Path: border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news-in-01.newsfeed.easynews.com!easynews!core-easynews-01!easynews.com!en-nntp-02.dc1.easynews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Otis Willie PIO The American War Library
Newsgroups: fidonet.vietnam_vets
Subject: Operation RetroActive Recognition Proposed Legislation
Organization: The American War Library
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Lines: 282
we will be unable to process your complaint properly.
Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:43:45 -0700
Bytes: 15507
Xref: number.nntp.dca.giganews.com fidonet.vietnam_vets:531
Operation RetroActive Recognition Proposed Legislation
FOR CIRCULATION AMONG ALL US VETERANS:
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/retroactive/retro.htm
As you know, the purpose of Operation RetroActive Recognition is to authorize
retroactivity of dozens of military service and combat awards created after
World War 2.
Proposed Legislation has been written for Congress to implement as is or amend
for implementation. A copy of this Proposed Legislation is contained in this
email Bulletin and also resides at this website:
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/retroactive/plegis.htm
If you approve and support this Operation to extend eligibility of many military
awards to potentially eligible living and deceased military veterans you are
invited to print a copy of this Proposed Legislation and mail it to your
Representative in the House of Representatives and to one or both of your
federal Senators in the Senate. (A sample Letter of Introduction is included
below.) You can obtain your Representative's and Senator's mailing addresses
here:
House: http://www.house.gov
Senate: http://www.senate.gov
Contact Persons for this Posting:
See the Op Retro website for email addresses
OPERATION RETROACTIVE WEBSITE:
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/retroactive/retro.htm
---LETTER OF INTRODUCTION---
The Honorable -----:
I am sending you the enclosed Proposed Legislation for Operation RetroActive
Recognition, a bill to extend eligibility of various military awards to
potentially eligible living and deceased veterans who performed the same duties
and service for which current recipients are eligible. I hope that you will
help augment and introduce this Legislation in current form or in your revised
form for full Congressional approval. If I can be of any assistance in this
matter please feel free to contact me with your questions or concerns.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
(Your Signature)
---P R O P O S E D - L E G I S L A T I O N ---
Operation RetroActive Recognition
112th CONGRESS
1ST Session
The mission of this Operation is to gain Congressional and Military support and
approval to authorize retroactivity of certain awards, medals and badges to
eligible living and deceased military veterans who served from our
Revolutionary War to the Present... without costing either the taxpayer or our
military branches any money.
Today there exists a number of U.S. military awards created since WW2 that have
never been made applicable, or retroactive, to veterans or prior wars simply
because Congress cannot budget the enormous cost of providing retroactive
hardware to the millions of former servicemen and women who performed the exact
same service and duty for our country over the past 200 years that current
military members perform today. Understandably, the administrative cost alone
of processing approvals, or rejections, for retroactive awards would burden
billions of dollars on the American taxpayer and drain the active military of
those billions required to fund our active national defense.
In the proposed (sample) Legislation provided below, this operation proposes
that certain awards (see list below) created after WW2, in which their criteria
renders them applicable to prior eras, be made automatically retroactive to
qualified veterans based on their existing military documentation (DD-214 or
Report of Separation)
This Operation also proposes in the sample Legislation that any qualified
veteran who wishes to obtain a retroactive award must purchase it him or
herself. In other words, neither the taxpayer nor the military budget will be
required to fund the cost of providing newly retroactive awards enacted under
any approval legislation.
This Operation believes that this simple remedy will fully resolve all issues of
deserved retroactivity authorization and funding, while at the same time
preserving the enforceability of the Stolen Valor Act of 2007.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
(DATE)
PROPOSED LEGISLATION
A BILL
A. To expand retroactive eligibility of certain awards (medals, badges and
ribbons) to eligible former U.S. Military Personnel, living or deceased, of the
United States Armed Forces who served or performed in identical or similar
actions now recognized for an existing award from the period starting with the
Revolutionary War to the present;
B. To apply the punitive Stolen Valor Act to any misrepresented or disclaimed
award that is deemed ineligible by any authorized governing agency;
C. To require approval for those awards that currently require confirmation of
eligibility; the cost/fee of confirming eligibility to be born by the applicant
or applicants representative; the non-refundable cost/fee of reviewing
eligibility to be established either by Congress or the working agency;
D. To establish that any awards (medals, badges or ribbons) or other hardware
associated with an automatic or required-approval award be purchased from a
hardware supplier by the applicant or applicant's representative with no
issuance or compensation for their cost by any military or other federal, state
or local agency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the RetroActive Recognition Service Award Act of 2010.
SECTION 2. AWARDS/MEDALS AUTHORIZED.
(a) Automatic Authorization. To be awarded under authority of Recipients to be
granted automatic authorization pending documentation verifying fulfillment of
criteria.
(b) Approval / Authorization Required. Confirmation of eligibility and approval
necessary and needed to be determined by appropriate branch of military service.
SECTION 3. SAMPLE LIST OF AWARDS TO BE AUTOMATICALLY AUTHORIZED.
The following is a sample list of awards created since World War all that are
applicable to a limited selection of military personnel and veterans but have
not been made retroactive to the Revolutionary War because of the enormous costs
involved. COST NULLIFICATION IS RESOLVED BY THIS BILL. (This list to be amended
with additional awards).
(a) National Defense Service Medal. Authorization automatic. RetroActive
eligibility for any honorable active federal service in the armed forces during
any military campaign, expedition or war deemed necessary or vital to protect
the interests of the United States.
(b) Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. Automatic authorization. RetroActive
eligibility pending documentation verifying fulfillment of criteria for 12
months accumulated active duty on deployed vessels, operating away from their
home port for extended periods, or at an overseas duty station.
(c) Overseas Service Deployment Ribbon (All applicable Branches). Automatic
authorization. RetroActive eligibility pending documentation verifying
fulfillment of criteria to any member of the United States Armed Forces who
completes a standard overseas tour of duty (Length of time depends on branch of
service) during a consecutive or cumulative period of time.
(d) Arctic Service Medal. Automatic authorization. RetroActive eligibility
pending documentation verifying fulfillment of criteria to extend the current
Issue Regulations back to the Hall Expedition (1871) and all subsequent
Expeditions involving military personnel.
(e) Army Service Ribbon. Automatic authorization. RetroActive eligibility
pending documentation verifying Army, Army National Guard or Army Reserve Status
for successful completion of initial-entry training depending on enlisted or
officer classification.
(f) Non-Commissioned Officer Training/academy Ribbon. Automatic Authorization.
RetroActive eligibility pending documentation verifying Army, Army National
Guard or Army Reserve Status and to extend back to the establishment of the
first NCO training course for successfully completing a designated
Noncommissioned Officer professional development course.
(g) Cold War Service Medal. Automatic authorization. To approve the pending
medal design for wear on the U.S. Military Uniform. Automatic authorization
pending documentation verifying any honorable active duty in the Armed Forces
during the Cold War Period.
(h) Prisoner of War. Automatic authorization. RetroActive eligibility pending
documentation verifying POW status to any person who was taken prisoner of war
and held captive while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United
States during any of the wars, conflicts or campaigns or involving military
operations with an opposing force or friendly forces engaged in armed conflict
against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent
party.
(i) Global War on Terrorism Service and Expeditionary Medals. Automatic
authorization. Recipients to be granted automatic authorization pending personal
documentation verifying fulfillment of criteria. To retroactively authorize both
medals for domestic or foreign service involving responses to the following
terrorist attacks:
1. Overtaking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro, 1985 2. Bombing of the La Belle
Disco, 1986 3. Attack on the world Trade Center, 1993 4. Attack on the USS Cole,
2000
SECTION 4 LIST OF AWARDS TO BE APPROVED UPON CONFORMATION OF ELIGIBILITY.
(a) Combat Action Ribbon. ( Navy, Marine and Coast Guard) Approval/Authorization
required. To retroactively extend this ribbon back to the Revolutionary War for
active participation in ground or air combat during specifically listed (All
wars, campaigns, conflicts, expeditions ) military operations.
