I’m sure you’re right, just like the overwhelming majority of the population don’t care for NASCAR/horse racing/Jerry Seinfeld/Cilantro/etc. But for the part of the population that does care, well, it’s yet another example of blatant disregard for what others care about in order to garner some imagined personal advantage.
Full disclosure: I have several of these, which I received at various times and various places, for various levels of awesomeness. They all mean something to me, and there are none I’d be embarrassed to tell you the story of. But this monstrosity? Yeah, if that got kept at all it would be hidden away in the bottom of the lego bin, or be left to rattle around in the tool box.
I think you just made an argument for participation trophies? Or giving bronze stars to everyone?
Practically the popularity of challenge coins has had a positive effect in certain ways. In past commendations and other low level formal awards were used in some pretty ridiculous ways. I know a guy who was given a challenge coin by high level general for acting as his driver for a day. Apparently that general used to give commendations or something for that sort of thing. And the military has had problems with that in the past. Awards and medals being given out where they aren’t really called for as a favor, or to inflate someone’s record. Current practice has challenge coins replacing some of that. That’s a large reason for what was a pretty small scale practice among a handful of airborne units becoming as popular as it is. The military brass sees it as a morale boosting bit of fun with a practical benefit.
Also there are different sorts of challenge coins. Unit coins, bearing the name of one unit its insignia and motto. Eventually everyone in a unit ends up with one of those. Some units just issue them to everyone. Some issue them as I said before. In recognition of something done well. Mission coins. Bearing the patch design and name for the deployment your on get issued along with mission patches (and typically service ribbons that get mounted on the uniform). And are typically issued to everyone on a deployment. And personal coins which have an officer or other significant persons name on them that are most often handed out as I stated early. In recognition of something. But are also used sort of like calling card. Particularly between officers. Or with very high ranking people like the president.
Everyone has multiple challenge coins. And people swap them back and forth. Often when meeting or serving with other units, or other nations militaries. Its basically a fun way for leadership and officers to say “thanks” to the enlisted, without breaking protocol or inventing shit. With a nice little collector element to it. If you don’t see the point of it. Or particularly like it fine. But I don’t think you need to be looking so hard for a reason for it to be bad. Its also not very much of a tradition. It only really became a thing in the 80’s. And then seemingly mostly in those Airborne units, followed by the airforce and then spreading everywhere else. Even now not every military unit does it.
I see your opinions are deeply and firmly rooted, and that’s great. You’ve found meaning in the medium. It’s all about experience. And certainly, there will be higher prestige given to those elite or high ranking assignments.
I don’t see it quite the same way, and that’s fine too. I wasn’t making an argument for participation medals; I was inferring that all challenge coins are little more than participation medals. There’s no single body keeping score who gives them out, and who receives them (unless you have the numbered coins, which are just ‘slightly’ more personalized). If you can arbitrarily trade and exchange them, they aren’t really about commendation; they’re about nostalgia, memory, and pride.
But hey, that’s not all bad. I’m actually not opposed to them. I just don’t see them as anything ‘sacred’. The tone of the original post seemed to suggest the changes to the challenge coin were egregious, a travesty, a desecration. I am suggesting that it really doesn’t matter what the challenge coins look like.
I’m not arguing they’re sacred. And if you’ll look upthread you’ll see I attempted to correct Cory on that front. He certainly seems to have misunderstood something.
Trump didn’t “redesign the presidential challenge coin”. He released his challenge coin. And there is no presidential challenge coin. There is only a given president’s challenge coin. Provided that president chooses to have one.
Honestly I think the best comparison for these things is boy scout merit badges. Combined with those collectable lapel pins.
Now this is interesting.
I remember a paper produced by someone at AT&T which argued that the problem with corporations is that the number of people needed to support outstanding individuals increases as the cube of their number. Not precisely stupidity, but as the opportunity for crossed wires, office politics and the need to bookkeep what’s going on increases, the number of individuals who contribute nothing very much to the organisation increases very rapidly indeed.
It’s more accurate to say that he didn’t design or re-design a true challenge coin as non-fascists would understand them. This token is really all about proving affinity to one individual (who also happens to be the President*), with even the movement he’s trying to lead taking second place.
If he somehow gets re-elected, the next iteration of this will be an enamel lapel pin.
