Military medals are a contentious subject. Given that rewarding the exceptional should be a positive thing, we do manage to extract a certain negativity from it, perhaps in a uniquely British way. I suppose it’s inevitable: publicly rewarding success sits contrary to whatever is left of our stoic underpinnings. Then add in the potential for injustice, perceived or otherwise, and no honours list passes without criticism.
This New Year list was no exception. The anomaly that leapt out at me was the Commanding Officer of HMS Diamond receiving an OBE for the time he and his people spent in the southern Red Sea, deep inside the Houthi missile envelope, in the most intense combat the Royal Navy has seen since World War II – even on one occasion shooting down an incoming ballistic missile, something no RN warship had previously done and which was officially not something Diamond’s weapon systems were capable of.
HMS Diamond and her captain and ship’s company, in my opinion as a former missile warfare specialist myself, performed entirely in accordance with the highest traditions of the Service – and there is no greater praise I can give.
To explain why I think this was a strange award, it is worth noting that military medals are grouped into five categories: ‘operational’, ‘non-operational’, ‘meritorious service’, ‘campaign’ and ‘commemorative’.
Military medals are a contentious subject. Given that rewarding the exceptional should be a positive thing, we do manage to extract a certain negativity from it, perhaps in a uniquely British way. I suppose it’s inevitable: publicly rewarding success sits contrary to whatever is left of our stoic underpinnings. Then add in the potential for injustice, perceived or otherwise, and no honours list passes without criticism.
This New Year list was no exception. The anomaly that leapt out at me was the Commanding Officer of HMS Diamond receiving an OBE for the time he and his people spent in the southern Red Sea, deep inside the Houthi missile envelope, in the most intense combat the Royal Navy has seen since World War II – even on one occasion shooting down an incoming ballistic missile, something no RN warship had previously done and which was officially not something Diamond’s weapon systems were capable of.
HMS Diamond and her captain and ship’s company, in my opinion as a former missile warfare specialist myself, performed entirely in accordance with the highest traditions of the Service – and there is no greater praise I can give.
To explain why I think this was a strange award, it is worth noting that military medals are grouped into five categories: ‘operational’, ‘non-operational’, ‘meritorious service’, ‘campaign’ and ‘commemorative’.