Military Decorations

[Aquinas]

I've got a problem...

with the decoration system in Traveller.

There are many niggles but the main problem seems to be that it is far too easy to get the SEH.

I've tried this table instead (its got MT bits cos that was the first book that came to hand)

What do you think?

Vice Admiral Vidmar Kulkinski



for the Army

Target
Beaten by Decoration Bonus
+0 Mentioned in Despatches +1 BP
+2 (NCO) Military Medal +1 Soc [max 8] +1 BP
(Officer) Military Cross +1 Soc [max 9] +1 BP

+3 (NCO) Distinguished Service Medal +1 Soc [max 9]+2 BP
(Officer) Distinguished Service Order +1 Soc [max A] +2 BP

+4 Conspicuous Gallantry Medal +1 Soc [max A] +2 BP

+5 (Other ranks) Member of the Order of Steel +1 Soc [max A]
+2 BP pension+1
(NCOs) Knight of the Order of Steel Soc= B +2 BP
(Officers) Knight Commander of the Order of Steel Soc= B +2 BP
(Generals) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Steel Soc= B +2 BP

+6 (Ctr Ins) Knight Guardian of the Tower and Sword Soc= B +2 BP
(Other) Knight Victor of the Tower and Sword Soc= B +2 BP
+7 (Command only) Knight of the Starship and Crown Soc B +2 BP
(Other) as +6

+8 Starburst for Extreme Heroism Soc= A +3 BP Promotion on
Retirement

Note: Brownie Points may not be used to gain scores greater than +4

For the Navy

Target
Beaten by Decoration Bonus
+0 Mentioned in Despatches +1 BP

+2 (PO) Naval Medal (NCO) Marine Medal +1 Soc [max 8] +1 BP
(Officer) Navy Cross (Officer) Marine Cross +1 Soc [max 9] +1 BP

+3 (PO) Distinguished Service Medal +1 Soc [max 9] +2 BP
(Officer) Distinguished Service Order +1 Soc [max A] +2 BP

+4 Conspicuous Gallantry Medal +1 Soc [max A] +2 BP

+5 (Other ranks) Member of the Order of Cleon V +1 Soc [max A]
+2 BP pension+1
(PO) Knight of the Order of Cleon V Soc= B +2 BP
(Officers) Knight Commander of the Order of Cleon V Soc=B +2 BP
(Flag Officer) Grand Knight of the Order of Cleon V Soc=B +2 BP

+6 (other) Knight Guardian of the Tower and Sword Soc= B +2 BP
(Seige) Knight Victor of the Tower and Sword Soc= B +2 BP

+7 (Command only) Knight of the Starship and Crown Soc=B +2 BP
(other) as +6

+8 Starburst for Extreme Heroism Soc= A +3 BP Promotion on
Retirement

Note: Brownie Points may not be used to gain scores greater than +4

Non Standard Decorations

The Order of the Starship and Crown: The oldest Order still awarded, this was founded in 17 to reward victorious military officers. It can be awarded to any rank of officer who is in command at a battle deemed by his or her superiors of sufficient importance. This is only awarded in a single degree, that of Knight (KSC) and is one of only five orders that can be worn on undress uniform. The insignia of the order is a golden crown upon two stylized crossed starships enameled white suspended on a white ribbon. The Grand Master of this Order (GMSC) is decided by date of installation; the current Grand Master is Brigadier General Baron Julius Protz the commander of the marine garrison on Capital.

The Naval Order of Cleon V: Founded in 615 to reward the naval commanders who re-conquered the Home Worlds this may now be awarded to all serving naval personnel; it is awarded in four degrees Member (MCV) awarded to other ranks carrying a pension but not a knighthood, Knight (KCV) awarded to those of Petty Officer rank and higher, Knight Commander (KCCV) awarded to officers only, and Grand Knight (GKCV) awarded to officers of flag rank. The Order’s badge is an imperial sunburst in red enamel set with a fouled anchor in bronze (members), silver (knights) or gold (knight commanders and above). Members wear this as a badge, knights and above on either a pendant ribbon or with a sash of black-red-black, grand knights additionally wear a knotted gold cord on the hilt of their dress daggers. The Grand Master (GMCV) is the Lord High Admiral who is appointed to the Order on his promotion if he is not already a member; the current holder is Duke Jean Soult.

