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Combat Action Ribbon
USN/USMC Combat Action Ribbon (Left) USCG Combat Action Ribbon (Right)
Awarded by United States Navy United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard
Type	Individual Award
Eligibility	Active participation of ground or surface combat on or after December 7, 1941
Awarded for	Actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy
Status	Still Issued
Statistics
Established	February 17, 1969 (USN/USMC) July 16, 2008 (USCG)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon
Related	USAF Combat Action Medal Army Combat Action Badge

The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is a personal military decoration of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard which is awarded to those who, in any grade including and below that of a Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard (or Colonel in the Marine Corps), have actively participated in ground or surface combat.

Additional awards of the Combat Action Ribbon are denoted by gold and silver award stars.

Navy/Marine Corps[link]

The Combat Action Ribbon was first created in February 1969 with SECNAVNOTE 1650^[1] with retroactive presentation to March 1, 1961. However on October 5, 1999, by Presidential Order of Bill Clinton and under Pub.L. 106-65, the retroactive effective date of the Combat Action Ribbon was changed to December 7, 1941 which was the entry date of the United States of America into the Second World War.

To be awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, the individual must have rendered satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in a ground or surface engagement.

Personnel who earned the Combat Infantryman Badge or Combat Medical Badge while a member of the United States Army may be authorized to wear the Combat Action Ribbon upon application to the Department of the Navy. As of May 2005, the United States Army has created a new decoration known as the Combat Action Badge (previously known as the Combat Recognition Ribbon) which is considered the direct Army equivalent to the Combat Action Ribbon, though the CAB is not available to infantry or medical Soldiers who are in combat arms units, and is available to officers at or below the rank of Colonel.

Retroactive awards of the Combat Action Ribbon, for retired, deceased, or discharged personnel, are handled by the Navy Liaison Officer to the National Personnel Records Center.

While any eligible Sailor or Marine may receive the ribbon, SECNAVINST 1650.1H^[2] lists units and operations whose members or participants are authorized to wear it.

The Navy/Marine Corps version of the Combat Action Ribbon may be awarded to members of the Coast Guard if they are operating with a Navy or Marine Corps unit.

Coast Guard[link]

The Coast Guard version of the Combat Action Ribbon was created on July 16, 2008. The criterion for the Combat Action Ribbon is satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in a ground or maritime engagement.^[3]

Criteria also include personnel with direct exposure to the detonation of an improvised explosive device used by an enemy, and for personnel who serve in clandestine/special operations, who are restricted in their ability to return fire, where the risk of enemy fire was great.

Initially, all other similar awards from other military services were required to be converted to the Coast Guard Combat Action Ribbon in order to be worn on the Coast Guard uniform, but the policy was modified to allow wear of the Navy/Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon.^[4]

See also[link]

	United States Navy portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

References[link]

v t e Military awards of the United States Department of the Navy Meritorious medals Navy Cross · Navy Distinguished Service · Navy and Marine Corps Medal · Navy and Marine Corps Commendation · Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Expeditionary medals Navy Expeditionary · Marine Corps Expeditionary Good Conduct medals Navy Good Conduct · Marine Corps Good Conduct · Naval Reserve Meritorious Service · Selected Marine Corps Reserve Unit awards Presidential Unit Citation · Navy Unit Commendation · Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation · Navy E Ribbon Ribbons Combat Action · Overseas Service · Sea Service · Arctic Service · Navy Recruiting Service · Marine Corps Recruiting Service · Navy Recruit Training Service · Marine Corps Drill Instructor · Marine Corps Security Guard · Navy Ceremonial Duty · Navy Reserve Sea Service Marksmanship 35px Navy Expert Rifleman Medal · 35px Navy Sharpshooter Rifle Ribbon · Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon · 35px Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal · 35px Navy Sharpshooter Pistol Shot Medal · Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon

