The Air Force gave no reason earlier this month when it announced elimination of the Air Force Good Conduct Medal. Late last week, officials decided to rectify that oversight by saying, basically, times and airmen have changed. “The quality of our enlisted personnel today is so high, we expect good conduct from our airmen,” said Brig. Gen. Robert Allardice, director of airmen development and sustainment. The GCM was born in the 1960s, the era of the draft and the Vietnam War. Having the GCM was tantamount to saying “we don’t expect airmen to do well,” asserted Allardice and added, “It’s kind of insulting in our Air Force today.”
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
