 | Fleet Air Arm |
| Fleet Air Arm |
26 September 2004
The following is a reproduction of an article that appeared in the September edition of the Victorian RSL magazine Mufti:
"It has come to the attention of the Directorate of Honours and Awards that some former Royal Australian Navy members, Veterans of the Korean War, have taken and acted on false advice that they are entitled to the United States Navy Unit Commendation.
It is apparent that the Veterans believe that an award of the USNUC to the 7th Fleet and subordinate units included ships and members of the RAN who served with the 7th Fleet during the Korean War.
'Subordinate units', however, referred to subordinate US Navy and Marine Corps units, not the units of foreign, ie non-US, nations.
There is a specific protocol in place for the offering of national awards to foreign personnel or units, which is followed by the United States and Australia.
This requires a formal offer to be made by the awarding government to the intended recipient government. The intended recipient government is then free to accept or reject the offer as it sees fit.
There is no record that an offer of the USNUC has ever been made by the government of the United States to the government of Australia.
Further to this, during the Korean War, HMA ships Anzac, Bataan, Condamine, Culgoa, Murchison, Shoalhaven, Sydney, Tobruk and Warramunga served in Korean waters under operational control of the United States 7th Fleet.
The current US Navy instruction dealing with entitlement to unit awards is 'OPNAV Notice 1650 Unit Awards and Citations Master List'.
This instruction lists every unit and ship entitled to the US Navy Unit Commendation. None of the RAN Fleet units listed above is named in OPNAV 1650.
Any Veteran who accepts incorrect advice and wears the USNUC without entitlement (which does nor exist) is liable to quite steep penalties under sections 80A and 80B of the Defence Act 1903."
I hope the above clears up any misunderstanding that may have existed re the USNUC - Toz Dadswell, National President, FAAAA.
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