Yule Tide

Overcompensating a bit? There’s honor and pride, and then there’s “Don’t disagree with me. I’ve been to war.”
The screaming AIrborne Eagle in the lower left, puts a point on it.

The first thing I noticed was that he has no CIB which made me look up the qualifications. General officers are not eligble for the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. Hmm. Didn’t know that.

So, every time that uniform goes to the cleaners, presumably, some lucky soul gets to remove all that “salad,” and then pin it all back on. I assume there is a correct order and sequence by which these must be displayed. Do they issue multiples of all these adornments so you can keep a clean and pressed uniform in reserve for emergencies? Is Petraeus the lifetime winner of the I have more merit badges than you competition? I can’t find a Google image that even comes close to this array.

How are the parachutist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Army_Airborne_basic_parachutist_badge.gif
And Airborne patch related:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Army_Airborne_basic_parachutist_badge.gif
Are they overkill? Not that I think that they are, I don’t know, but they seem in the same vein. Doesn’t the high recognition imply the lower? I guess what I mean, is if you have the Airborne patch, having the parachutist’s medal is over kill.

I believe you can be a parachutist and not be in the 101st Airborne. Petraeus has done both and is thus entitled to wear both badges.

Understand. Didn’t think of that way.
Not trying to take anything away from him, just parsing everything that’s there on him. But on that note, why is the placement the way it is? Isn’t the Airborne more important then the parachutist, why is the Airborne down low?

I did not realize until this photo that Petraeus is black
…sure looks that way in this photo.

Ah yes, a screaming eagle and a preening peacock.