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DESwiger
10-20-06, 07:25 PM
:usmc: In the 70's we went to Korea to train some ROK Marines in amphib ops. I was under the impression that there was to be a sitation for those involved. Does any one remeber this operation better than I?

Sgt Leprechaun
10-21-06, 03:57 PM
You may have gotten an individual unit citation, but the Korean Gov't didn't give out much. It will also depend on when, exactly, you were in Korea. Lastly, all military folks who served in Korea for a certain period of time rate the Korean Defense Service medal now. LMK your dates of service there and unit and I'll try and see if they were awarded anything.

v/r

SgtHopperUSMC
10-21-06, 04:04 PM
In reference to Team Spirit I believe they stopped it for awhile in the 90's. I was there for Team Spirit 88. My company was to set up the tent city for the operation at Puhan Harbor. We also had a construction shop set up. I ended up with some hazardous waste in my eye. The doc's used a needle to get it out. Ouch!

C Company 3rd CEB

aang
10-23-06, 01:15 PM
If I remeber correctly Team Spirit was part of West Pac 88 and 90 but in 90 wasn't it Bear Hunt?

JohnnyRoe
12-01-11, 01:08 AM
You may have gotten an individual unit citation, but the Korean Gov't didn't give out much. It will also depend on when, exactly, you were in Korea. Lastly, all military folks who served in Korea for a certain period of time rate the Korean Defense Service medal now. LMK your dates of service there and unit and I'll try and see if they were awarded anything.

v/r

I was there in 1979 with the 25th Inf Div and have never received a medal !!
I would like to have my DD 214 up graded and have my Pay Voucher to prove that I was there at Operation Team Spirit with my unit.

Johnny

Sgt Leprechaun
12-01-11, 01:10 AM
The only thing you'll rate is the Korean Defense Service Medal. Pretty sure that's retroactive. DD-214 won't show units or excercises.

elliscraig12
12-01-11, 01:37 AM
If I remeber correctly Team Spirit was part of West Pac 88 and 90 but in 90 wasn't it Bear Hunt?I was there in 85 and 90 with MAG-36. Team Spirit and Bear Hunt were 2 different exercises.

elliscraig12
12-01-11, 01:47 AM
The Korea Defense Service Medal is a United States military award that was first created in 2002 when it was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The bill to create the proposal was...

JohnnyRoe
12-01-11, 09:36 AM
The only thing you'll rate is the Korean Defense Service Medal. Pretty sure that's retroactive. DD-214 won't show units or excercises.

OK but my questions is, how do I obtain my medal ? I have tried to go through all the channels using the pay voucher and I was told that there is no paper work with Operation Team Spirit as of 1979.
Payroll admitted that I was a 30 training soldier in the country but would not print and send it to me.
My pay voucher tells it like it is as all of doc's were destroyed in a fire that would support my claim.
Can you point me in the correct direction ?

joe mccormick 3
12-01-11, 11:02 AM
I was there in 1979 with the 25th Inf Div and have never received a medal !!
I would like to have my DD 214 up graded and have my Pay Voucher to prove that I was there at Operation Team Spirit with my unit.

Johnny
1979:yes:

JohnnyRoe
12-01-11, 11:14 AM
That Confidence Course was live fire and it was cold as a withes tit but we had some outstanding training with ROK Rangers, as a member with a Grunt unit " BOBCATS " I got to know many Marines and we had to fend off a tribe of Samoans a number of times in Wakiki bars, it was good to be young and crazy and will always support all branches of service in uniforn.

Sgt Leprechaun
12-01-11, 05:09 PM
Alas, unless you have copies of your orders sending you there, or some other documentation proving you were there, (wife went through this to get hers) it's going to be difficult if not impossible to do.

Pictures work as well, as do statements of others there with you. Unit diary reports, things like that. It's going to be a long(er) road than you might realize.

Are you trying to do this for VA benefits or just personal?

Kegler300
12-01-11, 05:15 PM
1979:yes:

1978 :yes:

JohnnyRoe
12-01-11, 06:23 PM
Alas, unless you have copies of your orders sending you there, or some other documentation proving you were there, (wife went through this to get hers) it's going to be difficult if not impossible to do.

Pictures work as well, as do statements of others there with you. Unit diary reports, things like that. It's going to be a long(er) road than you might realize.

