT" IN AN UNDEFINED "MILITARY ACTION"?

....they were more likely to get hit from behind than they were from the front. The junior officers that survived the first three to six months did so by paying very close attention to their senior noncomms.

To qualify for a GCM in the USN, you must serve four honorable, enlisted years, with no disciplinary actions during that time. You will often see officers who are Limited Duty, or who went to OCS, with the award because they served at least four years in the enlisted ranks. If you see a Chief Petty Officer with curious stripes on the lower arm of his uniform (called Hash Marks, each represents four years of service), they turn to gold after serving 12 years honorable--before that, they are red. If you see a Chief with three or more red hash marks, you know he was a naughty boy (or she was a naughty girl) at some point during their career.

I served as an enlisted person before being commissioned, but I did not have enough time in to qualify for the GCM. This actually worked well for me as a junior officer, as my crew knew I was prior enlisted, and thought that I was a badass who went to Captain's Mast, but was sent to OCS ANYWAY--no doubt because of some imagined superior qualities. It definitely helped my 'cred' with the young 'uns, and I made no effort to disabuse them of the notion.

I'm new, so I am wandering about the board and doing a little posting and saying hello to everyone. Hello, everyone!

I hope you were not insulted by my honest post.

:toast:

I had two (2) count-em Captain's Mast in my first four years but to my surprise I received a good conduct medal. I have eight years worth of them.

Where did you serve? What did you do?

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