What is your favorite CAP ribbon?

[4fhoward]

This is just a question to see what people think.

Of the CAP ribbons, this included old ribbons not being awarded, what is your favorite ribbon and why?
For me my favorite is the Find ribbon, I like the color combination and the layout, I think it's well balanced.


You can take a look at what the previous ribbons looked like at this link.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~ericbush/US/cap_old.html

[UH60guy]

First, I'd be suspicious of any ribbon images not found in the back of CAPR 39-3, like how the "Gill Robb Wilson -with star-" in the link you sent is upside down That and the whole CAP preoccupation with assymetrical ribbons I will never understand- when we already have a hard enough time getting people to wear them in the correct order of precedence, we throw ribbons that can be upside down at them!

Though I'd have to disagree on the find ribbon. To me it looks too much like the Distinguished Flying Cross (just with an extra stripe). I like the encampment ribbon- not too busy, simple color scheme, easy to tell apart from other ribbons, and for crying out loud, it can't be mounted upside down.

Did I mention I don't like ribbons that can be upside down? Because I don't 

[Alaric]

Unit Commendation, simple, and cant really be worn upside down

[lordmonar]

Find Ribbon.....it just looks nice.

[Rick-DEL]

Encampment Ribbon

[Майор Хаткевич]

Curry, because it is the bond of all cadets, past and present.

[ol'fido]

I like all of the old style ribbons. Much more character than the ones we have now. I like the old style Find Ribbon especially.

[Brad]

Forest patrol....we used to do that often here in SCWG I've been told...then one of our aircrews overflew a SC Forestry truck not where it was supposed to be posted at and let the forestry supervisor know. The firefighter/forester got in trouble then raised a big stink and we ended up losing our forestry missions. At least that's the story I heard.

[ZigZag911]

Always liked the old Earhart, something reminiscent of Captain America's shield about it!

[MacGruff]

My favorite will probably be the first one that I earn.

[Cap'n]

Commander's Commendation: I really like how it looks, and it's also my favorite one I've received.

[addo1]

Unit Commendation, simple, and cant really be worn upside down

Once I wore my CAC and IACE ribbons upside down.

[ExCadetwithCOP]

My Certificate of Proficiency (COP) Award.  Only one left, that is still authorized, with a propeller!

[MSG Mac]

My Gill Robb Wilson shows that the recipient has gone well past what 95% of all members accomplish.

[SarDragon]

First, I'd be suspicious of any ribbon images not found in the back of CAPR 39-3, like how the "Gill Robb Wilson -with star-" in the link you sent is upside down That and the whole CAP preoccupation with assymetrical ribbons I will never understand- when we already have a hard enough time getting people to wear them in the correct order of precedence, we throw ribbons that can be upside down at them!

Well, he changed the link, so the GRW comment is OBE.

Though I'd have to disagree on the find ribbon. To me it looks too much like the Distinguished Flying Cross (just with an extra stripe). I like the encampment ribbon- not too busy, simple color scheme, easy to tell apart from other ribbons, and for crying out loud, it can't be mounted upside down.

Did I mention I don't like ribbons that can be upside down? Because I don't 

The olde encampment ribbon, as picture at the revised link, could be mounted upside down, and frequently was. The left end is blue, and the right end is green.

[SarDragon]

Curry, because it is the bond of all cadets, past and present.

How so? I don't have one. I spent five years as a cadet.

[flyboy53]

I don't really have one special ribbon. Guess I would pick my top three Gill Robb Wilson, Commander's Commendation, and Scott Crossfield.

[James Shaw]

The Achievement Award.

Myself and Col Blascovich (Former National Historian) designed it. I designed the ribbon and he designed the medal portion.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Deleted. Actidentally clicked quote, not "modify"

All y'all pre-64 dinosaurs don't count under this CP. 

[Al Sayre]

My Lifesaving Ribbon with star.  It means I actually made a difference...

[TeamBronx]

The original International Air Cadet Exchange Ribbon.  Red with silver embroidered, tri-propellers.  It always looked cool.  My opinion is that we should bring back all the ribbons that had embroidered propellers in the center.   A little bit of money to produce, but a fifty year nod to tradition.

[Grumpy]

My cadet Certificate of Proficiency Ribbon.  Because it's old (like me).  I refer to it as the "Old Fart Ribbon".

[Garibaldi]

My 2 ComComs.

[Private Investigator]

Find ribbon it really stands out and looks good. It looks great on the bumber of my monster "GT" rig too   

[TexasCadet]

I like the Unit Citation Ribbon. Simple yet elegant.

[Private Investigator]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Army_Service_Ribbon.svg

We should get a rainbow ribbon too 

[GroundHawg]

The original International Air Cadet Exchange Ribbon.  Red with silver embroidered, tri-propellers.  It always looked cool.  My opinion is that we should bring back all the ribbons that had embroidered propellers in the center.   A little bit of money to produce, but a fifty year nod to tradition.

I will second that.

Does anyone know why the encampment ribbon colors were changed? cost?

[Devil Doc]

I don't have one, Only have 2 . Currently I am working on the Community Service Ribbon, so I guess that will be my favorite for the moment.

[VNY]

This is just a question to see what people think.  Of the CAP ribbons, this included old ribbons not being awarded, what is your favorite ribbon and why?

My CAC ribbon - which I can once again wear after 35 years.  Simplest ribbon possible and not one you see very often on a 55 year old

[MSG Mac]

The things you can get away with when you're born on Feb 29th.

[BHartman007]

How many seniors actually wear ribbons? I've worn mine the last two weeks and felt like a sore thumb.

[Майор Хаткевич]

I've rarely not worn mine. But lately its a PITA, so it depends on my mood.

[MSG Mac]

I wear them for special occasions. Military on blues,CAP on G/W.

[BillB]

On the change of the encampment ribbon, what I heard and this is strictly rumor while at NHQ one day. So many cadets and seniors for that matter put the ribbon on backwards (green at wrong end) that the ribbon was changed so it was blue at both ends.

[HGjunkie]

I always thought the Curry looked kinda similar to the Purple Heart in a weird way.

Besides, my favorite would have to be the Bumblebee- NCUC.

[lordmonar]

BITD.....the USAF Promotion Fitness Exam Guide Book....had the Expeditionary Medal upside down.
The had this error on at least two printings of the PFE guide.

And for the record......all ribbons can be put on upside down.

If you look real close...you can see that the ribbon has a sort of grain in the weave.  If you tilt it in the light you should see these sort of arrows pointing down.

Yes I know......this is really nitpicking.....and I never seriously tell anyone their ribbon is upside down...as in giging them.  But all ribbons have a top and a bottom.

[abdsp51]

My personal favorite would have to be the Red service, especially when you see members who have traded the prop clasp in for the service numbers.

[Private Investigator]

How many seniors actually wear ribbons? I've worn mine the last two weeks and felt like a sore thumb.

Different Units I have been in have different personalities. The Wing Staff do not, Group Staff mostly do, and the local SQ meetings I do go to the Seniors do not because they only have one, two or three and you know the Cadets wear their bling bling. So the old men do not want the hard charging Cadets make them look bad.  YMMV.

[Walkman]

My favorite on my personal rack in my Achievement ribbon. I worked really hard and the recognition from my leaders meant a lot.

[Flying Pig]

My CD ribbon with my 3 clasps....   Definitley worked for it!  Say No to Drugs kiddies

[SarDragon]

Commander's Commendation, and Red Service with a 40 clasp.

[Jaison009]

Commander's Commendation, and Red Service with a 40 clasp.

:clap: :clap: :clap:

[4fhoward]

My favorite on my personal rack in my Achievement ribbon. I worked really hard and the recognition from my leaders meant a lot.

My CD ribbon with my 3 clasps....   Definitley worked for it!  Say No to Drugs kiddies

That's what the ribbons are all about, to recognize people for their great work.

[PHall]

I'm kinda partial to my Lifesaving Award with Silver Star attachment.

[Mitchell 1969]

There were lots of interesting looking ribbons prior to the "Great Ribbon Purge of 1971."  As I heard the story, USAF told CAP that we were awarding too many ribbons for trivial reasons, or for things that were included in other ribbons. For example, there was a Communications Ribbon as well as the Communicators Badge. And a ribbon for completing an ECI (correspondence) course.  (It had a quill pen on it).  Plus, every cadet special activity had its own ribbon. (FAA Orientation Course and Jet Orientation Course were particularly nice looking and stood out - there were few JOC slots and seeing a cadet wear one told everybody "this cadet hasn't just studied jets, he's flown in one." <T-33, TF-102>. So...the great purge ensued. Even the encampment ribbon was eliminated for a few years. I lost two particular favorites - Region/Wing Flying Encamoment and Cadet Flying Encampment License.  The head-on wing silhouettes were distinctive and the combination of various stars told a story.

Over the years, though, even USAF has crept up in this regard, awarding ribbons for what used to be some basic components of career progression.

And...CAP is creeping back. We have at least 3 more achievement/phase ribbons. And we award the Crossfield to people who already have the AE Master badge. Throw in color guard comp (we used to have a drill comp ribbon pre-71), VFW, AFA, etc. and we end up with a bunch.

But to answer the question - my favorite was one that I never wore, was ineligible to earn and which is no longer awarded, but which I saw a few being worn - the Anti-Sub patrol ribbon.

[flyboy53]

There were lots of interesting looking ribbons prior to the "Great Ribbon Purge of 1971."  As I heard the story, USAF told CAP that we were awarding too many ribbons for trivial reasons, or for things that were included in other ribbons. For example, there was a Communications Ribbon as well as the Communicators Badge. And a ribbon for completing an ECI (correspondence) course.  (It had a quill pen on it).  Plus, every cadet special activity had its own ribbon. (FAA Orientation Course and Jet Orientation Course were particularly nice looking and stood out - there were few JOC slots and seeing a cadet wear one told everybody "this cadet hasn't just studied jets, he's flown in one." <T-33>. So...the great purge ensued. Even the encampment ribbon was eliminated for a few years. I lost two particular favorites - Region/Wing Flying Encamoment and Cadet Flying Encampment License.  The head-on wing silhouettes were distinctive and the combination of various stars told a story.

Over the years, though, even USAF has crept up in this regard, awarding ribbons for what used to be some basic components of career progression.

And...CAP is creeping back. We have at least 3 more achievement/phase ribbons. And we award the Crissfield to people who already have the AE Master badge. Throw in color guard comp (we used to have a drill comp ribbon pre-71), VFW, AFA, etc. and we end up with a bunch.

But to answer the question - my favorite was one that I never wore, was ineligible to earn and which is no longer awarded, but which I saw a few being worn - the Anti-Sub patrol ribbon.

Couldn't agree more, but you're forgetting that there was an all yellow or gold ECI ribbon before the one with the quill, and I'm pretty sure some were wearing it at the same time as the ECI-13 ribbon.

[BuckeyeDEJ]

I always liked the Commander's Commendation Award because it didn't echo the same colors or the same thin-stripe motif as many CAP ribbons. Heck, I can't even tell the Command Service and Community Service ribbons apart, and if I was colorblind, I might throw the Red Service Ribbon in that mix, too.

That said, my Commander's Commendation Award ribbon (with a silver and three bronzes) and my Red Service Ribbon with what will be a "30" come May. Probably, my Garber with a clasp would come in a close second, but only because I did the PME to get it.

[LTC Don]

In terms of 'meaning', or 'value', the SAR ribbon has always been my favorite.  For ground pounders, it takes a total of forty hours to earn one ribbon.  When those hours are accounted for properly, it means a lot of hard work went into earning it.  Same thing for the aircrews. It's a simple ribbon, but the work that goes into it is no easy task.

The Encampment ribbon, and the Red Service ribbon also have a 'time value' aspect to them that to me, make them some of my other favorites.

In terms of 'looks', I really don't have a favorite.  I think for the most part, we have some very attractive ribbons.