Hagel to order review of drone medal precedence - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Hagel to order review of drone medal precedence

New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has halted production of a new controversial medal intended to honor drone pilots pending a review of its official rank above some combat valor medals in the military’s “order of precedence.”

The decision in February to create the new Distinguished Warfare Medal — a gold medallion with prominent blue stripes, according to its current design — has drawn criticism from veterans’ groups and lawmakers on Capitol Hill because the medal will be formally placed above the Bronze Star, which is awarded with a “V” valor device for heroic conduct in combat.

Many veterans have derisively referred to it as the “Nintendo medal” and believe that any medal awarded for actions under fire should rank above one that requires no physical danger or personal risk.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the new medal reflects 21st-century technology and the changing nature of warfare that allows troops to have a direct impact on the battlefield despite being thousands of miles away. Troops involved in cyber warfare also may be eligible for the medal.

Yet Hagel, a combat veteran who earned two Purple Hearts for injuries he sustained as a sergeant in Vietnam, wants to revisit the medal’s official placement, which dictates where troops wear their medals on military uniforms.

“He believes that it is prudent to take into account those concerns and conduct this review,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said Tuesday.

Little indicated that the medal’s name and design may also be under review.

“No one has been nominated for this medal …so we do have time to make a final decision,” he said.

The review will be led by Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and should be completed within 30 days, Little said.

Hagel, who took over at the Pentagon on Feb. 27, has a long history of ties to veterans’ service organizations and served as the top executive for the United Service Organizations, or USO.

Widespread criticism from veterans’ groups about the new medal was followed by a letter Monday from two influential senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee urging Hagel to review its placement in the order of precedence.

“Although we are supportive of this new medal, we are concerned that it is given precedence above awards earned by service members for actions on the battlefield, such as the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart,” wrote Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., in the letter to Hagel on Monday.

“We trust that the judgment you gained from your combat experience as an enlisted soldier in Vietnam will inform your decision about the appropriate precedence of the DWM in relation to the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart,” the senators wrote.

Levin is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, while Inhofe is its ranking Republican.

Legislation pending in the House would require the Pentagon to place the new DWM no higher than the Purple Heart, which is awarded to those who are injured in combat.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a former Marine and veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, welcomed Hagel’s review.

“Reordering the precedence of the DWM is a simple fix, but there will need to be some willingness on the part of decision makers within the Pentagon to admit this was a bad idea,” Hunter, who sponsored the DWM demotion bill in the House, said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

Hagel’s decision to go forward with a review “at least gives Congress the green light to proceed,” Hunter said.

Meanwhile, some experts are raising questions about the legitimacy of the Pentagon’s authority to unilaterally create such a high-ranking medal.

Every other medal above the Bronze Star was created by an act of Congress, noted Doug Sterner, the curator of the Military Times Hall of Valor, the largest public database of military medal recipients.

“I’m not sure the [Defense Department] has the authority on their own to create an award this high,” Sterner said.