Order of Steel: Another of the military orders of chivalry; created by the Emperor Constantus in 609 to reward his fellow army officers. Emperor Nicolai confirmed the decoration during his brief reign; ironically his successor George murdered the emperor just after being created a knight of the Order. The order can be awarded in four degrees; Member (MOS) awarded to other ranks carrying a pension, Knight (KOS) awarded to NCOs and above, Knight Commander (KCOS) awarded to officers and Grand Knight (GKOS) awarded to general officers. The insignia of the Order is a base metal greek cross with a rim of black enamel (Members and Knights), or silver (Knight Commanders and above). Members wear this as a badge, knights and above on either a pendant ribbon or with sash of dove gray, grand knights wear a grey knotted cord on their dress swords. The Marshal-General is Grand Master (GMOS) of the Order; this appointment is immediate on promotion to Marshal-General.

The Order of the Tower and Sword: This Order was created by the Empress Marava to reward the commanders of the assault on the Grand Palace of Martin II (620). Arbellatra expanded the Order to reward military personnel responsible for either capturing or defending fortified positions; the Order is awarded in two equal degrees that of Knight Guardian and Knight Victor both are signified by the letters KTS. The insignia of the Knights Victor, the original award, is two gold swords crossed behind a ruined tower enamelled in black; that of Knights Guardian has the tower in gold with the black swords crossing in front. The ribbon of the order is black with a series of gold bends. A civilian degree was created in 790 to reward those who have defended ideals and ephemeral beliefs; these Knights Bachelor wear their badges on a ribbon of black, and silver bends. This Order has two grand officers; the Vicar General (VTS), currently Countess Elizabeth Fang, who heads the Order of the Knights Bachelor and the Master General (MTS), currently Brigadier General Baroness Naina McMullen Colonel of the Sol Guard, who heads the Knights Guardian and Victor.

 

[Commander Truestar]

Hi,
This has lain dormant for some time, but I found it in a search
@Aquinas, if you are still around, where did you find reference to these orders?

Are they Canon or not?

 

[BackworldTraveller]

Starship and Crown is in the wiki.
The others aren't
The medals seem very British.

 

[Commander Truestar]

Starship and Crown is in the wiki.
The others aren't

In various Canon documents, I have found:
Order of the Starship and Crown
Honorable Order of the Emperor's Guard
Order of Hlyuea (Honouring loyal Aslan citizens)
Order of Gvadakoung (Honouring loyal Vargr citizens, Commanded Arch Duke Brzk)
The Honorable Order of the Arrow (Honoring Interstellar Explorers)
Knight Defenders of the Realm(Honoring Higher ranking officers earning military merit)
Ancient and Preeminent Order of Sylea
Ancient Order of Vland
Order of Ilelish
Order of Antares
Order of Deneb
Order of the Gateway
Order of Sol
Order of The Iridium Throne
Legion of Breskain(Order of Knighthood for combating the Vargr)
Order of Muan Gwi: (Honoring Imperial Vegan Citizens), Est: 1005
Order of The Shield(Honoring those who specifically fought to hold worlds from invasion in the Spinward Marches)
Order of the White Star (created by Arbellatra and renounced in the Psionic Suppression Wars)
Knight Defenders of the Realm


These are all Canon as far as my research shows.

So, I am interested in where, if at all the The Naval Order of Cleon V, Order of Steel and Order of the Tower and Sword came from?

Thanks for anyone who has information on these!

