Army Rank Insignia

[Big Frank]

I ordered some more name tapes and stuff from 1800nametape and noticed they had one of the army Specialist 4 ranks displayed upside down. I told them about it, and they wrote on my invoice, "Okay, thank you!". But they still haven't fixed it, so I told them again. Oddly enough they had the Gore-Tex version of the same rank right side up, but not the regular OCP (Operational Camouflage Pattern). SP4 is a Chicken in a Frypan. It's easy to tell top from bottom on the color patches, and brass rank insignia, even the black brass. But when it's embroidered like a hat I used to have, the "chicken" isn't there.

In Germany, when we still had OD Green fatigues, we could wear "Graf hats" if we bought them. They were OD Green baseball caps with a stiff round crown and elastic in the back. We got them at the PX when we went on field exercises at the range in Grafenwoehr. They looked 10 times better than the army issue ball caps that were around since VIetnam, like most of our equipment in the '80s. Getting your rank embroidered is risky if there's any possibility you could be promoted, but I couldn't be. Grafenwöhr is a town in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab, in the region of the Upper Palatinate in eastern Bavaria, Germany. It is widely known for the United States Army military installation and training area, called Grafenwoehr Training Area, located directly south and west of the town. We all called if Graf for short. If you listen to the pronunciation at Wikipedia, the reason why will become apparent.

The picture of the embroidered 2"x2" patches at 1800nametape are the first 2 pics. The first one is upside down. The 3rd and 4th pics are the sleeve insignia for the dress green jacket, and the collar insignia for the dress shirt. We wore black ones on our hats, the collar of our fatigues and field jackets, and on our BDUs when they came out. The upside down rank looks similar to a PFC rank, like the 5th picture. But the stripe and rocker are flat on both sides, and the SP4 shield comes to points on both sides. I've seen upside down sergeant stripes like the last pic, on TV shows and movies before, which is the way they're worn in some other countries. Loser countries, like the UK and it's former colonies, other than the US.

https://store.1800nametape.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafenw%C3%B6hr

[Big Frank]

Last month I realized that in my display case of army ribbons, badges, and medals, 2 of the the ribbons were in the wrong order. When the Army Service Ribbon (ASR) was established by the Secretary of the Army in 1981, I thought it was the lowest award you could possibly get. It was awarded to all members of the regular (active) Army, and Army National Guard and United States Army Reserve in an active reserve status, for officers upon successful completion of their basic/orientation or higher-level course. And to Enlisted Soldiers upon successful completion of their initial military occupational specialty (MOS)–producing course. The Air Force has the equivalent of the Army Service Ribbon in the Air Force Training Ribbon. The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard have no equivalent to the Army Service Ribbon. But they'll give you a ribbon just for graduating basic training, only half of the Army and Air Force requirement to earn a ribbon.

We called it the Glad To Have You ribbon. As in, we're glad to have you, here's a ribbon. Everyone should have some chest candy on their dress uniform, even if you're still a Private E-1 and just got to your first permanent duty assignment. But there's one ribbon ranked even lower than that. The Army Overseas Service Ribbon was also first issued in 1981. It's presented to any member of the United States Army who completes a standard overseas tour of duty. The length of a standard tour is dependent upon the duty location and whether the Soldier is accompanied or unaccompanied with a spouse/family member(s). The tour in question may be cut one month short due to manning requirements (not due to Soldier misconduct) and still receive full credit for the tour length. There are two types of tour designations, long tours (24+ months) and short tours (6–23 months). Anything shorter than 6 months is considered TDY (Temporary Duty Assignment). The standard unaccompanied Korean tour is 12 months, and accompanied is 24 months. The German tour is 36 months for unaccompanied and accompanied.

So it can take up to 3 years after Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training to earn this award that ranks lower than the ASR that you may have gotten in 4 months or less from your first day in the service. I think you see where my confusion came from. The one you take years to earn is worth less than the gimme you already had. The Good Conduct Medal is higher than both and is the far left ribbon. I have the center and right ribbons reversed from the picture and need to change them. I have to pry out the glazier's points holding the back in the frame to do it then press them back in. The ribbon above them with a gold frame is the Meritorious Unit Commendation, awarded to both of my permanent duty units for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or service in combat or non-combat.

I had 1 year, 11 months, and 5 days of foreign service. And just 2 days shy of 5 years active service, after several months in the inactive reserve (Delayed Entry Program) when I was 17 years old until after I turned 18.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritorious_Unit_Commendation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Conduct_Medal_(United_States)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Service_Ribbon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Service_Ribbon