Disaster Relief Ribbon - Outdated/Impossible Requirements?

[DBlair]

Looking over the requirements listed for the Disaster Relief Ribbon (without V), it appears to be seemingly impossible to earn this ribbon as the courses being required are no longer offered by the Red Cross.

Members were thinking of taking these courses in the hopes of earning the ribbon, but then upon looking over the courses offered, noticed that the Red Cross seems to have changed their courses since the CAPR39-3 was published.

Any thoughts on whether it is still possible to earn this ribbon... or do members just have to wait around for the next Presidentially-declared Disaster to get the DR ribbon with V attachment?



From CAPR39-3:

f. Disaster Relief Ribbon. Awarded for participation in five actual/evaluated disaster relief missions and completion of two of the following requirements:

(1) All of the following Red Cross courses:
(a) Introduction to Disaster Services: How the Red Cross Chapter Renders Emergency Assistance
(b) Disaster Damage Assessment
(c) Shelter Management

(2) The Red Cross course, Damage Assessment Supervision in Disaster

(3) The Red Cross course, Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation and Advanced First Aid

(4) Radiological Monitoring for Instructors

(5) Radiological Defense Officer Course

(6) Airborne Radiological Monitoring Course

(7) Participation in other equivalent disaster relief activities totaling at least 40 hours of activity certified by disaster relief agency. This could include any training similar to the above courses and/or actual mission activity (in addition to the five required missions).

[lordmonar]

Go with the course the most closely matches the original course.

4, 5, 6...I don't think that the Red Cross does anymore.

3. is no longer called advanced first aid....but the Red Cross still teaches a First Aid Course.

1&2...I am sure that the ARC has something that replaced these curse.

This is one of those "go with the spirit" of the rule situations.

YMMV

[Rescue826]

What about the myriad of State and FEMA courses that are 'better' than Red Cross?  Or what if you work in Emergency Mgt?

[Eclipse]

What about the myriad of State and FEMA courses that are 'better' than Red Cross?  Or what if you work in Emergency Mgt?

See #7.

ARC still offers equivalent courses, or you could go to "other" as accepted by your Wing's ESO.

The requirements are pretty subjective and loose, with no big deal to get the ribbon if you have the time.  There are some in my wing who
have multiple attachments on their's.

[James Shaw]

You can do this through the FEMA courses. You have to reach 40 combined hours which takes a while to do all of the courses. Look at the regs and it will give you a better idea.

[DBlair]

You can do this through the FEMA courses. You have to reach 40 combined hours which takes a while to do all of the courses. Look at the regs and it will give you a better idea.

As in the online ICS FEMA courses?

[Eclipse]

Subjective to the approval authority, but I don't know how you would validate hours with an online course, most of those FEMA courses
take about a break mid-way.

For me it would need to be in-face courses with some sort of certification from the course director.  I don't know that ICS 300 / 400 should count, either, since they are not specific to DR.

[Rescue826]

http://www.floridadisaster.org/TrainingCalendar/index.asp

Tons of DR related classes in Florida, for free!

[Fubar]

The five real/training disaster responses seems like the biggest barrier to earning this ribbon, at least in my area. Are you folks participating in that many real disasters or evaluated drills?

[Eclipse]

Again subjective to the approver, most Sarex's could / should have a DR component, and DR real-worlds are pretty common these days in GLR.

[RiverAux]

Or skip all that and find a way to participate in one presidential disaster. 

[Eclipse]

They are actually separate awards, worn separately.

(which reminds me, do any of the rack builders have the "V" as silver and accommodate multiple awards?  McChord does not.

[Fubar]

Again subjective to the approver, most Sarex's could / should have a DR component...

Would you mind sharing some of the scenarios you've seen used? Our roles in disaster relief seem undefined at best, I'm very curious about the training folks are using in this area.

[Eclipse]

Again subjective to the approver, most Sarex's could / should have a DR component...

Would you mind sharing some of the scenarios you've seen used? Our roles in disaster relief seem undefined at best, I'm very curious about the training folks are using in this area.

House to house well-being checks & population surveys.
Sandbagging
Communications relay
Flooding assessment (aerial and ground)
Building damage assessment
Area accessibility assessment (aerial and ground)
Transport of officials for aerial survey (FEMA, NOAA, local military base, local government, etc.)

