Army human resources officials removed two foreign foot march awards from the service\u2019s authorized-for-wear list Wednesday morning, and many of the Army\u2019s most-popular foreign awards could be in jeopardy, some fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Service officials updated the Army\u2019s awards regulation to ban soldiers from wearing the Holland Four Day Event Cross or Luxembourg\u2019s International March of Diekirch Medal, according to a post from a restricted-access discussion forum. A source shared photos of the discussion thread with Army Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Human Resources Command officials did not respond to questions from Army Times before this story\u2019s publication deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Diekirch Medal, which commemorates a 14th century Luxembourgish king, is awarded to those who complete at least a 12.4-mile foot march, with different degrees of the award and devices available to those who push farther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traditionally, the march occurs in-person, through the rolling terrain of the Ardennes Forest in northern Luxembourg. But this year, the country\u2019s defense ministry opted to organize a remote event<\/a> that\u2019s been ongoing since April. Participants were asked to pay a $20 fee to cover the shipping and handling for the medal and certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That spawned a popular post<\/a> Sunday on a Reddit community for U.S. troops, explaining how they could organize their own March of Diekirch events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similar virtual events have been occurring for the Norwegian Foot March badge, with more than 11,000 troops attempting the grueling event between November 2020 and July 2021, an officer who helped organize events<\/a> with Norway\u2019s embassy wrote in a Reddit post. Now the Norwegians have opted to permanently permit remote marches (without a Norwegian military official present) that meet their standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a feature story written by a Norwegian tabloid<\/a> curious about rising American interest in a small badge, soldiers reported enjoying the challenge and the team-building aspects of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as interest began to surge in organizing March of Diekirch events, officials at Human Resources Command quickly intervened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt has come to our attention that the International March of Diekirch hosted by Luxembourg [is] being held virtually, which goes directly against Army Policy,\u201d argued HRC official Dennis Christensen in a post to MilSuite\u2019s popular S1Net channel. \u201cFurther research showed that this event as well as the Holland Four Day Event Cross are charging fees for their events…These awards CANNOT be worn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christensen explained that HRC interprets the Diekirch march\u2019s virtual format to violate a May 2021 directive<\/a> that revised the service awards regulation to say \u201conly those [foreign] badges that are awarded in recognition of military activities conducted by the military department of the host country are authorized for acceptance and permanent wear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The HRC civilian added, \u201cpaying a fee for an event is interpreted by our office to be the service member requesting or otherwise encouraging the offer of an award,\u201d which would violate a Defense Department instruction<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other members of the discussion forum responded harshly to the change, as did members of the Army Reddit community who vented their frustration in varying ways, ranging from profanity-laced rants<\/a> to memes<\/a>. Army Times is not publishing the names of S1Net commenters who criticized the policy in a limited-access forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n A sudden policy change catches criticism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n I’m super salty and no I won’t get over it<\/a> from\n army<\/a>\n <\/blockquote>\n