 

[whulorigan]

In various Canon documents, I have found:
Order of the Starship and Crown
Honorable Order of the Emperor's Guard
Order of Hlyuea (Honouring loyal Aslan citizens)
Order of Gvadakoung (Honouring loyal Vargr citizens, Commanded Arch Duke Brzk)
The Honorable Order of the Arrow (Honoring Interstellar Explorers)
Knight Defenders of the Realm(Honoring Higher ranking officers earning military merit)
Ancient and Preeminent Order of Sylea
Ancient Order of Vland
Order of Ilelish
Order of Antares
Order of Deneb
Order of the Gateway
Order of Sol
Order of The Iridium Throne
Legion of Breskain(Order of Knighthood for combating the Vargr)
Order of Muan Gwi: (Honoring Imperial Vegan Citizens), Est: 1005
Order of The Shield(Honoring those who specifically fought to hold worlds from invasion in the Spinward Marches)
Order of the White Star (created by Arbellatra and renounced in the Psionic Suppression Wars)
Knight Defenders of the Realm


These are all Canon as far as my research shows.

So, I am interested in where, if at all the The Naval Order of Cleon V, Order of Steel and Order of the Tower and Sword came from?

Thanks for anyone who has information on these!

Specifically, where did you find canon reference to these:

• Knight Defenders of the Realm (Honoring Higher ranking officers earning military merit)
• Legion of Breskain (Order of Knighthood for combating the Vargr)
• Order of The Shield (Honoring those who specifically fought to hold worlds from invasion in the Spinward Marches)

 

[Commander Truestar]

Specifically, where did you find canon reference to these:

• Knight Defenders of the Realm (Honoring Higher ranking officers earning military merit)
• Legion of Breskain (Order of Knighthood for combating the Vargr)
• Order of The Shield (Honoring those who specifically fought to hold worlds from invasion in the Spinward Marches)

To be honest, I have not listed the original documents.
So, I'd have to look for them again, which could take quite some time
(Sadly, not all my collection has been digitized, and I've been collecting since '77)

 

[vegas]

Legion of Breskain founded on Gashikan (Gashikan 2732) as an order of knighthood dedicated to combating the Vargr. Challenge #49, GDW, 1991, p. 19.

This is a non-Imperial order. It is part of the Second Empire of Gashikan.

That is the only one of the three i have, but I play in an early 3I setting so i dont pay attention to later stuff

 

[Commander Truestar]

Here's one:
From The Integrated Timeline:
-612 Legion of Breskain founded on Gashikan (Gashikan 2732) as an order of knighthood dedicated to combating the Vargr. Challenge #49, GDW, 1991, p. 19.

 

[Enoki]

Somebody should make up a long list of "geedunk" medals that you get awarded for just showing up, straightening up the filing cabinet, always making sure there's a fresh pot of coffee for the CO, that sort of thing... Totally, or nearly so, meaningless awards your character has that sound damn impressive. A definite need for that!

 

[Commander Truestar]

Somebody should make up a long list of "geedunk" medals that you get awarded for just showing up, straightening up the filing cabinet, always making sure there's a fresh pot of coffee for the CO, that sort of thing... Totally, or nearly so, meaningless awards your character has that sound damn impressive. A definite need for that!

IMTU, anyone who served in an Imperial Unit during the 5FW and got an Honorable Discharge (IE: did not fail a survival roll and end up Administratively discharged[ I have a Die roll for Discharged administratively VS Discharged Medically]) will get the following:
Imperial War Defense Medal
Fifth Frontier War Service Medal

While I also include Campaign Medals on the record sheet, I have not put those on my website
But, you can see the decorations for all my Player Characters on their individual web pages
If you want to see, start with:
http://www.usedstarships.com/characters.htm
All the characters are listed there with individual links to each Character specific page.
On each Char-Specific page, you can see graphic representations of the decorations I use

 

[Timerover51]

Thanks for resurrecting this. I always figure that the Starburst for Extreme Heroism should have a lot of posthumous winners, similar to the Medal of Honor.

As for a "geedunk" medal, try the Legion of Merit.

For those who do not know what "geedunk" means, the following is the official U.S. Navy definition.

Gedunk (also Geedunk and Gedonk)

Gedunk refers to ice cream, candy, potato chips, and other snack foods, as well as to the place on a ship where these items are sold. The first known published usage of the term "gedunk" in a non-naval context is in a 1927 comic strip which refers to "gedunk [ice cream] sundaes." In 1931 it was mentioned in Leatherneck magazine; subsequent early naval usage includes Robert Joseph Casey'sTorpedo Junction: With the Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harbor to Midway (published in 1943); and Robert Olds' Helldiver Squadron: The Story of Carrier Bombing Squadron 17 with Task Force 58 (published in 1944).

Per the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command

Gedunk

Gedunk refers to ice cream, candy, potato chips, and other snack foods, as well as to the place on a ship where these items are sold. The first known published usage of the term

www.history.navy.mil

 

[whulorigan]

Somebody should make up a long list of "geedunk" medals that you get awarded for just showing up, straightening up the filing cabinet, always making sure there's a fresh pot of coffee for the CO, that sort of thing... Totally, or nearly so, meaningless awards your character has that sound damn impressive. A definite need for that!

In T5 I believe they are generically covered by the "Exemplary Service Badge (XS)" . The XS seems to be given out fairly commonly and awarded almost automatically per term during T5 CharGen. MgT has has the Long Service Medal and Meritorious Performance of Duties Medal.

 

[Enoki]

I' talking more mundane and less meaningful awards. Some of these might be (for the 3I)

The Frontier Service medal: For serving a term on a pre-stellar world within 5 parsec of the empire's borders. Comes with a P clasp for serving on a primitive world.

Starship Service award: You get one for each three-year period you serve aboard a starship.

The (planet name) award: For serving on some particularly horrid planet that everybody in the military tries to avoid being sent to.

The (name of region, sector, etc.) award: For serving in some god forbidden part of the galaxy a gazillion parsecs from the empire.

The cavalry medal: Awarded if you get a skill in riding some animal

The Psychie medal: Awarded for combat actions against the Zhodani. Everybody that is in the area designated the combat theater gets one.

Engineering Excellence Award: Character must be an engineer with at least two levels of skills in some engineering field like electronics or ship drives or whatever, and serving on a starship.

Volunteer award: If you weren't drafted, you get one.

Battle Excellence ribbon: The unit or ship you are with did great in some exercise or training event.

Low Berth service medal: Awarded for each cumulative year you spend in one.


The concept is that the player has a whole chest full of meaningless, or near meaningless awards, ribbons, and medals that look impressive to the uninformed civilian but are almost laughed at if you don't have some serious ones to go with them. Find some more that are tied to skills or other things that occur during the character generation process to add to the list. Just think! With a dozen of these, you can pay normal price for a beer or cup of coffee!

 

[Condottiere]

1. Inherited.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders,_decorations,_and_medals_of_North_Korea

 

[Commander Truestar]

Another thing which is not yet mentioned here would be Campaign service ribbons.
These would be created per qualifying event/campaign and awarded to all who served in the campaign

Campaigns could be long term operations such as "US Forces Operations in North Africa" or short term, like "Serving in Operation Overlord (D-Day)"

An example in the Traveller OTU would be Spacer First Class Pellfim, who served aboard the Fleet Destroyer INS "Jochel", during the occupation of the Biter system near the end of the Fifth Frontier War.

So our Spacer 1C Pellfim would have received:
- Imperial War Defense Medal (For serving in wartime - Single issue for any specific war -NOTE: Those who served in both the 4FW and 5FW would have two such awards)
- Fifth Frontier War Service Medal (For serving specifically in the Fifth Frontier War- Single issue for service in the 5FW)
- Combat Service Ribbon (For serving in an event recognized as a combat mission - Multiple issue per each mission designated as a Combat mission)
- The "Biter Campaign" ribbon (For service in the specific events leading to the operation)
- The "Shipboard Services" ribbon (Single award -Granted for any military member serving a year or more aboard any class Imperial warship)