Other than sandbagging, everything else can and should be considered for training, and all are missions my wing and region has recently been involved in as real-worlds.

[ol'fido]

Illinois used to hold two major mission exercises every year with multiple bases(northern, central, and southern parts of the state). In the spring, usually late April or early May there was a SARCAP to test search techniques. Then, in the fall, there was a SARDA to test disaster relief responses. This was in late September or early October. These weren't set up specifically for training. As I said, they were exercises. They usually lasted for only one day(Saturday) with some set up being done on Friday night.

I wish we could start doing something like this again in the wing.

[Eclipse]

The challenge is that with all the real-worlds, other activities, and the occasional weekend not doing CAP, there isn't a lot of weekends left, though I agree it would be nice to see more wing-level coordination of SAREx's.

We're walking into another eval season, so the next 6 months will be busy after having taken a year "off" from major exercises.

[James Shaw]

Subjective to the approval authority, but I don't know how you would validate hours with an online course, most of those FEMA courses
take about a break mid-way.

For me it would need to be in-face courses with some sort of certification from the course director.  I don't know that ICS 300 / 400 should count, either, since they are not specific to DR.

You can order a copy of a transcript from FEMA for the courses you have taken. Takes about 1 week for you to get the info. I sent my to NOC for credit and the ones that applied for CAP I got credit for in eservices. The others were preapproved and validated by my commander BEFORE I started them. Remember it is the contact hours that you need to add. I did alot more than was required but it helped when I presented the final tally to the commander.

[RiverAux]

You would have thought that they'd have updated these requirements when they just re-did the whole regulation.  But, to be fair, I sent in comments on the draft and I don't think I remembered how outdated these were either.

[ol'fido]

The challenge is that with all the real-worlds, other activities, and the occasional weekend not doing CAP, there isn't a lot of weekends left, though I agree it would be nice to see more wing-level coordination of SAREx's.

We're walking into another eval season, so the next 6 months will be busy after having taken a year "off" from major exercises.

That's why a lot of these ran one day rather than a whole weekend. I still think we need to have something like this annually. If we try to schedule around events other than wing level we might never have them. I think we should announce them and whoever shows up goes. That's what happens in the real world anyway. It's great if we could always have everbody there to train and exercise. You would get the most bang for your training buck that way. But If we could get these exercises established againI think people would find ways to get there. Real world missions don't have all our assets ready to go or utilize detailed OPSPLANs either. These would give us the chance to train like we operate.

[Major Carrales]

I think the courses that should serve as the Criteria for this award should be FEMA based (Since that is Emergency Management) and include completion of ICS-300 and 400.  That would provide the "rigor" as well as the "relevance" to the ribbon.

The original purpose of this ribbon was "Civil Defense," "Emergency Management" is the modern "politically correct" term for it.  FEMA training to the highest level is thus fitting and proper.

[nesagsar]

I think the courses that should serve as the Criteria for this award should be FEMA based (Since that is Emergency Management) and include completion of ICS-300 and 400.  That would provide the "rigor" as well as the "relevance" to the ribbon.

The original purpose of this ribbon was "Civil Defense," "Emergency Management" is the modern "politically correct" term for it.  FEMA training to the highest level is thus fitting and proper.

That is a high requirement. I don't even have 300 and 400.

[Major Carrales]

I think the courses that should serve as the Criteria for this award should be FEMA based (Since that is Emergency Management) and include completion of ICS-300 and 400.  That would provide the "rigor" as well as the "relevance" to the ribbon.

The original purpose of this ribbon was "Civil Defense," "Emergency Management" is the modern "politically correct" term for it.  FEMA training to the highest level is thus fitting and proper.

That is a high requirement. I don't even have 300 and 400.

Nor do I , yet, but it would be the sort of thing that would provide a higher degree of meaning to the award.  In my opinion, of course.

[Eclipse]

I think the courses that should serve as the Criteria for this award should be FEMA based (Since that is Emergency Management) and include completion of ICS-300 and 400.  That would provide the "rigor" as well as the "relevance" to the ribbon.

The original purpose of this ribbon was "Civil Defense," "Emergency Management" is the modern "politically correct" term for it.  FEMA training to the highest level is thus fitting and proper.

I'd be curious as to why you believe that - it is called "Disaster Relief", the training is 100% geared towards DR, as are the missions.

300 and 400 really have nothing to do with DR, per se, nor are they that big a deal, effort-wise.

[nesagsar]

I think the courses that should serve as the Criteria for this award should be FEMA based (Since that is Emergency Management) and include completion of ICS-300 and 400.  That would provide the "rigor" as well as the "relevance" to the ribbon.

The original purpose of this ribbon was "Civil Defense," "Emergency Management" is the modern "politically correct" term for it.  FEMA training to the highest level is thus fitting and proper.

I'd be curious as to why you believe that - it is called "Disaster Relief", the training is 100% geared towards DR, as are the missions.

300 and 400 really have nothing to do with DR, per se, nor are they that big a deal, effort-wise.

as far as effort goes most of the FEMA classes are easy, I had 10 of them done before I even started working in ES. The problem with 300 and 400 is availability and cost. How many squadrons are going to pay to send an officer to the classes?

[James Shaw]

as far as effort goes most of the FEMA classes are easy, I had 10 of them done before I even started working in ES. The problem with 300 and 400 is availability and cost. How many squadrons are going to pay to send an officer to the classes?

You could call the local health department and check with them. I called mine and spoke to the lady that is in charge of this type of training. She was "elated" to hear that someone from CAP was interested in attending classes. I was very fortunate that they had a class scheduled for the next month and it was ICS 300 Equivalent: Incident Command / Unified Command (MGT313) through Texas A&M.

It was sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the Albany Health Department. It was a 24 hour class with full table top exercise with real time reporting requirements. It was great and all 100 or so people really got into it. My employer gave me the time off of work to do the class because I was one of the IC's for the plant. They paid me my regular pay. I was able to show how it could benefit the plant since we had a lot of chemicals and our exercise was based on a chemical release.

After I received the certificate a few weeks later I sent it to the NOC / John Desmarias and it showed up in eservices a few weeks later.

[CAP Producer]

as far as effort goes most of the FEMA classes are easy, I had 10 of them done before I even started working in ES. The problem with 300 and 400 is availability and cost. How many squadrons are going to pay to send an officer to the classes?

I see your point. You or someone in your chain of command should check to see if soemone in your wing or region is certified to teach the ICS-300 or 400. I know of a trainer assigned to NHQ, afew in WIWG, one in MNWG.

Your Wing Operations Staff should be able to help you find a course with a reasonable cost in your area.

Or you can come to NESA next year and get both done at ICSS.

Linky: http://nesa.cap.gov/#

[Eclipse]

I think the courses that should serve as the Criteria for this award should be FEMA based (Since that is Emergency Management) and include completion of ICS-300 and 400.  That would provide the "rigor" as well as the "relevance" to the ribbon.

The original purpose of this ribbon was "Civil Defense," "Emergency Management" is the modern "politically correct" term for it.  FEMA training to the highest level is thus fitting and proper.

I'd be curious as to why you believe that - it is called "Disaster Relief", the training is 100% geared towards DR, as are the missions.

300 and 400 really have nothing to do with DR, per se, nor are they that big a deal, effort-wise.

as far as effort goes most of the FEMA classes are easy, I had 10 of them done before I even started working in ES. The problem with 300 and 400 is availability and cost. How many squadrons are going to pay to send an officer to the classes?

Why would the unit have to "pay" for someone to go to ICS 300 & 400?  The classes are free and offered on weekends, just like other PD.
Many wings have instructors on staff.

[tsrup]

I think the courses that should serve as the Criteria for this award should be FEMA based (Since that is Emergency Management) and include completion of ICS-300 and 400.  That would provide the "rigor" as well as the "relevance" to the ribbon.

The original purpose of this ribbon was "Civil Defense," "Emergency Management" is the modern "politically correct" term for it.  FEMA training to the highest level is thus fitting and proper.

I'd be curious as to why you believe that - it is called "Disaster Relief", the training is 100% geared towards DR, as are the missions.

300 and 400 really have nothing to do with DR, per se, nor are they that big a deal, effort-wise.

as far as effort goes most of the FEMA classes are easy, I had 10 of them done before I even started working in ES. The problem with 300 and 400 is availability and cost. How many squadrons are going to pay to send an officer to the classes?

Why would the unit have to "pay" for someone to go to ICS 300 & 400?  The classes are free and offered on weekends, just like other PD.
Many wings have instructors on staff.

Not always the case, especially in wings with limited resources.

My squadron commander and I will be attending ICS 300 & 400 next month, which takes place in the middle of the week and is taught by the town's emergency manager. 
I have not heard of SDWNG teaching their own ICS courses as of yet.  If they are taught, they are very few and far between... or on the opposite end of the state.

But all of this is just pain in the butt logistically.  There is no actual cost (except time off from work etc..) to attend these (at least here YMMV).

[Eclipse]

Like everything else is all hinges locally - my wing has ICS instructors as members and they have been offering weekend classes as a "convenience" to members - whether it is physically convenient is another matter with a state as spread out as we are.

Just about every state I have checked does offer the ICS classes on weekend, because a lot of other agencies need them for their aux's, CERT teams, volunteers FD's, etc., which again doesn't mean they are near the person who needs them.

At least by me it hasn't taken any more initiative or effort than attending an SLS/CLC, etc., but much of that is a product of happenstance and not program planning.

[RiverAux]

I could easily see substituting some of the FEMA independent study courses for the now-gone Red Cross courses, but not 300/400. 

[ltcmark]

They are actually separate awards, worn separately.

(which reminds me, do any of the rack builders have the "V" as silver and accommodate multiple awards?  McChord does not.

This is one of the best rack builder websites that I have found:  http://www.medals.pl/us/

It will even configure your military and CAP ribbons in the right order along with all the attachments.

[DakRadz]

They are actually separate awards, worn separately.

(which reminds me, do any of the rack builders have the "V" as silver and accommodate multiple awards?  McChord does not.

This is one of the best rack builder websites that I have found:  http://www.medals.pl/us/

It will even configure your military and CAP ribbons in the right order along with all the attachments.

The only thing I don't like is that my Mitchell Award is not followed by my Wright Brothers Award in real life...

I would say it is an outstanding rack builder, though.

[DBlair]

They are actually separate awards, worn separately.

(which reminds me, do any of the rack builders have the "V" as silver and accommodate multiple awards?  McChord does not.

This is one of the best rack builder websites that I have found:  http://www.medals.pl/us/

It will even configure your military and CAP ribbons in the right order along with all the attachments.

The only thing I don't like is that my Mitchell Award is not followed by my Wright Brothers Award in real life...

I would say it is an outstanding rack builder, though.

Excellent rack builder. I wish it would allow for clasps on the Community Service Ribbon.

[James Shaw]

url=http://www.medals.pl/us/]http://www.medals.pl/us/

I wish it would automatically allow you to have multiple "ribbons" of the same type. I have 6 specialty tracks I am rated in and it wont allow you to do that. Overall it is great though.

[DBlair]

url=http://www.medals.pl/us/]http://www.medals.pl/us/

I wish it would automatically allow you to have multiple "ribbons" of the same type. I have 6 specialty tracks I am rated in and it wont allow you to do that. Overall it is great though.

I'm in the same boat with the Community Service Ribbon.

[Hawk200]

url=http://www.medals.pl/us/]http://www.medals.pl/us/

I wish it would automatically allow you to have multiple "ribbons" of the same type. I have 6 specialty tracks I am rated in and it wont allow you to do that. Overall it is great though.

I could probably do the same, but I wouldn't want to. Got plenty of ribbons as it is.

[DBlair]

url=http://www.medals.pl/us/]http://www.medals.pl/us/

I wish it would automatically allow you to have multiple "ribbons" of the same type. I have 6 specialty tracks I am rated in and it wont allow you to do that. Overall it is great though.

I could probably do the same, but I wouldn't want to. Got plenty of ribbons as it is.

As far as actual wear, I stick to the max on a single ribbon.

[Major Carrales]

The "Disaster Relief" Ribbon began its life as the Civil Defense-cloth version (1970), which is of the same pattern only it had a "CD" device on it...



My recommendation to replace or supplement the Red Cross classes with FEMA ones are rooted in CAP History.  The "Disaster Relief Ribbon with a 'V'" is more directly a Disaster Relief award, the function of the ribbon without the device deals more with training.

Odds are, and I am only speculating, someone though that taking an award like the WWII era "Missing Aircraft Search (1942)" ribbon and combined it with the Civil Defense ribbon.  Might have made since to the CAP officers of the late 1960s...but today it seems like an awkward ribbon in wear and awarding.   Is it a ribbon for "training" or an award for participation in an activity?

Funny,  Eclipse, that you question me on this when so many here in other posts have made more outlandish suggestions for CAP awards and decorations that, to me, have no gounding in CAP tradition or history.

[Eclipse]

I still don't see how there is a linage from "CD" to "DR" - they are completely different animals (one being combat related, one being force majeure), and the ribbons look nothing alike.  Thankfully we have not needed CD for decades, but sadly now need HLS.  That ribbon would certainly have more linage than the DR.

Funny,  Eclipse, that you question me on this when so many here in other posts have made more outlandish suggestions for CAP awards and decorations that, to me, have no gounding in CAP tradition or history.

I have no specific interest in "tradition", per se, in regards to our decorations and awards.  Either they fit today or they don't.  Let those who earned ye olde ribbons wear them, but keep the decoration stack current and "live" as things change.

[ltcmark]

url=http://www.medals.pl/us/]http://www.medals.pl/us/

I wish it would automatically allow you to have multiple "ribbons" of the same type. I have 6 specialty tracks I am rated in and it wont allow you to do that. Overall it is great though.

The medals.pl site will do mutiple awards.  I have 30 clasp for my Search and Rescure ribbon, it figures all the silver clasp on one and the balance of the silver and bonze on another.


From what I read in the 39-3, once you get 3 silver on the Leadership ribbon, you are done with that one.  It does not matter how many Master Ratings you end up with.

I will contact Lukasz Gaszewski  to see if he can update the website to reflect the clasp on the Community Service ribbon.  Other than that, I think he has done an outstanding job on the site.

[arajca]

I still don't see how there is a linage from "CD" to "DR" - they are completely different animals (one being combat related, one being force majeure), and the ribbons look nothing alike.  Thankfully we have not needed CD for decades, but sadly now need HLS.  That ribbon would certainly have more linage than the DR.

President Carter's 1979 executive order merged many of the separate disaster-related responsibilities into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Among other agencies, FEMA absorbed: the Federal Insurance Administration, the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency of the General Services Administration and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration activities from HUD. Civil defense responsibilities were also transferred to the new agency from the Defense Department's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency.John Macy was named as FEMA's first director. Macy emphasized the similarities between natural hazards preparedness and the civil defense activities. FEMA began development of an Integrated Emergency Management System with an all-hazards approach that included "direction, control and warning systems which are common to the full range of emergencies from small isolated events to the ultimate emergency - war."

emphasis mine

Direct link from CD to DR.

[Eclipse]

OK, I'll grant that at the Federal level they realigned CD to DR and now HLS. 

That doesn't mean our decorations are related.  CD had one set of requirements, DR has / had a new one.

Did everyone who earned a CD ribbon receive a DR in replacement when they retired the CD?

[ol'fido]

Bob, I don't know the specific time frame(I'm getting forgetful in my old age) but yeah, basically when they redid the ribbons way back when and took all the pictures, planes, hats-in-the-ring off the cadet ribbons and redid the senior ribbons as well the CD was dropped off the ribbon and we called it the DR ribbon. But my first ones still had the CD on them.

[SoCalMarine]

I think some of you are confused about what IS-300 and IS-400 are. They have everything to do with disaster relief. The term disaster relief isn't just about what you do after a disaster. Also, if you look at the Red Cross courses that qualify for the ribbon, such as shelter management and damage assesment, the same things are taught in 300 and 400.

300 and 400 are more than just after disaster management, but the entire cycle of planning, training, evaluating and planning again. They also cover mitigation procedures, as well as a significant amount of time is spent on table top exercises dealing with an impending "incident" that you have to decide how to place your resources, and then how to react during the incident followed up by how to manage the incident during and after the incident has occurred.

Also, if one were to take IS-5, I believe that would generally be acceptable for the radiological requirements.

How do I know this? My qualifications. I am a certified basic Military Emergency Management Specialist (MEMS), I have taken nearly all of the IS courses on FEMA's site, CERT certified, responded to real disasters with the CG as a member of the CGAUX, member of IAEM and NEMA, and finally I hold a BA in Homeland Security which is emergency management with the added emphasis of how to respond to a release of a CRBN agent. I also was at NESA for the ICS basic and advanced classes teaching 300 and 400 amongst other courses.

Now, for those of you who do not have 300 and 400, rather than going to NESA you could check your state's EM website. I know Colorado and California routinely offer the classes throughout the year, for free, across the state.

