I'm not disagreeing in any way with what your wrote. But, if Commanders are "just now recognizing" valor in actions like this, then something is wrong. That would be another of many examples to demonstrate how clueless we were nine years ago and how slowly we've figured things out.
Regardless of the valor aspect, the notion of handing out awards for this stuff amplifies one of many poor messages that have been sent to Soldiers over the past nine years. Namely: "Do your job and get rewarded as though you've done more." Enough with the awards. I know guys who never left a FOB and have 3 BSMs. Even the Purple Hearts are out of hand.
For what it's worth, if you replace "SEAL" with "20-year old Infantryman" then it would describe at least three similar instances that I am aware of - including one that I witnessed - five years ago in Iraq. In the one that I witnessed, we brought the shooter (a 15-year-old who was paid 10,000 dinars to shoot at us) to his home and told his father what happened. His father went back into his home, re-emerged with a wooden rod, and then commenced one of the most vicious ass-whoopings that I'd witnessed in a long time. We restrained him because we thought he was going to kill the kid.
I hope that we're not "just now recognizing" the value of actions like this. And if the creation of this new award is an indicator of that, then once again I am concerned that senior leaders are just coming around to understanding what many younger Soldiers figured out years ago. And, even worse, they're addressing it in the wrong way. If the only way that leaders can influence Soldiers is to promise them awards for doing their jobs, then they're not really leaders.
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