7 in 10 ie 1994 - 2003 ...and I wonder why I'm worn out ? It all came about with a posting to RAF Stafford and some wonderful 'long distance dets'
No 1 was 1994 - LS&GCM which in itself was a little bit dubious as there was a tiny little dent in my conduct record, but apparently because it had'nt dropped below Very Good then it was deemed by the powers that be it should be awarded.
No 2 - 1995 UN Medal (Green for the trees, brown for the earth, red for the blood, thats the description of the ribbon) Although through my experience it was Ploce for the canoes - it flooded, Mt Igman for the snow, ice and the -40c temps, Sarajevo for burying their dead in the middle of the football stadium then Mostar not having a single house left with a roof on - Still got my pretty powder blue hat - very fetching.
No 3 - 1996 FRY - You'd think I'd have learnt my lesson from Medal No2, but no, this time Split, Gornji Vakuf, Mrkonjic Grad and when all added up, nearly a year at Gioia-del-Colle
No 4 - 1997 GSM Air Operations Iraq - Ali Al Salem, but then only several times and then again only when not sorting out Al Kharj after nearly getting blown up at Khobar Towers in Dhahran - quite a sandy year !
No 5 - 1999 Kosovo, Pristina APOD - Living, in a swamp - and Working, next to those pesky Russians ! (they nicked my gear you know ! )
No 6 - Golden Jubilee
No 7 - 2003 Iraq (with rosette) - Ahmed Al Jaber for all the silly behaviour, SCUDS, NAPs, Air Attack Reds, then out and about across the border to various Umm Qasr-ish type places - (but always back to Kuwait, Camp Doha for the pizzas !)
(They would'nt give me No 8 - That would have been Afghanistan 2002, but because we were living in 'comfortable' Camp Souter instead of Bagram just down the road, we did'nt qualify ! )
Anyhow, thats the story(s) ..and I know I'm not on my own, Mess do's at Stafford used to be a very 'colourful affair'
TFH
DT_Xtremez_42:
