Mr KillKill
Active member
On Monday I finally received my Australian Defence Medal, yay.
Although am over the moon at finally getting not only a bit of recognition for eight and half years service but also something to wear of my own on ANZAC day, there were a couple of things that took the shine off it.
Firstly, when I arrived at the Diggers club nobody knew anything about the ceremony even though there were two other recipients already there. Apparently the Dept of Honors & Awards decided to cancel the ceremony almost two weeks before but decided to only tell the Diggers club and not the recipients. They also didn’t bother to inform the local MP presenting the awards, who turned up with a box of medals ready to go. Luckily, due mainly to a couple of phone calls by the MP and her assistant as well as the generosity of the Diggers club, the ceremony was able to proceed. Afterwards the club even provided a free lunch for the recipients and their families to make up for the stuff up (even though they weren’t at fault).
Secondly, when I got home and on closer inspection of the medal, I noticed that the inscription on the side of the medal that should bear my name and service number had a number that I was not familiar with. When I rang the Dept of Honors & Awards I was told that the number on the side was a PMKey number which is now being used in place of the old service number. This new system took effect in 2002 and I was not given a satisfactory answer as to why my number had changed even though I left the reserves in 1998, almost four years before the new system came into place.
I have been told by my family not to worry about it as the inscription can only be seen if you are looking for it but this is not the point. For eight and a half years I had that number and it is as significant to me as is my service, it would therefore have been nice to see the number next to my name. I have been advised by the Dept of Honors & Awards that if I send it back, I can have a new one made up with my old service number printed on the side. Unfortunately, considering the slap hazard, she’l-be-right attitude given towards issuing the medal, I feel that if I sent it away to get fixed, I may never see it again.
My advice to anyone who is still in the process of applying for the medal, be sure you know what you are getting and what will be printed on the side because it seems the Dept of Honors & Awards doesn’t seem to think it a very important medal.
Although am over the moon at finally getting not only a bit of recognition for eight and half years service but also something to wear of my own on ANZAC day, there were a couple of things that took the shine off it.
Firstly, when I arrived at the Diggers club nobody knew anything about the ceremony even though there were two other recipients already there. Apparently the Dept of Honors & Awards decided to cancel the ceremony almost two weeks before but decided to only tell the Diggers club and not the recipients. They also didn’t bother to inform the local MP presenting the awards, who turned up with a box of medals ready to go. Luckily, due mainly to a couple of phone calls by the MP and her assistant as well as the generosity of the Diggers club, the ceremony was able to proceed. Afterwards the club even provided a free lunch for the recipients and their families to make up for the stuff up (even though they weren’t at fault).
Secondly, when I got home and on closer inspection of the medal, I noticed that the inscription on the side of the medal that should bear my name and service number had a number that I was not familiar with. When I rang the Dept of Honors & Awards I was told that the number on the side was a PMKey number which is now being used in place of the old service number. This new system took effect in 2002 and I was not given a satisfactory answer as to why my number had changed even though I left the reserves in 1998, almost four years before the new system came into place.
I have been told by my family not to worry about it as the inscription can only be seen if you are looking for it but this is not the point. For eight and a half years I had that number and it is as significant to me as is my service, it would therefore have been nice to see the number next to my name. I have been advised by the Dept of Honors & Awards that if I send it back, I can have a new one made up with my old service number printed on the side. Unfortunately, considering the slap hazard, she’l-be-right attitude given towards issuing the medal, I feel that if I sent it away to get fixed, I may never see it again.
My advice to anyone who is still in the process of applying for the medal, be sure you know what you are getting and what will be printed on the side because it seems the Dept of Honors & Awards doesn’t seem to think it a very important medal.