[wacapgh]

OK, I'll grant that at the Federal level they realigned CD to DR and now HLS. 

That doesn't mean our decorations are related.  CD had one set of requirements, DR has / had a new one.

Did everyone who earned a CD ribbon receive a DR in replacement when they retired the CD?

I would be interested in the answer to that as well, having earned the CD ribbon as a cadet.

[ol'fido]

Well, when they changed, I took the one off that had the CD button on it and put on one that did not. YMMV.

[lordmonar]

Here is a quick link of some of DR course ARC still teaches........except for the radiological monitoring courses....there is no reason why someone can't still get this ribbon.

http://www.alexandriaredcross.org/index.php/component/content/article/367.html

[Senior]

I called the local ARC branch and told them that I was CAP.  I told them the courses I wanted to take according to the CAP manual.  Except for radiological
monitoring they have modern equivalents ( or really close) to courses listed in the manual.   If you were able to get a group together for ARC courses they may schedule them just for you and your group.

[Eclipse]

Just like the NRA situation "modern equivalents" does not equal "approved".

You should probably get an advanced read from your wing, at a minimum.

[lordmonar]

Just like the NRA situation "modern equivalents" does not equal "approved".

You should probably get an advanced read from your wing, at a minimum.

BS
The Intent of the regulation is that we get DR training from the DR experts.
We can't update our regulations when we control all the pieces.....are we really going to throw a wrench in the intent of the regulations (promote CAP particpation in DR activities with DR agencies...by getting their training.) over the fact that ARC does not offer ADVANCED FIRST AID any more...or that they changed the name of their Into to Disasters Course to Disaster Fundiementals?

[Eclipse]

It's not my monkey wrench, it's the reg's.

It doesn't say "40 hours of generalized training that you think is ok..." it says:

Five actual/evaluated disaster relief missions and completion of two of the following
requirements:
(1) All of the following Red Cross courses:
(a) Introduction to Disaster Services:
How the Red Cross Chapter Renders Emergency Assistance
(b) Disaster Damage Assessment
(c) Shelter Management
(2) The Red Cross course, Damage Assessment Supervision in Disaster
(3) The Red Cross course, CardioPulmonary Resuscitation and Advanced First Aid
(4) Radiological Monitoring for Instructors
(5) Radiological Defense Officer Course
(6) Airborne Radiological Monitoring Course

(7) Participation in other equivalent disaster relief activities totaling at least 40 hours of
activity certified by disaster relief agency. This could include any training similar to the above courses and/or
actual mission activity (in addition to the five required missions).

So, either they offer the named classes above, or anyone with any sense will get confirmation in writing
from their wing's OPS staff that "other" will qualify.   Maybe it will and maybe it won't.

[lordmonar]

Who's the awarding authority for the ribbon?  I'll ask them.

[Eclipse]

Who's the awarding authority for the ribbon?  I'll ask them.

Heh, nice.

That actually makes my point, though.  You have no issue with this and have a say (presumably) in your Wing.  In my wing
there is a heavy ARC influence as well, but in others there may not be.

[lordmonar]

No...no...that was my sarcasm tag.

Of course....when in doubt you should always ping your chain of command.
My point being.....those people at wing should be looking at the intent of the regulation as opposed to the black and white of the regulation...as so should we all.

Intent is always more imporatant then the letter.

It is obvious that the regulation is out of date.  The letter of the regulation means that we can't award the ribbon.  No ribbon, we loose one of our tools to motivate members to take the training.

The intent of the ribbon was not to reward people for getting outside training....the intent was to encourage people to take the training so we could improve our relationship with DR agencies and be able to provide a service if ever called on.

[Eclipse]

The intent of the ribbon was not to reward people for getting outside training....the intent was to encourage people to take the training so we could improve our relationship with DR agencies and be able to provide a service if ever called on.

I agree, but until more than a few regs are re-written that way, one cannot assume.

[SARDOC]

The intent of the ribbon was not to reward people for getting outside training....the intent was to encourage people to take the training so we could improve our relationship with DR agencies and be able to provide a service if ever called on.

I agree, but until more than a few regs are re-written that way, one cannot assume.

If the Regulation had something like "or an equivalent" listed next to the courses then an updated course could be substituted in keeping with the spirit of the rule...but it doesn't.  It's very clear what the authors intended...if you want to have it updated write a new one and send it up the chain.