weegegirl 2 #26 December 9, 2003 Wow! I'm with you, man! I'm going to go shoot them an email right now. I think your email to them was very intelligent and constructive. I like the fact that it was not attacking. Your feelings make total sense, and I'm sure that just about every skydiver would understand and agree with where you are coming from. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nightingale 0 #27 December 9, 2003 doesn't matter. Wings are something earned. Not just by doing a few static line jumps, but also through military service in general. Someone who has not earned the honor to wear them should not wear them in something other than a reinactment situation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nightjumps 1 #28 December 9, 2003 They've communicated with me and I'm about to post... its cool... thanks. I'm going to start a new thread with their response and a poll. We may have found a mutual goal. Thanks all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #29 December 10, 2003 QuoteHowever, they went to a military sanctioned school. And your thoughts on those who purchase PhDs and represent themselves as Dr. is? A fool and his money are soon parted.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #30 December 10, 2003 Quotedoesn't matter. Wings are something earned. Not just by doing a few static line jumps, but also through military service in general. Someone who has not earned the honor to wear them should not wear them in something other than a reinactment situation. Well, as I understand it they are not selling the wings, they are selling rings with a copy of the wings on them. I have a tee shirt with a Rolling Stones logo on it but I'm not Mick Jagger. I have another that says "US ARMY Parachute Team - The Golden Knights" that I got from one of the GKs as a team fundraiser. I even wear it but no-one thinks I'm a GK. Same difference.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DALAILAMA 0 #31 December 10, 2003 Quote On the whole, I think you are getting all upset about something minor. It's not like they are selling duplicates of the Medal of Honor, is it That is kind of the idea behind the original post. All that have gone to school to get them and graduated, have earned them, some live by them, and some have died by them. In their eyes, it is a thing of honor. As far as the Congressional Medal of Honor goes, the Army has disrespected it enough by making it the background of the flash on the black beret that the Rangers earned and wore so many years with pride. This was done in an attempt to try and instill pride and more "esprit de corps" in the rest of the Army. So as you can see for some we view it as not being petty but attempting to save the proud tradition that was earned with the Badge, Tab, or headgear. RLTW"Dropzone.com, where uneducated people measuring penises, has become an art form" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites nightjumps 1 #32 December 10, 2003 Its not about "honors." You have an honor on your wall from the navy, a shirt from the GKs, Buddy Blue was recently honored as a GK, academia awards honorary doctorates, girl wears her dads Airborne wings to honor him. GK's gave me a hat pin. All explainable and understandable. The GK's also gave me a bumper sticker, but I don't have it on my truck. The reason being is; I don't want to be driving down the road and imply there's a GK in the truck. I can't explain to that person why the sticker was given to me, so I don't display it. The Airborne Wings were misrepresented as "Skydiver Wings." They are not. Folks who may be new to skydiving and not having knowledge of Airborne Wings might purchase them thinking they were skdyiver wings. They wear them. SOmeone who went to Airborne School approaches them and asks questions... within 8 seconds that skydiver is going to be doing a lot of backstepping. Why not use the Army HALO wings? That would be a bit closer to skydiver type wings. You know its got a great square canopy and wings on it. Most skydivers have done considerably more jumps than those who've gone thru HALO and in some cases even from higher alititudes. Because in either case, you have to receive them by actually going to the school. Anyway, I'm done with this. Wouldn't Lawrocket have to always be right? Socrates: What Plato is about to say is false. Plato: Socrates has just spoken truly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites tictoc 0 #33 December 10, 2003 my thoughts. I have not seen the add yet. But I totaly agrea. Some one who has not earend the wings should not were them. The manufacturer has every right to sell them to some one who wants to spend the money. They should not however list them as "skydiving wings" as they are not, but by what they realy are "airborn wings". If some one still byes them (and have not erend them) then they will have to deal with the outcome of their choice. Edit Sorry just read other post-------------------------------------------------------- Some one must go to the edge for others to be able to find it. But if you go be sure you can make it back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 1,853 #34 December 10, 2003 QuoteIts not about "honors." You have an honor on your wall from the navy, a shirt from the GKs, Buddy Blue was recently honored as a GK, academia awards honorary doctorates, girl wears her dads Airborne wings to honor him. GK's gave me a hat pin. All explainable and understandable. The GK's also gave me a bumper sticker, but I don't have it on my truck. The reason being is; I don't want to be driving down the road and imply there's a GK in the truck. I can't explain to that person why the sticker was given to me, so I don't display it. The Airborne Wings were misrepresented as "Skydiver Wings." They are not. That part I agree with - truth in advertizing and all that. However, it's all moot. Any true skydiver would buy jumps or gear, not rings.