Originally Posted by Yeo_Man

Yeo_Man:
Saint

Agreed, then why do they insist on wearing military uniform and adopting such a ridiculous rank system?

However I will point out that they are not alone in this, there are certain lodges which persist in playing soldiers.
Personally as long as they stay out of the public eye I have no issues.

YM

Please expand on that remark

Alec

I don't want to get drawn into a craft debate, I was observing that I know of least one lodge where the old and bold still dress up as soldiers for supper (granted they have given service albeit, long ago), therefore the LOF aren't alone.

For my part I shall be only too happy when I hang up my boots, to wear black tie to dinner.

YM

Yeo Man,
thanks for your response. I wasn't endeavouring to be confrontational. I see where you are coming from. :D

Alec

Perhaps I should have been a little less cryptic.

YM

Originally Posted by londonirish

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

huh...was that aimed at me?

Originally Posted by bensonby

Originally Posted by londonirish

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

huh...was that aimed at me?

no, just expressing my anger at these horrid walts in their dirty tunics and fake gongs mate

This is the clearest example of this picture. The first 2 medals this"Putz" is wearing is the Queens Gold Jubilee medal and the Canadian Decoration. The last 2, well I have no idea.. some sort of LOF stuff I suppose. I dont know what country the wings are from, and he is wearing an old Canadian , Mobile Command badge below the medals. According to my Grilfriend ( who is Canadian and their Army ) this is no longer worn and when used it was on the right side poket, not the left. This is the guy who introduced himself as the "worldwide" RSM for the LOF.

As far as the old guy.. Probably found some guy from the old folks home and dressed him up and he doesnt know any better. As far as his medals? You guys over in England would know better.

Originally Posted by CaptTex

This is the clearest example of this picture. The first 2 medals this"Putz" is wearing is the Queens Gold Jubilee medal and the Canadian Decoration. The last 2, well I have no idea.. some sort of LOF stuff I suppose. I dont know what country the wings are from, and he is wearing an old Canadian , Mobile Command badge below the medals. According to my Grilfriend ( who is Canadian and their Army ) this is no longer worn and when used it was on the right side poket, not the left. This is the guy who introduced himself as the "worldwide" RSM for the LOF.

He appears to have "earned" another gong sionce his last photo. He only has 3 in this one. The badge above the right pocket may be the "old" Canadian Army Warrior badge. Ask your D9er for an explanation of that waste of taxpayers bling.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...Clunge/wtf.jpg

She wasnt familiar with that badge.. But then again, she is administration and he was a Supply tech, mp, cook, whatever. She thinks that it may have been an Infantry Badge of some sort ,but he works in some sort of Army Surplus store weve been told . He can have whatever badge he wants I guess. As far as the medal goes.. Well who knows!!?? Loyal order of the Buffalo I guess??

However there's also a US non-military civil defense type organisation;

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Corps

Another difference from State Guards is that it's organised at Federal level

There are actually a number of voluntary groups organized under the US federal government for disaster assistance. Many wear some variant of military uniforms. Because of my job I have dealt with a number of these groups. There is actually an advantage to the the uniforms as at a chaotic event it helps to know who is who. Most of these groups train voluntarily but become temporary federal employees if deployed. These groups include:

USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) - The people who burrow through the rubble after earthquakes, terrorist events and tornadoes searching for survivors and recovering remains. The have people who are engineers, architects, firefighters and police, EMT's, search dog handlers, etc. They usually wear black military type BDU's. You have probably seen pictures of them in the rubble at the Murrah Building, World Trade Center or Pentagon. Teams are usually 60 people with 60 tons of specialized equipment.

DMAT teams (Disaster Medical Assistance Teams) - comprised of doctors, nurses, pharmicists, xray and medical technicians. They assist at many disasters and also at very large events. Like USAR, volunteer until federal deployment either within or outside the US. Sometimes they wear green BDU's with USPHS-DMAT where the US Army tape would be. Other times they wear polo shirts and jackets that are clearly marked. I know when the team from my area deployed to Bam, Iran after the earthquake the women in the team wore head coverings to comply with local custom.

DMORT teams - comprised of pathologists, forensic dentists, forensic anthropoligists, DNA techs, xray techs, fingerprint techs, funeral directors etc. The identify human remains and attempt to reunite dismembered remains for return to their families and also preserve evidence as some incidents are crimes. They sometimes wear khaki BDU's but of course often wear protective gear when working.

USAR is part of FEMA. The DMAT and DMORT teams were under Public Health Service but I believe they are transferring to Homeland Security (bit of a state of flux).


As someone who works in public safety in the US I feel the uniforms are helpful so both officials and the public know who is who. I know "gongs" are a sensitive issue to many. I understand that some members of the DMORT teams got USPHS medals for work at the World Trade Center and Hurricane Katrina. Given the work these people did I feel they deserved them, just as some commisioned officers from USPHS who have gone into hot zones on Ebola outbreaks have received medals. Anyone willing to work hot with something like Ebola is braver than me.

Sounds fair enough...unforunately our brave legionairres always seem to be too busy when there is a disaster, seemingly unable to drag themselves away from whatever bar they are propping up.

Come parade days though, and they are there in their finery, conning the public that they actually represent ssomething that is useful to society.

Which is why we despise them.

The rest of us just bung our hats and gongs on, if we have 'em, and march along behind those serving today.

Then we forget about it till next year.