AIR FORCE TRAINING RIBBON....

STORY BACKGROUND

Another direction I'll be taking this link is to talk about some of the military awards and decorations that I've earned over the years and why they are important and what they mean to me.  My Great-Uncle was a 1-Star General.  I dont' recall ever knowing him as he passed away.  I do remember visiting my Great-Aunt's house on the fourth of July when I was younger for an annual celebratory BBQ in honor of my Great-Grandmother.  This one particular Independence Day, I was about 8 or 9 and my great-aunt invited me inside.  She went into her closet where my Great-Uncle's military things were kept and chose me out of all of my cousins to share his military medal collection.  My Great-Uncle moved up the ranks through several wars and had built himself quite a ribbon rack.  At my young age, I was quite impressed with all of the flashy colors and pictured him proudly dispalying it on his uniform.  I believe that was the earliest time of my recollection that planted the seed of my furture in the Armed Forces.

I should add that since then I have learned that my military family history goes way back to the Revolutionary war.  I'll add a post on that one day but for now, I've spent the last 14 years working dilligently to tell my military story through my ribbon rack.  I've done this in hopes that one day a future relative of mine may find it after I'm long gone and that it too would plant the seed to continue the military tradition.  After all, I'm the only person in my generation to have served.  It would be a shame to end such a time-honored tradition.

Since this post is about the beginnings of a miltiary career, I've decided to start with the 1st ribbon every Airman receives.  The Air Force training ribbon.  It's received merely for graduating an accesions training.  While some may think that it's pointless, I believe there is some use to it.  The Air Force ribbon rack tells a story of your career.  Having an Air Force Training Ribbon says you came into the Air Force first (Officer or Enlisted). If you have earned two of these then you have gone through a second accesions program and made the transition from Enlisted to Officer.  The simple absence of this ribbon is a tell tale sign as well.  It states that you have served in another branch of service and "Crossed into the Blue" as an Air Force slogan once read.

That's my take on the Air Force Training Ribbon.  It's very simple..almost a gimme, but it's an important step in the story of an Airman's military career. For the record.... I have one.

Air Force Training Ribbon

Background

This ribbon was authorized by the Air Force chief of staff on Oct. 12, 1980.

Criteria
It is awarded to U.S. Air Force service members on completion of initial accession training after Aug. 14, 1974. In December 1986, the criteria expanded and authorized the ribbon to anyone who was on active duty regardless of when they completed initial accession training.

The ribbon may not be awarded for completing technical training, career development courses and other services' basic training. Completing later accession training (Basic Military Training, then commissioning through a program, and so forth) will entitle a member to a subsequent award denoted by an oak leaf cluster.

Ribbon Description
The ribbon was designed by the Institute of Heraldry. The ribbon has a wide center stripe of red, flanked on either side by a wide stripe of dark blue and a narrow yellow stripe edged by a narrow dark blue stripe.

Authorized device: Oak leaf cluster

Weighted Airman Promoted System Point Value: 0

Source: http://www.afpc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=7829

V/R

//SIGNED//

RADAR O'REILLY