v t e Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard Decorations Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal  · Coast Guard Medal  · Commendation Medal  · Achievement Medal  · Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon Lifesaving Medals Gold Lifesaving Medal  · Silver Lifesaving Medal Unit Awards Presidential Unit Citation  · Coast Guard Unit Commendation  · Meritorious Unit Commendation  · Meritorious Team Commendation  · Coast Guard E Ribbon Conduct Medals Good Conduct Medal  · Reserve Good Conduct Medal Service Awards Combat Action Ribbon  ·  · Enlisted Person of the Year Ribbon  · Coast Guard Arctic Service Medal  · Special Operations Service Ribbon  · Sea Service Ribbon  · Restricted Duty Ribbon  · Overseas Service Ribbon  · Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon  · Recruiting Service Ribbon Marksmanship 35px Distinguished Marksman Ribbon  · 35px Silver Excellence in Competition Rifle Ribbon  · 35px Bronze Excellence in Competition Rifle Ribbon  · 35px Expert Rifle Ribbon  · 35px Sharpshooter Rifle Ribbon  · Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon  · 35px Distinguished Pistol Shot Ribbon  · 35px Silver Pistol Excellence in Competition Ribbon  · 35px Bronze Pistol Excellence in Competition Ribbon  · 35px Expert Pistol Ribbon  · 35px Sharpshooter Pistol Ribbon  · Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon

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Nathan Fletcher
Member of the California State Assembly from the 75th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 1, 2008
Preceded by	George Plescia
Personal details
Born	(1976-12-31) December 31, 1976 (age 35) Carson City, Nevada
Nationality	American
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Mindy Tucker Fletcher
Residence	San Diego, California
Alma mater	California Baptist University
Occupation	Businessman
Religion	Christian
Website	Nathan Fletcher for State Assembly
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	2002-2007
Unit	United States Marine Corps Reserves
Battles/wars	Iraq War
Awards	Combat Action Ribbon Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Iraq Campaign Medal Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (V) Joint Service Commendation Medal

Nathan Fletcher (born December 31, 1976) is a member of the California State Assembly representing the 75th Assembly District He was elected as a Republican, but changed his affiliation to Independent in March 2012.^[1]

He served in the American military and also worked as a business adviser and consultant. In June 2011, Fletcher announced his candidacy for the mayorship of San Diego.^[2]

Military service[link]

In 2004, Fletcher served eight months in the Sunni Triangle region of Iraq. Among some of his awards from this tour are the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat "V" for valor,^[3] Combat Action Ribbon,^{[citation needed]} and Iraqi Campaign Medal.^[3] Fletcher served in United States Marine Corps Reserves as a Counterintelligence/Human Intelligence Specialist, working in the Horn of Africa on his final deployment, and earning the Joint Service Commendation Medal and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.^[3]

He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne Course and Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.^[4]

Legislative and political career[link]

In 2008 he was elected to the Assembly representing the 75th Assembly District, which includes the City of Poway, portions of Escondido, La Jolla, University City, Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Peñasquitos, and Carmel Valley, and the communities of Fairbanks Ranch, and Rancho Santa Fe. He won with 52.2% of the vote.^[5] He was re-elected in 2010 with 60.5% of the vote.^[6]

In his first term, Fletcher had a number of pieces of legislation signed into law, including legislation relating to veterans, job creation, water infrastructure, and health care.^[7] He was chosen as one of two Republican Party whips in 2010.^[8] He has advised on the democratic leaders in East Timor, Cambodia and Serbia^{[citation needed]} as a trainer for the International Republican Institute.

He is currently running for mayor in the City of San Diego.^[2]

Personal[link]

Fletcher is an Ironman Triathlete, marathon runner, alpine mountaineer and mountain biker.^[4] He is a graduate of California Baptist University,^[4] where he received a President's Scholarship ^[9] and was a member of the CBU baseball team.^{[citation needed]} He lives in San Diego with his wife, Mindy, who has served as Deputy Campaign Manager and Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[10]

Upon his return from Iraq, Fletcher received an appointment to the San Diego County Veterans Advisory Council.^{[citation needed]} In addition, Fletcher has served on the Board of Directors for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Historical Society^[11] and is a life member of both the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.^{[citation needed]} When he ran for the California assembly, he was described as "a community activist and a businessman."^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Assembly website
• Official Campaign website

