Source
r/nationalguard•
born2kill2891

Deployment patch question

I did a 13-month deployment with about 9 months in Iraq - only spent a week with my native unit and fell under a different unit for the remaining 8ish months up in Iraq. I earned my CAB (combat action badge) while serving under this unit I was attached to for being in combat with them. Before separating from this unit I was attached to, they gave me one of their unit patches and wrote me several awards. However, I got my statement of wartime service recently and it says I am authorized to wear my native unit's deployment patch. Am I not allowed to wear this other unit's patch? Is that something people would actually check on if I were to wear it? How would I go about getting approved to wear this other patch? It's mostly a pride thing, as this unit treated me significantly better than my current unit does and I felt their leadership genuinely cared about me

Posted Sep 5, 2020, 4:38 AM UTC

6533
LordBloodraven9696•

No one should care that much. But it’s the army. People care about stupid shit. But if you have the orders for it. You can wear anything you want.

44
sogpack•

He doesn’t have orders for it, he stated he only has a memo for his actual unit patch, which is correct by regulation.

27
LordBloodraven9696•

Well this guy knows what’s up!

5
THlCCblueIine35M 19th•

Technically you are only allowed to wear the patch that you have papers for. But it's the national guard. I know a state level sergeant major that wears a deployment patch he didn't technically earn. Once you have one deployment patch, it doesn't really matter

24
PanicEnthusiast•

This. I fell under a total of 3 units while I was overseas. Mostly, nobody cares unless you're wearing an SF patch or something like that.

8
[deleted]•

[removed]

5†
Argh_ImaPirate•

I was supposed to rotate to iraq during my time in kuwait by Iran wanted to throw ballistic missiles at us so my flight was canceled and i wasnt awarded the fws-ssi. I have worn out once but probably won't in the future.

0
MeButNotMeToo•

Sounds like you got hit by a one-size-fits-most out processing. Submit the paperwork to have your DD-214 amended. Your orders assigning you to the other unit should suffice. Worst case is that you may have to submit an ABCMR packet through HRC.

17
sogpack•

It’s Irrelevant, only one patch can be earned per deployment anyways.

He probably was never formally attached, this is the Guard we’re talking about. We had people end up in another country and never have their orders amended lol.

13
MeButNotMeToo•

Maybe it is a NG thing. I was an RC augmentee in 2008-2009. When the group of us came in, NY-NG was running CJTF-P. IL-NG took over 1/2 way through. I extended under CSTC-A/USFOR-A. I’ve got authorization to wear all three.

4
sogpack•

Nah, it’s big army. 2017 AR670-1 page 38, section 19-17 a. (4) last sentence, “Soldiers May not earn more than one SSI-FWTS during the same deployment”.

Regulations might changed since then, but it’s been this way for quite some time at a bare minimum. You’ve made me curious though so I’ll try to find a version from your time frame.

EDIT: After doing research, it appears what happened to you was not prohibited at the time from the 2005 version. Presumably however this wasn’t the intention and thus it was made explicitly clear in the 2014 version (that you only get one per deployment).

So back then you could earn multiple patches as the reg is somewhat vague on specifics versus the current one. Now I know.

6
timothyjwood•

This is the right answer. There's just a lot of confusion out there from the "back in my day" crowd who haven't bothered to check whether the regulation has changed.

The going rumor is that Big Army did much like a bunch of Guardsman and Reservists going around flashing all these patches and "Oh hey. When were you in the 82ND?" ... "For about six weeks."

5
tantric132•

This. Came into effect right before I left for my first tour. Caused a lot of bitching in my NG unit as most of us were attached to SF units in Syria, got memos from said SF unit, but aren’t allowed to wear the patch because only one can be awarded, and it’s the aviation brigade in this case.

3
F0rkbombz•

Yup - our unit just ran into this on deployment. People were attached to other units but couldn’t wear their patches b/c you’re only allowed to earn 1 per deployment.

1
ChewedupWood•

If you’re just wearing it at drill I doubt anybody is gonna day anything about it. Your unit knows where you went. Technically you’re supposed to have papers on it, but if you do wear it: definitely be prepared for when someone inevitably asks you about it. Same thing happened to me and when I was deployed I had regular army NCO’s and officers ask why I was wearing X patch when I had a Guard patch on the other arm and a few asked for paperwork to spot check me I guess. Been out for 2 years now and that paper is still folded up in my sleeve pocket. Lol

8
explosive_hazardEOD•

If you are authorized to wear their patch it would be in a memo order. All of mine are memos that list everyone in the unit (company) authorized to wear. Realistically nobody is going to care or even think to ask. The only thing to be mindful of is when taking a DA photo or going before a promotion board. In those cases make sure what you have on your uniform is what you have orders for.

6
warrior_scholar•

Receiving a unit's patch without orders authorizing you to wear it makes it kind of a souvenir, and some people trade them: I swapped patches with Austrian and Serbian soldiers on my last deployment, and another Polish unit gifted me one of theirs, but of course I can't wear them.

I would advise you to tread carefully: I personally had to write a counseling statement for a soldier who our platoon sergeant caught wearing a patch he wasn't authorized, and he was barred from reenlistment for stolen valor as a result. It sucked because he was a good soldier, but the PSG was the zero tolerance type.

5
GarryOwen•

PSG was the zero tolerance type

I think you mean retarded.

It is hard finding good soldiers in NG who want to stay, I would let mine wear a damn Russian combat patch if they knew their job well.

9
radonrandelldog•

"It is hard finding good soldiers in NG who want to stay"

Well yeah, have you seen the nonsense we have to deal with?

1
sogpack•

You can only wear the patch of the unit you actually deployed with, unless you deployed as an individual, but you didn’t.

Additionally, you can only earn ONE SSI-FWTS (technical term for combat patch) per period of eligibility.

So yeah, you can only wear your organic unit patch. Keep the other as a momento. Keep in your shoulder pocket if you want. But you are not authorized to wear their patch strictly speaking.

Now that that’s said, if you REALLY WANT; wear it once you leave your current unit, and probably no one will be the wiser; unless they check your ERB for record of you being in that unit or iPerms for a patch memo...

4
jimley815•

So in 04- our battery was attached to the 1 ID- they had a big patching ceremony on D day, 2004- gave us all the Big Red One. That's the patch I usually wear. Sometime I wear the 34th ID Red Bull- Because that was the division our battery was associated with. 2 more deployments- 2 more combat patches. 2 different Brigades. Only one that I ever actually received paperwork from was one of the Brigades- and I hardly ever wear that patch. Basically- Nobody really cares.

1
rjm3q•

Cheapskate perspective: don't waaste money on optional uniform bullshit.

My favorite thing to do is make the former Marines cry because they're not allowed to wear their patches.

4
StoneColdDadass•

It used to be that any BN commander could authorize you to wear their patch with a memo, but a few years back they changed it to only the patch holder ( commander of the highest level the patch signifies) can authorize it's wear. We ran into the same problem in Afghanistan, we fell under a CAV unit and worked for them the whole time but they were part of the 25th ID so we couldn't get theirs even though their O-5 was all for it.

3
jholler0351•

Don't believe I ever received a memo authorizing any of the FWS-SSI we earned. National Guard, deployed 06-07 and 09-10.

2
jimley815•

There's no paperwork that is associated with a patch. If the unit you were attached to gave you one, wear it. What's a statement of wartime service?

2
born2kill2891OP•

basically it is just a memo signed off by the S1 which states all of the awards you earned while overseas and where/when you spent your time (e.g. from ___ to ___, SM was in Iraq)

1
sjohnstone19774A 45ID•

A big part of this too is knowing your unit and who will care. Technically you have to have the papers for it, but again it’s the guard. The chances of them actually caring are slim. We have some helicopter crew chiefs who wear patches from their days in the Marines. They’re good at their jobs so no one says a word.

2
born2kill2891OP•

I appreciate all of the advice guys! I was promoted out of my current unit during pre-MOB so I might just wear it when I get back and officially transfer out :)

1
MikeOfAllPeople•

I see a lot of comments here about getting a memo authorizing a combat patch. I have only ever seen this in the Guard and Reserves. AFAIK, there is no such thing as a documentation requirement to wear a combat patch. It doesn't get documented on your ORB/ERB. I'm not sure why the RC does these memos, but they are unnecessary.

The general rule of thumb, you wear the same patch on your right sleeve that you had worn in your left sleeve. If you wore two different ones, you are probably authorized either (assuming you were wearing the correct ones, like if your assigned unit changed). This is because, despite people igborantly claiming otherwise, you only need to have been in the combat zone for one day to be authorized the patch. If you served with two different units in the same deployment, you can wear either.

1
kerotanbox•

What's your MOS if you don't mind me asking?

1
born2kill2891OP•

I'm a 25U but served as an RTO for a MEDEVAC element

2
abnryn•

Ok, there are a few right and wrong answers here.

The right answer--if you deployed with a company element or higher (AA entity per the MToE), then whatever you wear on your left sleeve is what you wear on your right. Some units have been doing crazy things and now doing patching ceremonies even before they deploy in an OPCON situation, but that doesn't preclude regulation.

Second, no memo or anything dictates which SSI-FWTS you're authorized to wear. It could give you some leeway, but nothing (and you can check one thousand times over on S1Net) gives you authority to wear one patch or another.

Depending on the patch, there can be a lot of questions (as people have mentioned before re: SF patches, etc, and especially a Ranger Scroll). Also, from your narrative, it makes it sound like they gave you a patch vs. patching you. If the former is the case, I think it's harder to make that justification in your own head.

Finally, there is an exception policy, but it must go through the G1 Army (guessing you're not going to do that). The last one I saw was for certain NG formations that were placed under the SFAB--think they were from WI. The 1-star of the SFAB requested an ETP for those BNs to the G1.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
freshlysaltedwound•

You need to contact the unit that you were assigned to and ask them to write you a memo authorizing you to wear the patch. Otherwise you are not authorized to wear it.

1