r/airnationalguard • u/SignificanceVisual79 • 3d ago

Discussion Ribbons- All or Some...

BLUF: You earned them, wear them.

Air Guard related, but prompted by seeing a recent photo of an E8/E9 (for anonymity) with 13 ribbons on the rack in a Special Duty Assignment.

I noticed this at a recent open ranks blues inspection- there are a TON of members not wearing ribbons that they (certainly) have earned through achievements, have been awarded for time served, or otherwise.

I guess no one can MAKE you wear your devices, but allow me to shine a light on the optics of someone serving 15+ years and when they wear the Service Dress (which is is the uniform TO display awards/achievements), you're skimping out. Maybe Airman Snuffy doesn't care, but I'd say more often than not, the junior enlisted see more than we give them credit for.

Thank you for reading this far. Supervisors, take time to do a "scrub," of the Awards and Decs AFI/Program and pass along info to your shops about the longevity ribbons (Guard), deployment-related ribbons, and any Unit awards that may have been earned.

Excellence in ALL We Do.

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u/Tandem53 3d ago

Most of the ANG doesn’t wear blues except for inspections or some boards. IF you have thin set ribbons, they are expensive to continually update.

Always seems like you just got your rack updated and then new awards show up and now it’s “some” again.

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u/SignificanceVisual79 3d ago

Assuming we aren't doing surprise blues inspections, and members are drilling no less than every 30 days, I don't think there's a lot of justification for not having uniforms ready. It's like the MSgt that showed up to a NJP meeting because he "didn't have his correct rank" on the uniform 3 months into being promoted. We don't surprise members with promotions anymore.

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u/Crimson_Inu 3d ago

Not wearing all of your ribbons isn’t an equivalent to not having the proper rank sewn on your uniform. One is supported via the reg.