Criteria
The Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal is intended to provide Naval Reservists an award which is the equivalent to the Navy Good Conduct Medal.
Comments
In recognition of four years of faithful Naval Reserve Service.
I don't recall any moment I would consider my best moment, however I can say that I had a lot of great times with a lot of great folks that I may have lost touch with over the years but will never forget.
Worst Moment
Badger had just gotten underway for 7 days worth of ECC drills and Rod, Coleman and myself missed ships movement that Monday morning. Badger had to come back in the following morning to pick us up via liberty boat. I remember most of the crew was on deck for our rather unconventional arrival. Coleman and I had participated in Rod's wedding the day before and, well needless to say we all had a pretty long night. Fortunately for Coleman and I our charge was dismissed at CPO mass - thankfully too because I had just received my crow! Rod, who was a 1st class petty officer at the time, was charged with getting a new alarm clock which he did promptly as I recall. :-)
Description 3rd and 7th Fleet area of operations involving 5 carrier BGs. Midway, Independence, Constellation, Enterprise and Carl Vinson. Also included an ARG, Combat TG, USMC aircraft, USCG and USAF units. Navy3rd and 7th Fleet area of operations involving 5 carrier BGs. Midway, Independence, Constellation, Enterprise and Carl Vinson. Also included an ARG, Combat TG, USMC aircraft, USCG and USAF units. Navy units from Canada and Japan also participated.
FLEETEX is multi-warfare naval exercises designed to promote force integration and test multiple war fighting skill sets. Ships from the U.S., NATO navies participate in the exercises. FLEETEX is part of a series of training exercises in which navies will participate during its deployment to the Western Atlantic. These events offer multiple opportunities for training at the highest levels of maritime operations.
FLEETEX features anti-air, anti-submarine, live fire and ship handling scenarios designed to provide high-end warfare training and valuable experience through integrated task group training. ... More
Criteria The Meritorious Unit Commendation may be awarded by the Secretary of the Navy to any unit of the Navy or Marine Corps that distinguishes itself under combat or noncombat conditions by either valorous ... The Meritorious Unit Commendation may be awarded by the Secretary of the Navy to any unit of the Navy or Marine Corps that distinguishes itself under combat or noncombat conditions by either valorous or meritorious achievement which renders that unit outstanding compared to other units performing similar service, but not sufficient to justify the award of the Navy Unit Commendation. MoreHide
Description
Badger's crew received this award for assistance with operations off Sakhalin Islands regarding the tragic downing of Korean Air Liner "KAL 007" by Russian fighter jets on Sept 1st.
Overview of the ope
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Badger's crew received this award for assistance with operations off Sakhalin Islands regarding the tragic downing of Korean Air Liner "KAL 007" by Russian fighter jets on Sept 1st.
Overview of the operation: Badger returned to sea on 11 August 1983, and took up surveillance duty again, this time in the Sea of Japan. She concluded that assignment and had just shaped a course for Sasebo, but received orders in the early AM of Sept 2nd to proceed north in the wake of the tragic downing, by a couple of Soviet MIG fighters, of Korean Airlines (KAL) flight 007 over Sakhalin Island on 1 September. Rear Admiral William A. Cockell, Commander, Task Force 71, and a skeleton staff, embarked to Badger on 9 September via LAMPS helo from Wakanai, Japan, and further transferred to destroyer Elliot to assume duties as Officer in Tactical Command (OTC) of the Search and Rescue (SAR) effort. During the forenoon watch on 17 September, however, Badger?s embarked SH-2F helicopter from HSL-37 (Detachment 2) went down at sea; USCGC Munro (WHEC-724), however, promptly rescued the four-man crew from their rubber boat. Badger also went to battle stations several times during tense moments with the Soviet Navy. Badger ended her part in the KAL 007 SAR effort on the 20th and reached Yokosuka on the 21st to prepare for the voyage back to Hawaii. That journey began on 23 October and included participation in Exercise Battle Week 84-1 followed by a visit to nearby Apra, Guam, before Badger finally managed to return home on Armistice Day 1983. Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr., Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command, visited the ship on 29 November and congratulated the ship's officers and men on their recent deployment, emphasizing their role during the KAL 007 SAR operation. Post-deployment leave and upkeep and holiday stand-down, broken only by a brief period underway on 20 and 21 December to escort Swordfish (SSN-579) as she operated locally, kept Badger in port at Pearl for the rest of 1983.
Description USS Sterett CG 31 served as flagship of the U.S. Navy 's Task Force 71 in 1983. These ships were dispatched to conduct search and recovery operations in the immediate aftermath of the 1 Sept 1983 shooUSS Sterett CG 31 served as flagship of the U.S. Navy 's Task Force 71 in 1983. These ships were dispatched to conduct search and recovery operations in the immediate aftermath of the 1 Sept 1983 shoot down of Korean Air Lines flight 007 by interceptor fighters of the (then) Soviet Union, after the unarmed civilian airliner veered into Soviet airspace while en route from Anchorage, Alaska to Seoul, South Korea.
This horrific act resulted in the loss of all 269 passengers and crew - greatly heightening the Cold War tensions of the time. After steaming to the search area within international waters west of the USSR's Sakhalin Island where the aircraft was believed to have crashed, the ships of TF 71 found themselves engaged in eyeball-to-eyeball, close in, nautical manuevers with a parade of Soviet military and coastal patrol assets that had swarmed into the same area trying to reach the KAL 007 remains first. It soon became clear that many of the Soviet ships were deploying tactics aimed at hindering the search and recovery efforts of the US and its allies.
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (also known as KAL007 and KE007) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska. On September 1, 1983, the South Korean airliner serving the flight was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor. It crashed in the sea near Moneron Island west of Sakhalin in the Sea of Japan. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Larry McDonald, a Representative from Georgia in the United States House of Representatives. The aircraft was en route from Anchorage to Seoul when it flew through Soviet prohibited airspace around the time of a U.S. aerial reconnaissance mission. The Soviets found the wreckage under the sea on September 15, and found the in-flight recorders in October, but kept this information secret until 1993.
The Soviet Union initially denied knowledge of the incident, but later admitted shooting down the aircraft, claiming that it was on a MASINT spy mission. The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union said it was a deliberate provocation by the United States to test the Soviet Union's military preparedness, or even to provoke a war. The White House accused the Soviet Union of obstructing search and rescue operations. The Soviet Armed Forces suppressed evidence sought by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) investigation, such as the flight data recorders, which were released eight years later after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The incident was one of the most tense moments of the Cold War and resulted in an escalation of anti-Soviet sentiment, particularly in the United States. The opposing points of view on the incident were never fully resolved; consequently, several groups continue to dispute official reports and offer alternative theories of the event. The subsequent release of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 transcripts and flight recorders by the Russian Federation has clarified some details.
As a result of the incident the United States altered tracking procedures for aircraft departing from Alaska. The interface of the autopilot used on airliners was redesigned to make it more ergonomic. In addition, the event was one of the most important single events that prompted the Reagan administration to allow worldwide access to the United States military satellite navigation system DNSS, which was classified at the time. Today this system is known as GPS.
I don't recall any moment I would consider my best moment, however I can say that I had a lot of great times with a lot of great folks that I may have lost touch with over the years but will never forget.