Are you trying to do this for VA benefits or just personal?

I have the pay voucher with it listed as Team Spirit 1979 and with the overseas pay on it as well, I called Nat Rec who gave me another number of payroll and the guy confirmed that I was there for the 30 days, but would not print it out for me, reg's I guess, I just want it because I was there and if they create a badge for the people that served in the operation, well we should all be able to obtain it, it has not been easy I been at this for over a year now, I know what you mean when you say it will be difficult, that is why I am holding on the my pay voucher and trying to find the correct way to get it done but it has been a headache for me so far.
I am already service connected so if the rating was the reason this would not matter plus I make good with the state of california.
I earned it over there and I will not give up, can the voucher be my tool and am I sending the forms to the wrong place and not writing it correctly is my concern ?

Sgt Leprechaun
12-01-11, 06:54 PM
I had a reply done but the retarded system at work dumped it. Starting over...

There is no badge in the works, or in the system, for participation in Team Spirit of any year. What you rate is the Korean Defense Service Medal:

*****
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Korea Defense Service Medal
No. 088-04
February 09, 2004
DoD Announces Korean Defense Service Medal

The Defense Department announced today the creation of theKorean Defense Service Medal (KDSM) (http://www.defense.gov/news/Feb2004/KDSM.pdf). The KDSM is a service medal to give special recognition for the sacrifices and contributions made by members of the U.S. armed forces who have served or are serving in the Republic of Korea.

Public Law 107-314 legislated the creation of a new medal to recognize military service in the Republic of Korea and the surrounding waters.

Members of the armed forces authorized the KDSM must have served in support of the defense of the Republic of Korea. The area of eligibility encompasses all land area of the Republic of Korea, and the contiguous water out to 12 nautical miles, and all air spaces above the land and water areas.
The KDSM period of eligibility is July 28, 1954, to a future date to be determined by the secretary of defense.
Servicemembers must have been assigned, attached, or mobilized to units operating in the area of eligibility and have been physically deployed in the area of eligibility for 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days or meet one of the following criteria:

Be engaged in actual combat during an armed engagement, regardless of the time in the area of eligibility.
Is wounded or injured in the line of duty and requires medical evacuation from the area of eligibility.
While participating as a regularly assigned air crewmember flying sorties into, out of, within, or over the area of eligibility in support of military operations. Each day that one or more sorties are flown in accordance with these criteria shall count as one day toward the 30 or 60-day requirement.

Personnel who serve in operations and exercises conducted in the area of eligibility are considered eligible for the award as long as the basic time criteria is met. Due to the extensive time period for KDSM eligibility, the nonconsecutive service period for eligibility remains cumulative throughout the entire period.

The KDSM may be awarded posthumously, and only one award of the KDSM is authorized for any individual.
Each military department will prescribe appropriate regulations for administrative processing, awarding and wearing of the KDSM and ribbon for their servicemembers, to include application procedures for veterans, retirees, and next-of-kin.
More than 40,000 members of the U.S. armed forces have served in the Republic of Korea or the waters adjacent thereto each year since the signing of the cease-fire agreement in July 1953, which established the Demilitarized Zone. For more than 50 years, U.S. Armed Forces efforts to deter and defend the Korean Peninsula have helped maintain democracy and preserve the indomitable spirit of freedom.


</SPAN>
****

What you'll need to do is submit a request to correct your DD-214, to show that you rate the award of the above medal. This is where your documentation will come into play.

I would contact these folks directly, they can probably walk you through which directorate/department at HQMC (or NPRC) you need to go to:

Any former Marines who are released prior to 1999 wanting copies of their service records or DD Form 214 or any other service record documents must write to the following address:


Director
Navy Personnel Command Pers-312D2
Room 5409
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63132
Tele: 314-592-1150, 4009, 4085, or 4086
***

You may just have to submit a simple form to get it corrected. But the above is where I"d start. By all means, keep us updated on the process.

JohnnyRoe
12-01-11, 07:11 PM
I have a guy that is in NYC who was there with me but he is going through life's many problems and he has not come through for me, another guy was on the 25th web site and then fell of the face of...

Sgt Leprechaun
12-01-11, 07:14 PM
And a Merry Christmas back to you, good sir.