Elsewhere, for Petty Officer 3rd Feso Nagona, who served aboard Strike Carrier INS "Westfic En" during the famed Imperial naval raid on the Zhodani ports in the Ninjar system...
- Unit Award - the MCUF, for the daring act of raiding the Zhodani home ports
- Imperial War Defense Medal (For serving in wartime - Single issue for any specific war -NOTE: Those who served in both the 4FW and 5FW would have two such awards)
- Fifth Frontier War Service Medal (For serving specifically in the Fifth Frontier War- Single issue for service in the 5FW)
- Combat Service Ribbon (For serving in an event recognized as a combat mission - Multiple issue per each mission designated as a Combat mission)
- The "Ninjar Campaign" ribbon (For service in the specific events leading to the operation)
- The "Shipboard Services" ribbon (Single award -Granted for any military member serving a year or more aboard any class Imperial warship)

Beyond the above, would be awards for personal actions and bravery.
Let's say S1C Pellfim earned a Purple Heart when the INS "Jochel" took fire and he was injured
....We can also suggest that, despite his injuries, S1C Pellfim grabbed those supplies he could and moved about the compartment to treat other wounded in his team, eventually saving the lives of two other spacers who would have died without his care. So, he was awarded the MCG

Or PO 3rd Feso Nagona, who rallied the gunnery battery she served in when the INS "Westfic En" was surprised and engaged at close range by craft deploying from among asteroids. Due to PO 3rd Nagona's actions in quickly re-directing battery fire, the sudden assault was blunted and the ship's command more quickly became aware of the threat. Post-battle analysis proved the ship may well have been lost without her actions, so she saved the lives of the nearly 800 crew aboard. In recognition of this act, the MCG awarded in jump returning from the raid was officially upgraded to a Starburst for Extreme Heroism once the INS "Westfic En" returned to Imperial port for repair and resupply

 

[whartung]

The (planet name) award: For serving on some particularly horrid planet that everybody in the military tries to avoid being sent to.

Do any of the services give out a "Served in Alaska" medal? I though most of those types of awards were campaign oriented. "Served in the Aleutian Campaign" kind of thing.

 

[Commander Truestar]

Do any of the services give out a "Served in Alaska" medal? I though most of those types of awards were campaign oriented. "Served in the Aleutian Campaign" kind of thing.

There us the US Navy's "Navy Arctic Service" medal and the USAF "Antarctic Service" Metal

 

[Timerover51]

Do any of the services give out a "Served in Alaska" medal? I though most of those types of awards were campaign oriented. "Served in the Aleutian Campaign" kind of thing.

Not are far as the Army goes, otherwise I would qualify for one.

 

[aramis]

Do any of the services give out a "Served in Alaska" medal? I though most of those types of awards were campaign oriented. "Served in the Aleutian Campaign" kind of thing.

It used to be considered an overseas deployment for the Army, and draw the Overseas Duty Pay (Dad got that when transferred to Ft. Richardson in 1972).
I don't know if it still is.

Technically, the Arctic Service Medal could be earned ashore, but the Navy has no ashore interests above the Circle, so it's only going to happen for Navy supported science missions or Navy training missions. (The USN's NAS Adak has been closed for almost 2 decades now, and isn't even close to the Arctic - it's closer to Japan than to Anchorage, even. And Anchorage (and EAFB, and Ft. Richardson, now JBER) was closer to NAS Whidbey Island than to NAS Adak.)

Both the USN and USCG medals require it be under competent orders, and in service of their branch awarding, but servicemembers of the other services attached to USN missions can be awarded the USN one. Both allow contracted or civil service civilians to receive it.

The WW II Asiatic/Pacific Medal was awarded for the Aleutians campaign, and most of the Army and Marine participants also got their arrowheads. Whether official or not, I've seen the yellow ribbon with an "Aleutians" clasp on the full sized dress medal. (And I ain't going to argue with a retired CPO about his ribbons being right...) The Aleutians are the portion of Alaska that counts for it, BTW. Guys at Richardson didn't get it from what I've been told.

 

[aramis]

Not are far as the Army goes, otherwise I would qualify for one.

There was one medal I'm aware of that did have an official Alaska clasp...
Service in Alaska was a campaign clasp on the immediiatly pre-WW II era American Defense Service Medal.
The medal is authorized to military members who served on active duty between President Roosevelt's declaration of a limited national emergency on September 8, 1939, and the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

I don't think you're quite THAT old...