The armed forces of the United States offer individual and unit awards for good performance, valor in action, leadership, etc. They are usually equated to each other on a level. For example, in the US Navy:
- The Meritorious Unit Commendation is awarded to a unit (a ship, shore base, etc.) for actions on the same level as would qualify an individual navy service member for the Bronze Star award, the fourth-highest award for valor in action of the US military;
- The Navy Unit Commendation is equated to an individual order of the Silver Star medal, the third-highest award for valor in action;
- The Presidential Unit Citation, the highest unit award offered by the Navy, is equated to an individual order of the Navy Cross, the service's second-highest award for valor in action (the highest being the Medal of Honor).
Therefore, the news that the Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Washington has just been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation is more important than it might seem at first sight.
"The award of the Presidential Unit Citation to the USS Washington is a profound honor, signifying the crew's exceptional dedication and strategic impact,” said Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher, commander, Submarine Forces. “Their work in challenging, high risk environments completing vital national level missions demonstrates the key role our submarines play in ensuring maritime security and global stability."
The PUC is awarded to any U.S. military unit that has distinguished itself by outstanding performance and heroism in action against enemy forces and is the highest unit award in the Department of the Defense.
During Washington’s deployment, the submarine, also known as the Blackfish, completed three demanding missions vital to national security that resulted in obtaining sensitive and unique intelligence information, where it executed the Chief of Naval Operations' maritime strategy by supporting national security interests and maritime security operations.
. . .
Washington steamed more than 37,000 nautical miles with the crew supporting diplomatic relationships by conducting port visits in Faslane, Scotland, and Grotsund, Norway. In recognition of the Blackfish’s exceptional service and dedication during operations in the strategic Arctic region, the Washington was awarded the newly announced Arctic Service Medal.
There's more at the link.
We don't know what the Washington did while on patrol, but it was sufficiently important and valuable to earn her the highest unit award the Navy has to offer, and also what may be the first ever award of the newly-created Arctic Service Medal. Her crew will, of course, wear individual emblems signifying those awards on their uniforms. What's more, this mission or missions took place during peacetime, not wartime, so the awards are doubly unusual.
Hmmm . . . Arctic service . . . heroism in action as an award criterion . . . one wonders what they were up to! Veterans and well-informed observers can probably come up with some interesting possibilities.
Peter
7 comments:
Blowing up Nord Stream perhaps?
Maybe some frogmen were frogging around a long cylindrical pipe looking thing and some munition detonated..Good thing they they were able to return to the launch vehicle and resume their training.They are the best..In the North Sea.
In today's woke military, were they bringing the correct pronouns to polar bears?
nordstream?
We don't need to know. That way the left have less to leak.
Maybe some frogmen were training doing frogmen stuff when an explosion occurred near a pipeline,near Norway,,sorta.Having the most highly skilled operations units,I can rest assured personnel returned safely.
It's very unlikely to have been the Nordstream pipeline bombing. That's not in the Arctic, and it happened a couple of years ago. I suspect it might be something interesting involving Russian boomers in the White Sea, or operations near Murmansk, both of which are vital naval areas. Either way (or anything else), we aren't likely to be told.
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