v t e Members of the California State Assembly Speaker of the Assembly: John Pérez (D) Speaker Pro Tempore: Fiona Ma (D) Majority Leader: Charles Calderon (D) Minority Leader: Connie Conway (R)        Wesley Chesbro (D)    Jim Nielsen (R)    Dan Logue (R)    Beth Gaines (R)    Richard Pan (D)    Jared Huffman (D)    Michael Allen (D)    Mariko Yamada (D)    Roger Dickinson (D)    Alyson Huber (D)    Susan Bonilla (D)    Fiona Ma (D)    Tom Ammiano (D)    Nancy Skinner (D)    Joan Buchanan (D)    Sandré Swanson (D)    Cathleen Galgiani (D)    Mary Hayashi (D)    Jerry Hill (D)    Bob Wieckowski (D)    Rich Gordon (D)    Paul Fong (D)    Nora Campos (D)    Jim Beall (D)    Kristin Olsen (R)    Bill Berryhill (R)    Bill Monning (D)    Luis Alejo (D)    Linda Halderman (R)    David Valadao (R)    Henry Perea (D)    Shannon Grove (R)    Katcho Achadjian (R)    Connie Conway (R)    Das Williams (D)    Steve Knight (R)    Jeff Gorell (R)    Cameron Smyth (R)    Felipe Fuentes (D)    Bob Blumenfield (D)    Julia Brownley (D)    Mike Feuer (D)    Mike Gatto (D)    Anthony Portantino (D)    Gil Cedillo (D)    John Pérez (D)    Holly Mitchell (D)    Mike Davis (D)    Mike Eng (D)    Ricardo Lara (D)    Steven Bradford (D)    Isadore Hall (D)    Betsy Butler (D)    Bonnie Lowenthal (D)    Warren Furutani (D)    Tony Mendoza (D)    Roger Hernandez (D)    Charles Calderon (D)    Tim Donnelly (R)    Curt Hagman (R)    Norma Torres (D)    Wilmer Carter (D)    Mike Morrell (R)    Brian Nestande (R)    Paul Cook (R)    Kevin Jeffries (R)    Jim Silva (R)    Allan Mansoor (R)    Jose Solorio (D)    Don Wagner (R)    Jeff Miller (R)    Chris Norby (R)    Diane Harkey (R)    Martin Garrick (R)    Nathan Fletcher (I)    Toni Atkins (D)    Brian Jones (R)    Marty Block (D)    Ben Hueso (D)    V. Manuel Perez (D)    Democratic (52)    Republican (27)    Independent (1) California State Legislature California State Assembly California State Senate

Lee Weeks
Weeks at the New York Comic Con in Manhattan, October 9, 2010.
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciler, Inker, Writer
Notable works	Daredevil Batman: Gauntlet Gambit Spiderman: Death & Destiny
Awards	Haxtur Awards; Best Short Story (with Jones and Rubenstein - 2003)

Lee Weeks is an American comic book artist, known for his work on such books as Daredevil.

Career[link]

Weeks made his professional comics debut in the 1980s, penciling, inking, and lettering a short story ("Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk") in Tales of Terror #5, a horror anthology published by Eclipse Comics. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on Daredevil Vol. 1 series (1990–1992), where he pencilled the Last Rites storyline. It featured the fall of the Kingpin and is a sequel of sorts to Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Born Again.

Other titles he has contributed to include Justice (1988–1989), The Destroyer Vol.1 (1989–1990), Gambit Vol.1 (1993–1994), Tarzan vs. Predator (Dark Horse Comics), Spider-Man: Death and Destiny (2000), Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto (2001), Spider-Man's Tangled Web (2002), Captain America Vol. 4 #17-20 (with writer Dave Gibbons) (Marvel Comics, 2003) and The Incredible Hulk Vol. 3 (2002, 2005). Weeks penciled the five-part Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics) (2007–2008) mini-series for Marvel Comics.

In a brief period with DC Comics, Weeks penciled the 1997 48-page bookshelf format book, Batman Chronicles: Gauntlet, which was written by Bruce Canwell. He also worked as a storyboard artist for Superman: The Animated Series.^[1]

Weeks is the subject of the seventeenth volume of the Modern Masters series published by TwoMorrows Publishing in 2008.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lee Weeks

• Lee Weeks at the Comic Book DB

Adam Charles Kokesh
Kokesh in 2009
Born	(1982-02-01) February 1, 1982 (age 30) California
Allegiance	USA
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1999–2007
Rank	Corporal
Unit	3rd Civil Affairs Group[1]
Battles/wars	Iraq War
Other work	Talk show host, political activist

Adam Charles Kokesh (born February 1, 1982) is an American activist and talk radio host. Kokesh was a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and is a veteran of the Iraq War. He is an outspoken opponent of the U.S. military intervention in Iraq and has received media attention related to anti-war protest activities. He is the son of Charles Kokesh, a Santa Fe venture capitalist, founder of a firm called Technology Funding and owner of the Santa Fe Horse Park.^[2]

Marine Corps service[link]

