Wear the Parachute badge ONLY if you've earned it!

[J.von Canon]

Reading some of the posts concerning the wear of certain "unit"awards brought some thoughts to mind.
I was on parachute status many,many years and,not surprisingly,think parachute wings should be worn ONLY by parachutists.
As someone noted earlier there is little similarity between civilian jumping and military stick & freefall(HALO & HAHO.)
My last "civilian"jump I was wearing a t-shirt,sneakers,and shorts...
Military jumping is veeery different,as a few of you know.
Anyway,when I became involved in reenacting(a 'Fallschirmjaeger' unit)most of the original members were actual parachutists,though civilian jumpers.This was actually a point of pride somewhat-being jumpers.
The civilian jumpers had to submit U.S.P.A.documentation to "wear the badge."
But in the last couple of years a fair number of new applicants admitted into the unit were not jumpers and had no intentions of jumping in ANY capacity.
In short,a unit "vote" was conducted with the result that the Fallschirmjaeger badge is worn by "other"criteria than actually jumping from an aircraft.The parachutists were outnumbered by the others...
This resulted in ruffled feathers and griping by several reenactors.Silly pouting and resentments have continued to this day.
Recently one of the newbies requested he be allowed to wear the Kreta cuff band because he was in a small weekend skirmish!
To me it's pretty silly.But I'm never ceased to be amazed at the mindset of some wanting "something for nothing"in this hobby.
Perhaps it's a cultural thing("I'm ok,you're ok.)

[J Melvin]

In every instant, it is actually something for nothing. None of the badges or awards worn by any reenactor are truly earned. I am not aware of one of us that earned his ground assault badge by ducking bullets for a prescribed period of time. It is an image we portray. An early war FJ reenactor would have a jump badge. Not necessarily so with one in a '43-'45 unit. Not many were actually jump qualified and therefore would not wear the badge. So, conform the impression to the time period. Don't set the guidelines by whether or not a fellow is foolish enough to step out of a perfectly good flying airplane. Set them by what is correct for your unit's impression.

[J.von Canon]

You are correct-to a point...

In every instant, it is actually something for nothing. None of the badges or awards worn by any reenactor are truly earned. I am not aware of one of us that earned his ground assault badge by ducking bullets for a prescribed period of time. It is an image we portray. An early war FJ reenactor would have a jump badge. Not necessarily so with one in a '43-'45 unit. Not many were actually jump qualified and therefore would not wear the badge. So, conform the impression to the time period. Don't set the guidelines by whether or not a fellow is foolish enough to step out of a perfectly good flying airplane. Set them by what is correct for your unit's impression.

You are correct-to a point...
The parachute jump is really the only,how can I say it,"gut check"that this hobby really has in it.A parachute jump really takes a little something extra-and every jump is different.But every one takes a little extra something.If you view the posts of fellow subscribers(Prosper Keating comes to mind)you will see there is easily an "airborne"view on this subject.Other parachutists(Willi Zahn also comes to mind)might want to offer their own comments either in agreement or disagreement...
You raise an issue that I brought up in this particular reenactment unit also;that mid-war "Fallschirmjaeger"units had so many non-jumpers among their number.(There was plenty of room for a portrayal of the non-jump qualified Luftwaffe replacement.But that did'nt suit them.)The Parachute Ethos permeated these largely non-parachutist members of later Fallschirmjaeger units and they fought very well to the end of the war.
As I mentioned in another post-there seem to be two mindsets divided between actual parachutists and the rest of 'em...
But after the reenactor "vote" the non-quals ALL can wear the award.

[J Melvin]

Somewhat a different issue, but I've never considered my unit to be a democracy. We vote on nothing. I solicit opinions from the unit members when I think that their opinions may add something (but don't deem it to be a necessity to do so). Then based upon the opinions and my own beliefs, I make the decisions.

I am the founder of the unit. I am the leader. I set the policies when they are formed. Everyone that joins knows what the policies are and how they are set. If they can't live by them, then perhaps our impression is the wrong one for them. "My way or the highway" as the saying goes. As a fairly new unit (only about 4 years old), this seems to work. I have a very good squad with no squabbles. If there is a problem, the buck stops here.

The mistake that was made was ever putting it to a vote. The decisions should be made by the senior member(s), not by a bunch of newbies that think that they know better how to run the unit.