(b) Combat Action Medal. To establish a medal corresponding to the Combat Action
Ribbon and extend retroactively this ribbon back to the Revolutionary War
period. Approval/Authorization required. ( Proposed medal design)
(Proposed medal design place here)
(c) Army Combat Infantry Badge. To retroactively extend this badge to the
Revolutionary War. Approval/Authorization required. KIA authorization is
automatic. Awarded to any soldier in an infantry unit or special forces unit
when the unit was engaged in active ground combat.
(d) Army Combat Action Badge. To retroactively extend this badge to the
Revolutionary War. Approval/Authorization required. KIA authorization is
automatic. Awarded to any soldier while performing assigned duties where hostile
fire or imminent danger exists and is actively engaging or being engaged by the
enemy.
(e)(1)Army Combat Medical Badge. To retroactively extend this badge back to
World War l. Approval/Authorization required. KIA authorization automatic. To be
awarded to any member of a military medical department (regardless of branch of
service) who is attached to an infantry unit during any period that unit is
engaged in actual ground combat. The infantry unit must have been in contact
with the enemy.
(e)(2) To apply the WW2 authorization of the Bronze Star Medal to recipients of
the Combat Medical Badge who served in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan.
(f) Air Force Combat Action Medal. To retroactively extend this medal back to
World War l. Approval/authorization required. KIA authorization automatic.
Awarded for actively being engaged in ground or air combat with the enemy.
(g)Air Assault Badge. To retroactively extend this badge back to 1951, the
Korean War which began helicopter air mobility. Approval/authorization required.
Awarded to army personnel for successful completion of the Air Assault Training
Course/School.
(h) Navy Surface Warfare Pin/Badge. Approval/authorization required. To
retroactively extend this pin/badge back to the Revolutionary War. To be awarded
to any naval personnel, while stationed aboard a navy afloat craft, who during
any war, conflict, campaign or battle and assigned to any navy vessel and
actively engages with the enemy under extreme combat conditions
likely to produce in death or great bodily harm and has training, knowledge and
expertise in his prospective field of combat. (Ex. The US Navy in the War of
1812, Admiral Dewey in the Philippines, Convoy Escorts and the 6th Battle
Squadron of WW1 or the Pacific Sea Battles of WW11.
(i) Navy Expeditionary Warfare Pin/Badge. Approval/authorization required. To
retroactively extend this pin/badge back to any enlisted navy personnel who
actively participated in any maritime security role or maritime combat related
role while stationed aboard a military ocean vessel and who demonstrates
specific knowledge in various security roles such as weapons expertise and
maintenance in marksmanship skills and/or land navigation and/or communication
and/or expeditionary camp deployment. The qualifications to be based on time
period and technology available during a particular incident or period of time.
(Ex. Gallipoli in WW 1, the PT boats of WW2 or Riverine and Navy Coastal Patrol
in Vietnam)
(j) Navy Seabee Combat Warfare Badge. Approval/authorization required. To
retroactively extend this badge back to WW2, January 05, 1942 and its beginning.
To authorize this badge to any navy personnel who, while attached to the navy,
was assigned to a navy construction battalion or who was later transferred to a
construction battalion and performed his craftsmen trade while in hostile enemy
territory or while under combat conditions against an enemy aggressor.
(k) Coast Guard Cutterman's Insignia/badge. Approval/authorization required. To
retroactively extend this badge back to the Coast Guard's creation in 1790. To
authorize this badge to any coast guard personnel who served on a cutter of 65
ft. or larger or on any patrol craft, cutter or warship assigned to the US Coast
Guard during any war, conflict, campaign, battle or any situation deemed to be a
threat against the interests of the United States while pursuing or performing a
seagoing career and who performs his assigned duties in a professional and above
average manner. Temporary or permanent status will depend upon length of time
personnel are assigned to sea duty with a minimum of at least six months sea
duty.
-- Otis Willie (Ret.)
Military News and Information Editor (http://www.13105320634.com)
The American War Library, Est. 1988 (http://www.amervets.com)
16907 Brighton Avenue
Gardena CA 90247
1-310-532-0634
Military Personnel Database
http://www.amervets.com/library.htm
Military and Vet Info-Exchange/Discussion Groups
http://www.amervets.com/share.htm
Public Information Office
http://www.13105320634.com
|