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State Fire Marshal Butch Browning retired Tuesday, but there a lot is more to Browning’s sudden departure than what was officially announced.
Among the complaints confirmed by Channel 4, Browning has been seen on multiple occasions wearing military ribbons, even though he never served in the military.
Channel 4 learned about the state investigation last month. By that time the inspector general and office of state police had been looking
“We’ve been informed that Mr. Browning never served in the military, yet he was wearing military ribbons awarded to every branch of the military service that span World War II, the Korean war and the Kosovo campaign,” Goyeneche (Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission) said. “That’s problematic.”
In a telephone interview with WAFB in Baton Rouge, Browning acknowledged the ribbons, saying he received them from the Gonzales Fire Department, where he once served as chief. But he said he was unaware of a state investigation.
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What an embarrassment to the fire service. Good riddance!
Is it possible there is a rush to judgement here? I’m not familiar with Louisiana’s Fire Service, but I’ve never heard of a department allowing a member to wear military awards on a fire department uniform. If the awards spanned all branches of the armed services, and decades of potential service, is it possible that the Gonzales Fire Department issued these ribbons as claimed? Most departments have an annual awards program. (Unit Citations, Valor Awards, Life Saving Awards, etc.) If you google Fire Department Award Ribbons, you’ll find there is no standard ribbon for these things. What if the procurement officer for the Gonzales Fire Department picked up a supply catalog years ago and ordered military ribbons to use for the department’s awards. Does this still make Mr. Browning an embarrassment to the uniform?
You wear it, you should know what it is. Plain and simple. If thats how this came to be that procurement officer should go down with him. Its disrespectful to any and all veterans that earned those ribbions for the sacrifices that they made. As you said there a many fire service ribbions out there, that are not from the armed forces.
I’m sure that the state investigation that was mentioned several times in the article found this not to be the case, it was not a spur of the moment decision.
I’m with Jeremy! One of the sergeants on the local police department is also a sergeant in the national guard. When the cops started an awards program, this guy went to the PX and scored a host of ribbons to give out because they’re cheaper than the enamel bars that companies like Blackinton sell.
As long as this guy in Louisiana wasn’t wearing a ribbon for the Medal of Honor or Purple Heart or something else well known or prestigious, I don’t see the big deal — especially if they were legitimately awarded by his department.
Jeremy
check out ths link
the story gets worse as the day goes on!!
http://theadvocate.com/home/2604233-125/ig-state-fire-marshals-office
As a Military Veteran I have to agree with Jeremy. I think this is a case of someone jumping at a story before everything was known.
It is not unheard of for Fire or Police depts to adopt military style ribbons to be awarded within its departments. I personally know my department did this and I had a few. These ribbons were worn on our uniforms. The Fire Marshal was awarded these ribbons for his Fire service and has never claimed to be a military veteran or that he won these medals while in military service. The Stolen Valor Act doesnt apply here and he did nothing wrong by wearing them.
That news article confirmed those ribbons were from his former department. This sounds like a witch hunt to me.
1. Military ribbons and medals should NEVER be “adopted” for use by a civilian agency. Ever. There is a metric boatload of metallic and non metallic awards out there from a host of suppliers for exactly this type of purpose and there is simply no reason to create the confusion by using DOD awards.
2. Several civilian agencies authorize and encourage members who are veterans to wear their military ribbons with their department uniform, most notably LAPD and NYSP. This is also the case in several foreign countries including Canada. The VA encourages veterans to wear their military ribbons on Veterans Day and other appropriate occasions. Using the same ribbon for some other purpose does those veteran’s great disservice.
3. The awards system that Browning set up himself at Gonzales was a bit……….superfluous. Almost all of the awards he created were for fairly standard certifications and duties within the department. Having a ribbon to denote that you are an EMT or FF or an officer seems a bit redundant when you are already wearing a fire dept uniform with rank insignia. Recognitions are for, wait for it, recognizing service above and beyond the normal. My department adopted a silly enamel pin system very similar to what Browning devised. Thankfully, it only lasted a few years and yep, the only person who ever wore the enamel pins that signified all of his certifications was………the same guy who created the awards program.
4. To be fair, Browning did stop wearing those ribbons when he was told to and I bet the Gonzales FD scrapped that system he created. This was just a really bad idea all around.