The Answer—No More Bad Airmen:

Feb. 21, 2006

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.”

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