(*I did Team Spirit 87, wife did one in 88, both at Yechon...so we've chewed some of the same dirt :) ).

Ebay is a good place to pick up 'Team spirit' related stuff too, just FYI. (For 'oohrah' purposes if nothing else)

JohnnyRoe
12-01-11, 07:49 PM
And a Merry Christmas back to you, good sir.

(*I did Team Spirit 87, wife did one in 88, both at Yechon...so we've chewed some of the same dirt :) ).

Ebay is a good place to pick up 'Team spirit' related stuff too, just FYI. (For 'oohrah' purposes if nothing else)


Got it and I will check it out, I just got a e mail from another 25th INf soldier that will be visiting the Leather neck site and had no idea of the medal so maybe this will help more than just me, thanks for helping and God Bless
Johnny

CplLakota
12-17-11, 11:07 AM
I had no idea there was a medal for serving in Korea. When I was with MWSG-17, we went to Team Spirit 85. Im not interested in the medal, just think its intesting that theres now one for serving with the ROK Marines, and training with them. I was up near the DMZ , as a Heavy Equipment Operator we were helping to rebuild roads and such. I was there from Sept - Nov 85

Tennessee Top
12-17-11, 01:50 PM
1990 with 1st MAW FMFPac:yes:
Coldest ever been in my life! Slept in GP tents with sleeping bags. For fire safety reasons, had to turn the kerosene heaters off at sundown. Kept plastic bottle inside our sleeping bag so wouldn't have to go outside to pee! ROK Marines would run by our tents early in the morning before we even had reveille...those bastards are hardcore!! Tried real kimche out in the ville but didn't care that much for it. Case of MRE's could get you a happy ending:) Don't think we were there for 30 days to rate the medal.

CplLakota
12-17-11, 02:36 PM
hey TOP, i agree those ROK Marines are something else. I loved Kimchee, and I got lucky, theres a Oriental store here locally that has it, my wife hates the smell, but damn its good,lol. I liked it a heck of alot better than that crap yakesoba. SEMPER FI MARINES

bgillespie
12-15-13, 08:15 PM
I believe the question for those who did Team Spirit is the 30 day requirement for the KDSM. That medal itself fits the eligibility for membership into the VFW. I did Team Spirit 1984 on Westpac with 1st Tanks. I'm positive we did 30 days in the field for TS but actually stayed in and around Korea for approx 2 months. How can we get copies of the orders?

mexbearlll
12-16-13, 08:44 AM
I was in Pohang ,CSSD-33/ BSSG-9 bulkfuel co. I was on the ROK airfield both times, TEAM SPIRIT 84 -FREDOM BANNER 84 I guess this would count? Jan-84 /June 84

macclan1
09-15-15, 05:47 PM
I was in 3rd Recon Deep plt Company B 3rd Mar Div. We went to Team Sprit in March 1978. We scuba inserted and froze our @##&% off!I've been trying to find documentation for the dates for a year to solicit an official DD214 change to add the Korean Defense medal. Any help would be appreciated, But I know we were there 45 -60 days. Oh by the way, someone posted about them prohibiting kerosene heaters in the GP tents. Well we burned our GP tent to the ground when a LT tried to fill his lit! There were several of us on fire and I can prove I was in Korea during the 1978 Team spirit due to a statement in my official USMC medical records that my record was burned in that fire as part of Team Spirit. Hence I just need to official dates from a trusted source and I can ask for the medal.By the way I agree with others, the ROK Marines rock! Semper Fi

Kegler300
09-15-15, 06:31 PM
You will have to complete the Standard Form 180 and submit it to:

National Personnel Records Center (NPRC)
Military Personnel Records
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, MO 63138-1002

Back when I got mine around 2002, there was a self-certification form we had to fill out. I was with 3/4 during Team Spirit in 1978 which is documented in my SRB.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21n%2BDcc0NeL.jpg

CplLakota
09-15-15, 07:41 PM
Glad to see so many others who spent time in that cold ass place,lol. I wrote to NPR to get my orders, to prove TAD for the KDSM, haven't heard back. Does anyone else know an easier way to prove TAD or get the Cert to back up the Medal???

Kegler300
09-15-15, 07:43 PM
TAD in excess of 30 days should be on your SRB Page 3.

CplLakota
09-16-15, 02:22 AM
im sure it would be if I had my SRB. but like most of my records, they were disrespected by my x wife,lol. still waitin for NPR

29palms
09-16-15, 04:14 AM
Went to Pohan, TS 89. Shipped up there with the MV BUTTON of the MPF. Right off the pier, TENT CITY right there. When we left, like three days heading south in the Pacific, ocean started turning blue again and finally back to SUNNY GUAM!!

DonTRN
11-12-15, 11:03 PM
Was there for Team Spirit 78.. On top of a mountain outside Pohang next to a ROC Marine outpost..I was with MACS-4 out of Okinowa.. May have to look into this.. After being out so long, would be interesting to add to the DD214.. Could be the only thing that can be read on it..

29palms
11-13-15, 10:50 AM
Too bad they don't give medals to civilians in Korea that provided contractual services while in employment of military contracts. Or anywhere else for that matter, at least something that parallels military DOD medals. I know DOD gives out medals to DOD FEDERAL civilian employees. (Civilian medals) Same goes for like working in combat zones such as OIF or Persian Gulf War.
Thing is, they probably don't issue to civilian contractors because career advancements are not based on medals such as in government service or military. Just be nice to have gotten something for every place I went to (regarding military exercises I went to for instance.) I would have one for Team Spirit 89 Korea, Honduras AH-1990, Persian Gulf War. Would be nice to have commemorative somethings for crossing Suez Canal, Panama Canal, and others.

macclan1
11-18-16, 03:28 PM
I was there as part of the 1978 Team Spirit with 3rd Recon 3rd MAR Div. It shows in my SRB as " 780216 to 780422 ASG TAD TO HQSVCCO 3RDBN 9THMAR 3RDMARDIV FMF FPO SFRAN 96602 RUC 13231 MCC 124 AS RECON MAN (0321) (2)". I also have an entry in my service medical file stating that the records were burned in a fire during the "Team Spirit 1978" as our GP med tent was leveled by a heater fire one night. I believe this shows over 2 months in Korea which is what we did but getting the admins at historical records to recognize it , well that's another thing. I wear the Korean Defense Service Medal and they can KMA is they want to argue as it is retro to the Korean War. Anyone able to decipher the whole entry for me? Would be appreciated.

macclan1
11-18-16, 03:43 PM
If you search on Team Spirit, you'll see the exercises started in 1977 to disuade N. Korean aggression after they shot some Army troops in the DMV for cutting down a tree and we found tunnels that could pass a division an hour under the DMV.

The first three were the most aggressive involving every branch of ours and the South Korean military. In Feb it was bitter cold and snow and was hot and dry when we left in April. The country was an armed camp and the ROK Marines were great to work with and tough.

The history I read says the North gets all bend out of shape saying were going to invade so it's been call off most of the 90's and the North still used it as an excuse to lead the nuclear talks.

We tested the M4 prototypes for the Marine Corp at a Korean military range. The US was only issuing 20 inch a1 models then. We also got to do static jumps with them. Have some great memories of Korea and it's people. Went back as a businessman 10 years ago and the people were a lot less friendly towards Americans then they were in 78 when the North was threatening to come down again. It was also the coldest scuba insertion in my life. Our regulator actually started to freeze up! Double wetsuits required and your face felt like it would fall off. Running in sweat gear would freeze your private parts so bad we had to use a sock and plastic to protect the boys! Any body else remember that?

DESwiger
06-01-17, 10:16 PM
I started this post in '02, funny thing happened to me on the way home from work the next night, my pickup was totaled by some blond who thought the turn signal was a go ahead to speed through the light and smash into me head on. Her words, "I thought he would have stopped turning for me." Meanwhile, I have had a couple of surgeries and am about to some more unrelated ones and completely forgot about this until I was doing some research on a YouTube video I am going to post soon. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPOhaEFhvE_Nn2UmCMrAq3w
Now that I have had my question answered, THANK YOU ALL, very much. I could not have done it without the help of my brothers and I hope it helped some others as well. I will attempt to stay more closely involved here in hopes to help others with other things too.
By the way, if anyone is looking for a great sight to get reconnected to some old service friends, email me (deswiger@yahoo.com) and I will get you a free invite.

[i hope this is ok to do, i get no monetary compensation for this, if not, i will cancel it asap] Semper Fi