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites mrhoop 0 #35 December 10, 2003 It might not seem like a big deal to everyone, but to a person that did go Ft. Benning and complete "jump school" it probably is a big deal. The completion of the "short course and five static line jumps" is a lifelong remembered accomplishment for that person. Just for the info I spent 3 years in the 82 arborne, and Im proud of my wings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kmcguffee 0 #36 December 10, 2003 QuoteAll they had to do was a short course and then 5 static line jumps. It's three weeks long with lots of 9 errrrr 10 minute per mile runs and 9 or 10 pushups at a time for screwing up dammit! Don't short us! "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites taln1rigr 0 #37 December 10, 2003 Someone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) NightJumps touched on something I'd like to expand on ... this isn't so much about the guy wearing the ring as it is about the REPRESENTATION of the ring. In your defense, kallend, I thought long & hard as to why I felt it was OK for squadrons to sell their stuff, at "fundraisers", with their emblems all over it to personnel who aren't in the squadron. Or why it's OK to hand my Sister a Spectre Gunship T-shirt when she's never served a day of military service. And to go a step further I know that there are other companies who have no military affiliation what-so-ever who replicate many of our decorations ... this guy's not the first one to think of making money off the military. But at least when the item is bought from the fundraiser stand, or given to a civilian as an award or to a family member of someone who serves, it's all been appropriately REPRESENTED. You weren't given your award under the false pretext that it was something it wasn't ... were you? You ever heard the saying, "it's all in the presentation?" Well, I feel it applies to this guy. He's passing something off as being one thing when it's clearly not ... it's expensive ($300), underhanded, deceitful & should be against the law. Wait a minute, isn't "representation" & misrepresentation" the only reasons lawyers stay in business? Anyway, I feel it goes without saying that many in the military who've earned the right to wear something feels some amount of resentment towards those who don't even know what it takes to step foot in our world ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 1,853 #38 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuoteAll they had to do was a short course and then 5 static line jumps. It's three weeks long with lots of 9 errrrr 10 minute per mile runs and 9 or 10 pushups at a time for screwing up dammit! Don't short us! I'm 58 and can run a mile in 8, and do 30 pushups. Plus I jump out of airplanes a lot. I admire the military (my son is airborne qualified US Army) and I work a lot with Chicago area units, but I don't see these wings as so special that it's worth all this fuss over a representation. Combat decorations are another thing entirely. If someone was selling Purple Hearts, Silver Stars or CMHs for $300, I'd be as pissed as you.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 1,853 #39 December 10, 2003 QuoteSomeone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. That's like saying a girl who charges $50 is a hooker, but one who charges $10,000 is an escort. No difference in my book.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites taln1rigr 0 #40 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuoteSomeone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. That's like saying a girl who charges $50 is a hooker, but one who charges $10,000 is an escort. No difference in my book. Dude ... you're still missing the forest for the trees. When you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female you would expect to, at a minimum, be in the presence of a female ... right? But when you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female & you get something like this (see pic NSFW)... well, it's just wrong! And just like this dude, people who don't know any better will purchase this ring under a false pretext & will be getting it up the ass. Are you understanding the whole MISREPRESENTATION thing yet & how flat wrong it is to sell yourself, or something else, off as something that it isn't? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites mrhoop 0 #41 December 10, 2003 It is not representation. The airborne wings are not given to troops. You have to earn them. They signify that the wearer completed airborne school. I would call that accomplishment, not representation. If you look at a military DD214 form it lists Airborne wings as an award/ decoration. That puts in the same catagory as purple heart, silver/ bronze star, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites AndyMan 7 #42 December 10, 2003 I saw some wings just like that on a coat for sale at Banana Republic, I think. It seems tacky to wear them if you don't deserve them, but I guess its pretty common. _Am__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kmcguffee 0 #43 December 10, 2003 Quotebut I don't see these wings as so special that it's worth all this fuss over a representation. I was attempting to be funny in my post. Airborne school is not hard. It's the mission that these guys have after they jump that is the source of the pride. They don't jump into nice cultivated dropzones for a night of partying and relaxation you know. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites tictoc 0 #44 December 10, 2003 Kallend, Let me see if I can help you understand are point. I'm sure that their is atleast one thing in your life that you are realy proud that you did. Now other peaple are just as capeble of doing it as you are. But lets say that some one does not want to take the time and make the cometment to do it. So they use your (whatever) and say that it is theirs. Would you not get upset? I don't feal it is about being able to do it but it is about the fact that you made the comitment and now some one else is also saying that they have when they didn't. If some one wears the wings that they bought they are saying that they earned them. Some people who have actuly earned them (and take great pride in them) take offence to some one who has not.-------------------------------------------------------- Some one must go to the edge for others to be able to find it. But if you go be sure you can make it back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites vdschoor 0 #45 December 10, 2003 QuoteIt is not representation. The airborne wings are not given to troops. You have to earn them. They signify that the wearer completed airborne school. I would call that accomplishment, not representation. If you look at a military DD214 form it lists Airborne wings as an award/ decoration. That puts in the same catagory as purple heart, silver/ bronze star, etc. True, and the only way you can get them is by showing that you have earned them when you go to the PX (or whatever it is called on a military base) to buy extra ones for your uniform. My cousin is in the Army and has been to Airborne school and took great pride in this, it might not be as hard as bootcamp, but it is a major achievement. One of his sergeants gave me his wings because I was a skydiver as well and related to one of his troops. The ones he gave me were actually special combat airborne wings (meaning he was in a combat situation while beeing in an airborne unit) I am proud I have them, but I will never in my life wear them, as I have not deserved them the way they are supposed to be deserved. Iwan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites mrhoop 0 #46 December 10, 2003 well they are called parachute wings, and we all use a parachute. Even if I wasnt airborne, I still would think the wings were cool. Blue skies, to all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 1,853 #47 December 10, 2003 QuoteIt is not representation. The airborne wings are not given to troops. You have to earn them. They signify that the wearer completed airborne school. I would call that accomplishment, not representation. If you look at a military DD214 form it lists Airborne wings as an award/ decoration. That puts in the same catagory as purple heart, silver/ bronze star, etc. They are selling RINGS, not WINGS. The ring has a REPRESENTATION of the airborne wings on it. However, the RING is NOT the WINGS. You don't get a RING for passing airborne school. The RING signifies nothing other than that a fool and his money are easily parted.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 1,853 #48 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuotebut I don't see these wings as so special that it's worth all this fuss over a representation. I was attempting to be funny in my post. Airborne school is not hard. It's the mission that these guys have after they jump that is the source of the pride. They don't jump into nice cultivated dropzones for a night of partying and relaxation you know. I know a Captain USN and a Colonel (full) USAF both of whom have airborne wings and wear them, both of whom did only the 5 training jumps. There are many others, including ROTC cadets. The wings don't signify anything other than that you did the training and completed the course. They are not combat medals.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 1,853 #49 December 10, 2003 Quote. Let me see if I can help you understand my point. A RING IS NOT AIRBORNE WINGS. It is just a ring with an engraving on it. Jump school does not give rings to its graduates. The ring has no more military significance than my Golden Knights tee shirt.. ... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites kallend 1,853 #50 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuoteQuoteSomeone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. That's like saying a girl who charges $50 is a hooker, but one who charges $10,000 is an escort. No difference in my book. Dude ... you're still missing the forest for the trees. When you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female you would expect to, at a minimum, be in the presence of a female ... right? But when you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female & you get something like this (see pic NSFW)... well, it's just wrong! And just like this dude, people who don't know any better will purchase this ring under a false pretext & will be getting it up the ass. Are you understanding the whole MISREPRESENTATION thing yet & how flat wrong it is to sell yourself, or something else, off as something that it isn't? I can see the ring ahead of time. If I wanted it, I'd know exactly what I was getting. It would be a misrepresentation if they said it was gold and it was actually brass. Let me repeat - a RING is not WINGS. It is a ring with a picture on it, just like my GK tee shirt is a shirt with a logo on it.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. 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nightjumps 1 #32 December 10, 2003 Its not about "honors." You have an honor on your wall from the navy, a shirt from the GKs, Buddy Blue was recently honored as a GK, academia awards honorary doctorates, girl wears her dads Airborne wings to honor him. GK's gave me a hat pin. All explainable and understandable. The GK's also gave me a bumper sticker, but I don't have it on my truck. The reason being is; I don't want to be driving down the road and imply there's a GK in the truck. I can't explain to that person why the sticker was given to me, so I don't display it. The Airborne Wings were misrepresented as "Skydiver Wings." They are not. Folks who may be new to skydiving and not having knowledge of Airborne Wings might purchase them thinking they were skdyiver wings. They wear them. SOmeone who went to Airborne School approaches them and asks questions... within 8 seconds that skydiver is going to be doing a lot of backstepping. Why not use the Army HALO wings? That would be a bit closer to skydiver type wings. You know its got a great square canopy and wings on it. Most skydivers have done considerably more jumps than those who've gone thru HALO and in some cases even from higher alititudes. Because in either case, you have to receive them by actually going to the school. Anyway, I'm done with this. Wouldn't Lawrocket have to always be right? Socrates: What Plato is about to say is false. Plato: Socrates has just spoken truly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tictoc 0 #33 December 10, 2003 my thoughts. I have not seen the add yet. But I totaly agrea. Some one who has not earend the wings should not were them. The manufacturer has every right to sell them to some one who wants to spend the money. They should not however list them as "skydiving wings" as they are not, but by what they realy are "airborn wings". If some one still byes them (and have not erend them) then they will have to deal with the outcome of their choice. Edit Sorry just read other post-------------------------------------------------------- Some one must go to the edge for others to be able to find it. But if you go be sure you can make it back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #34 December 10, 2003 QuoteIts not about "honors." You have an honor on your wall from the navy, a shirt from the GKs, Buddy Blue was recently honored as a GK, academia awards honorary doctorates, girl wears her dads Airborne wings to honor him. GK's gave me a hat pin. All explainable and understandable. The GK's also gave me a bumper sticker, but I don't have it on my truck. The reason being is; I don't want to be driving down the road and imply there's a GK in the truck. I can't explain to that person why the sticker was given to me, so I don't display it. The Airborne Wings were misrepresented as "Skydiver Wings." They are not. That part I agree with - truth in advertizing and all that. However, it's all moot. Any true skydiver would buy jumps or gear, not rings.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrhoop 0 #35 December 10, 2003 It might not seem like a big deal to everyone, but to a person that did go Ft. Benning and complete "jump school" it probably is a big deal. The completion of the "short course and five static line jumps" is a lifelong remembered accomplishment for that person. Just for the info I spent 3 years in the 82 arborne, and Im proud of my wings. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kmcguffee 0 #36 December 10, 2003 QuoteAll they had to do was a short course and then 5 static line jumps. It's three weeks long with lots of 9 errrrr 10 minute per mile runs and 9 or 10 pushups at a time for screwing up dammit! Don't short us! "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
