“The Brink” is a new HBO Comedy series revolving around the antics of an utterly incompetent group of government employees. I’m not sure whether it’s meant to be a spoof on other shows like “Homeland” or “24”, or a spoof on our actual government, but if you can imagine the worst possible people filling the most important possible jobs, that’s “The Brink.”
Two of the characters are Naval Aviators aboard a carrier executing the foreign policy of a very indecisive administration. Of course, the pilots are both “soup sandwichs” and after a sortie gone wrong, they find themselves getting dressed down by a Rear Admiral, whom I assume is the Carrier Strike Group Commander. This month’s Hollywood Heroes takes a look at one of the uniforms this set of scenes. There is nothing serious about this TV Series, so we’re not expecting much.
A Rear Admiral’s Awards
The character we’ll look at is the Rear Admiral (Upper Half) who sweeps the erroneous F-18/A sortie under the rug.
Here’s his rack reconstructed in the MyServicePride.com Rack Builder:
Broken out, here are the individual elements:
Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal
Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal
Navy Presidential Unit Citation
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
National Defense Service Medal
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
Navy & Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon
Kuwait Liberation Medal – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Navy Marksmanship Ribbon
Navy Pistol RibbonSo is this Rack on The Brink?
Right off the bat, he’s missing the Liberation of Kuwait Medal from the Kuwaiti government.
The two common foreign decorations awarded during Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm were the “Liberation of Kuwait” medals from the Saudi and Kuwait governments. The Saudi version was for a narrower period than the Kuwaiti version. While it is possible to have only the Kuwaiti version, all personnel who rate the Saudi version, also rate the Kuwaiti version. The Saudi version of the award was focused on the major combat phase while the Kuwaiti medal covers the broader deployment.
This leads to another missing award, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, which is the U.S. campaign medal for the Gulf War.
The “Rear Admiral” has awards from the Global War on Terror period, indicated by the presence of the Iraq Campaign Medal and the GWOT & GWOTEx. Given his participation in both eras, he should have a star on his National Defense Service Medal.
Last week we published an article about the National Defense Service Medal and the confusion over the use of stars. You can CHECK OUT THE ARTICLE HERE.
So How Does This Compare to the Real Deal?
CAVEAT: I know I’m going to get a lot of responses for what I write next so here’s a disclaimer: This part of my analysis is very subjective. I understand it’s a character. I understand the show has not once ounce of serious. I understand there are possibilities and circumstances that make what I say wrong. These are just interesting observations about a hypothetical Rear Admiral, NOT blanket accusations.
The character is wearing two awards that strike me as unusual. He’s an aviator, by the Naval Aviator wings partially concealed under his collar. However, he’s wearing a Combat Action Ribbon and the Silver Star. Usually (But not always) these are awarded for ground action. There are equivalent awards for aerial action, the Strike/Flight Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross, respectively. Almost every Silver Star awarded by the Navy goes to Marines, Navy Corpsmen with Marines, or Navy SEALs. I can only find two Silver Stars awarded for aerial action, post-Vietnam.
Mark Fox (Pictured) and his wingman received them for the first Air-to-Air kills in the opening salvos of Desert Storm. It’s possible that this fictitious character could have been in ground combat during a FAC (Forward Air Controller) tour and received them during a firefight, but it’s unusual to see those awards on an Aviator.
What the Rear Admiral is NOT wearing is also interesting. Most Naval Officers that achieve that rank, have held command at sea (He’s wearing the Command-At-Sea Pin) and generally spent that much time in the Navy have quite a few at-sea deployments, or “Pumps” under their belt. Per my research on the Commanding Officers of some of today’s deployed Air Craft Carriers, Strike Wings, and Ready Groups, most have 4-8 sea tours. The Brink’s “Rear Admiral” only has 2 at-sea deployments.
Most Naval Officers I research that have achieved this high a rank and are active “Line” officers, also have a Navy Battle Effectiveness Award, or the “E” Ribbon.
Sailors who participate in and win a Battle Efficiency Competition are awarded the Battle “E”. The involved ship also gets the Battle “E” on the bridge wing. It’s a little out of place, at least to me, that an officer gets that high without at least a little more at-sea experience, but again, not impossible.
(Here’s the USS Midway, with the Battle “E” circled):
My Conclusion?
Again, I wasn’t expecting much. I’m actually surprised how well the directors of this program did putting these awards together. Aside from two small mistakes, nothing is so out of place and outlandish that it interrupts our suspension of belief. We’ve certainly seen worse! Here’s a good example of worse: http://www.myservicepride.com/content/hollywood-heroes-stephen-seagal-siege-rack/.
Sound Off!
Agree? Disagree? Want to square me away? Sound off below.
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