Not to sound dictatorial (we need a smilie with a Hitler mustache), but being a unit commander for reenactors is a bit of a job. The one question that I ask every unit member when an event is over is whether they had a good time. Afterall, it is a hobby and it is supposed to be something enjoyable for everyone. If the answer is "no", then I have failed in my role as squad leader. Like minded people with like minded goals will entrust a person with this "authority". The key to a reenactment group is not numbers. It is the proper mix of personalities with the same goals in reenacting. You should be asking whether your unit has this - that may be the bigger issue.

[Paul_Mullins]

How about we realise this is a GAME and a HOBBY and not the real military. Should I have to prove I am a Eagle Scout to wear a HJ badge? How about my Jewish grandmother? Would that disquallify me to re-enact SS or any other branch?

[Theodor]

Hmmm, zooo, vho earhned vhat? If zomeone haz finished a FJ schule in Deustchland before 1945, then he has the right to vear ze parathroopehr badge. And seems here rather better be used tin-pressed hand-painted badges in the form of a rusty Cessna. I said!

[J Melvin]

Damn Theodor, where'd you get that smilie??? Seba, we need to add that one!!!

[J.von Canon]

Quite right...

Somewhat a different issue, but I've never considered my unit to be a democracy. We vote on nothing. I solicit opinions from the unit members when I think that their opinions may add something (but don't deem it to be a necessity to do so). Then based upon the opinions and my own beliefs, I make the decisions.

I am the founder of the unit. I am the leader. I set the policies when they are formed. Everyone that joins knows what the policies are and how they are set. If they can't live by them, then perhaps our impression is the wrong one for them. "My way or the highway" as the saying goes. As a fairly new unit (only about 4 years old), this seems to work. I have a very good squad with no squabbles. If there is a problem, the buck stops here.

The mistake that was made was ever putting it to a vote. The decisions should be made by the senior member(s), not by a bunch of newbies that think that they know better how to run the unit.

Not to sound dictatorial (we need a smilie with a Hitler mustache), but being a unit commander for reenactors is a bit of a job. The one question that I ask every unit member when an event is over is whether they had a good time. Afterall, it is a hobby and it is supposed to be something enjoyable for everyone. If the answer is "no", then I have failed in my role as squad leader. Like minded people with like minded goals will entrust a person with this "authority". The key to a reenactment group is not numbers. It is the proper mix of personalities with the same goals in reenacting. You should be asking whether your unit has this - that may be the bigger issue.

Quite right...
This particular unit was founded well over a decade ago.I may be wrong but I think the FJ historian George Petersen had the only earlier FJ unit in reenacting prior to this one.
I'm only a tactical N.C.O. (from the beginning)since I'm familiar with field tactics and speak German.
I quite agree that this is ONLY a hobby.But even a hobby should have some guidelines such as the correct wearing of the uniform,knowledge of the unit's lineage,and even the wearing of awards.Some of these characters would drape themselves like Hermann Goering if they thought they could get away with it...
I also agree that having numbers does'nt make for a sound unit necessarily.
And I especially agree that if a newbie does'nt like whatever standards a group has in place he should not join it and then start griping about so-called award criteria.Think I mentioned something like this in another thread.
I happen to know that several FJ reenactment units require parachute jumps for wearing this particular badge.Whether this is "enforced"I cannot say.It would be interesting to have some input from FJ reenactors concerning THEIR unit policies on this subject.
I also agree that a unit commander should call the shots.My unit "commander"is easily the most personable and generous individual that I've met in this particular hobby.And there seems to be an over abundance of "tight asses" in this hobby too.He's also a very old friend of mine.
But he's a "much nicer" guy than I am;accepting anyone who is interested supposedly.
But it is HIS unit and I support him even if I disagree with having a "vote" on something like wearing a jump badge.
This is becoming boring to me so I'll simply conclude with my observation that guys who have actually jumped will tend to not "award"the jump badge lightly...JvC.

[Theodor]

Hi,

In fact I can not remember where got that smile from... I put it as a picture in my reply. Here is the link that you can copy/paste in order to put it in your messages:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/345851/ah.gif

Of course, at both ends of this link you must put these: [img] in the beginning and [/img] in the end /no spaces between the link and those two/. Probably you already know all this, anyway saying in case someone does not know. Here is the result:

[J Melvin]

Thanks Theodor, it is duly saved.