taln1rigr 0 #37 December 10, 2003 Someone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) NightJumps touched on something I'd like to expand on ... this isn't so much about the guy wearing the ring as it is about the REPRESENTATION of the ring. In your defense, kallend, I thought long & hard as to why I felt it was OK for squadrons to sell their stuff, at "fundraisers", with their emblems all over it to personnel who aren't in the squadron. Or why it's OK to hand my Sister a Spectre Gunship T-shirt when she's never served a day of military service. And to go a step further I know that there are other companies who have no military affiliation what-so-ever who replicate many of our decorations ... this guy's not the first one to think of making money off the military. But at least when the item is bought from the fundraiser stand, or given to a civilian as an award or to a family member of someone who serves, it's all been appropriately REPRESENTED. You weren't given your award under the false pretext that it was something it wasn't ... were you? You ever heard the saying, "it's all in the presentation?" Well, I feel it applies to this guy. He's passing something off as being one thing when it's clearly not ... it's expensive ($300), underhanded, deceitful & should be against the law. Wait a minute, isn't "representation" & misrepresentation" the only reasons lawyers stay in business? Anyway, I feel it goes without saying that many in the military who've earned the right to wear something feels some amount of resentment towards those who don't even know what it takes to step foot in our world ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #38 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuoteAll they had to do was a short course and then 5 static line jumps. It's three weeks long with lots of 9 errrrr 10 minute per mile runs and 9 or 10 pushups at a time for screwing up dammit! Don't short us! I'm 58 and can run a mile in 8, and do 30 pushups. Plus I jump out of airplanes a lot. I admire the military (my son is airborne qualified US Army) and I work a lot with Chicago area units, but I don't see these wings as so special that it's worth all this fuss over a representation. Combat decorations are another thing entirely. If someone was selling Purple Hearts, Silver Stars or CMHs for $300, I'd be as pissed as you.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #39 December 10, 2003 QuoteSomeone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. That's like saying a girl who charges $50 is a hooker, but one who charges $10,000 is an escort. No difference in my book.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
taln1rigr 0 #40 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuoteSomeone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. That's like saying a girl who charges $50 is a hooker, but one who charges $10,000 is an escort. No difference in my book. Dude ... you're still missing the forest for the trees. When you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female you would expect to, at a minimum, be in the presence of a female ... right? But when you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female & you get something like this (see pic NSFW)... well, it's just wrong! And just like this dude, people who don't know any better will purchase this ring under a false pretext & will be getting it up the ass. Are you understanding the whole MISREPRESENTATION thing yet & how flat wrong it is to sell yourself, or something else, off as something that it isn't? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrhoop 0 #41 December 10, 2003 It is not representation. The airborne wings are not given to troops. You have to earn them. They signify that the wearer completed airborne school. I would call that accomplishment, not representation. If you look at a military DD214 form it lists Airborne wings as an award/ decoration. That puts in the same catagory as purple heart, silver/ bronze star, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyMan 7 #42 December 10, 2003 I saw some wings just like that on a coat for sale at Banana Republic, I think. It seems tacky to wear them if you don't deserve them, but I guess its pretty common. _Am__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kmcguffee 0 #43 December 10, 2003 Quotebut I don't see these wings as so special that it's worth all this fuss over a representation. I was attempting to be funny in my post. Airborne school is not hard. It's the mission that these guys have after they jump that is the source of the pride. They don't jump into nice cultivated dropzones for a night of partying and relaxation you know. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tictoc 0 #44 December 10, 2003 Kallend, Let me see if I can help you understand are point. I'm sure that their is atleast one thing in your life that you are realy proud that you did. Now other peaple are just as capeble of doing it as you are. But lets say that some one does not want to take the time and make the cometment to do it. So they use your (whatever) and say that it is theirs. Would you not get upset? I don't feal it is about being able to do it but it is about the fact that you made the comitment and now some one else is also saying that they have when they didn't. If some one wears the wings that they bought they are saying that they earned them. Some people who have actuly earned them (and take great pride in them) take offence to some one who has not.-------------------------------------------------------- Some one must go to the edge for others to be able to find it. But if you go be sure you can make it back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vdschoor 0 #45 December 10, 2003 QuoteIt is not representation. The airborne wings are not given to troops. You have to earn them. They signify that the wearer completed airborne school. I would call that accomplishment, not representation. If you look at a military DD214 form it lists Airborne wings as an award/ decoration. That puts in the same catagory as purple heart, silver/ bronze star, etc. True, and the only way you can get them is by showing that you have earned them when you go to the PX (or whatever it is called on a military base) to buy extra ones for your uniform. My cousin is in the Army and has been to Airborne school and took great pride in this, it might not be as hard as bootcamp, but it is a major achievement. One of his sergeants gave me his wings because I was a skydiver as well and related to one of his troops. The ones he gave me were actually special combat airborne wings (meaning he was in a combat situation while beeing in an airborne unit) I am proud I have them, but I will never in my life wear them, as I have not deserved them the way they are supposed to be deserved. Iwan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrhoop 0 #46 December 10, 2003 well they are called parachute wings, and we all use a parachute. Even if I wasnt airborne, I still would think the wings were cool. Blue skies, to all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #47 December 10, 2003 QuoteIt is not representation. The airborne wings are not given to troops. You have to earn them. They signify that the wearer completed airborne school. I would call that accomplishment, not representation. If you look at a military DD214 form it lists Airborne wings as an award/ decoration. That puts in the same catagory as purple heart, silver/ bronze star, etc. They are selling RINGS, not WINGS. The ring has a REPRESENTATION of the airborne wings on it. However, the RING is NOT the WINGS. You don't get a RING for passing airborne school. The RING signifies nothing other than that a fool and his money are easily parted.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #48 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuotebut I don't see these wings as so special that it's worth all this fuss over a representation. I was attempting to be funny in my post. Airborne school is not hard. It's the mission that these guys have after they jump that is the source of the pride. They don't jump into nice cultivated dropzones for a night of partying and relaxation you know. I know a Captain USN and a Colonel (full) USAF both of whom have airborne wings and wear them, both of whom did only the 5 training jumps. There are many others, including ROTC cadets. The wings don't signify anything other than that you did the training and completed the course. They are not combat medals.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #49 December 10, 2003 Quote. Let me see if I can help you understand my point. A RING IS NOT AIRBORNE WINGS. It is just a ring with an engraving on it. Jump school does not give rings to its graduates. The ring has no more military significance than my Golden Knights tee shirt.. ... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,853 #50 December 10, 2003 QuoteQuoteQuoteSomeone hands you a T-shirt or a bumper-sticker which symbolizes what they do or who they work for doesn't make you a GK or a Rigger, etc. ... that much we've agreed on. And although there's a large price difference we're talking about between a T-shirt ($10) & a cool gold ring ($300) ... T-shirts are a dime a dozen but a gold ring should mean something ... it should mean the RIGHT thing. That's like saying a girl who charges $50 is a hooker, but one who charges $10,000 is an escort. No difference in my book. Dude ... you're still missing the forest for the trees. When you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female you would expect to, at a minimum, be in the presence of a female ... right? But when you pay $50 or $10,000 for the company of a female & you get something like this (see pic NSFW)... well, it's just wrong! And just like this dude, people who don't know any better will purchase this ring under a false pretext & will be getting it up the ass. Are you understanding the whole MISREPRESENTATION thing yet & how flat wrong it is to sell yourself, or something else, off as something that it isn't? I can see the ring ahead of time. If I wanted it, I'd know exactly what I was getting. It would be a misrepresentation if they said it was gold and it was actually brass. Let me repeat - a RING is not WINGS. It is a ring with a picture on it, just like my GK tee shirt is a shirt with a logo on it.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites