What is your favorite CAP ribbon?

[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.