Kokesh attended the Native American Preparatory School in San Ysidro, New Mexico.^[3] He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1999.^[4] In 2004, he served in Fallujah.^[5] He was a liaison between the U.S. military and Iraqi civilians as a member of the 3rd Civil Affairs Group.^[1] He also worked a security checkpoint while in Iraq.^[6] He brought home a pistol from Iraq in 2004^[4] in violation of military rules, which prevented his return for a second Iraq tour.^[6] Kokesh "had risen to the rank of sergeant after three-and-a-half years in the Reserves" and "was demoted to corporal and soon thereafter discharged honorably with a re-enlistment code that basically said, 'you can't re-enlist.'"^[6] Having experienced combat in Fallujah, Kokesh received the Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Commendation Medal after his honorable discharge from active duty.^[7]

After his discharge, and during a March 19, 2007 protest he attended, Kokesh was in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR);^[6] a superior officer identified him in a photo caption in the Washington Post.^[8] On "March 29, a Marine major sent him an e-mail to tell him he was being investigated for misconduct by appearing at a political event in uniform. Kokesh responded, telling the major what he thought" and used an expletive in his reply, resulting in an additional misconduct charge.^[6] The charges were "brought under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which applies only to service members," confusing some veterans and lawyers.^[6]

Hearing[link]

In May 2007, a hearing was convened to consider changing Kokesh's military discharge from "honorable" to "other than honorable" on two points: "Disrespect toward a Superior Commissioned Officer," and violating "Wearing of the uniform" regulation.^[9][10] The panel recommended Kokesh be given a "general discharge under honorable conditions,"^[11] a discharge status below "honorable," and above "other than honorable".^[12] Kokesh appealed the decision, and was denied.^{[13][broken citation]}

Protest activities[link]

After returning from Iraq, Kokesh resumed his studies and completed his bachelor's degree in psychology at Claremont McKenna College. In February 2007, Kokesh became an active participant in the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). On March 19, 2007, to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Kokesh and 12 other Iraq Veterans Against the War members participated in an occupation-like mock patrol of Washington D.C.^[14] Kokesh first came to national attention after he was interviewed on CNN and his photograph appeared in newspapers throughout the country, including the front page of the Los Angeles Times at a protest during Alberto Gonzales's testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. Kokesh, wearing his Marine Corps Boonie hat, held up a large sign counting the number of times Gonzalez said "I don't remember" or "I don't recall" (Kokesh claimed Gonzalez used such phrases 74 times).^[15]

Kokesh arrest at Senate Hart office building, April 26, 2007

In April 2007 Kokesh and a number of other activists were arrested for protesting the Iraq war in the Senate Hart Office Building. Kokesh had performed a ceremony for lost service members using an American flag.^[16][17][18]

In June 2007 Kokesh, along with IVAW members Liam Madden and Nate Lewis, were arrested for crossing onto the property of Ft. Benning near Columbus, Georgia. On June 13, the government filed a motion to dismiss the trespass charges.^{[19][verification needed]} The property is the former location of the School of the Americas.

Kokesh enrolled in graduate studies in political management at George Washington University.^[20] In October 2007, Kokesh, along with six other students, created controversy by putting up satirical political posters across the university campus. The posters featured a picture of a stereotypical Arab man and the headline "Hate Muslims? So do we!!!," with illustrative captions explaining that the typical Muslim is equipped with a venom-spouting mouth, laser-shooting eyes, and hidden AK-47:s, among other parodical features. The poster was signed "Students for Conservativo-Fascism Awareness," and encouraged students to visit the right-wing website terrorismawareness.org. Kokesh and the six other students publicly admitted to responsibility amidst accusations that the poster was Islamophobic, maintaining that their intent was to spread awareness of what they considered to be the overtly racist intentions of the above-mentioned website's "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" organized by a conservative student organization and featuring David Horowitz.^[21]

On September 2, 2008, Kokesh spoke at Representative Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he stated, "While it is our responsibility now to resist tyranny civily, while we still can, there may come a time when we will say to the powers that be, be it with your blood or ours we have come to water the tree of liberty … who will stand with me?"

On September 4, 2008, Kokesh interrupted Senator John McCain's acceptance speech of the GOP nomination for President at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Holding a sign reading "McCain Votes Against Vets" on one side and "You can't win an occupation" on the other,^[22] Kokesh yelled, "Ask him why he votes against vets!" A member of the audience grabbed the sign and tore it in two. Kokesh was released shortly after being detained by local police.^[23]

On May 28, 2011, Kokesh and other activists participated in a flash mob-silent dance at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. in protest of a recent ruling against dancing at federal monuments; the activists were arrested through the use of physical force by U.S. Park Police officers after actively resisting arrest and ignoring officers' commands.^[24] A much larger protest the following Saturday, June 4, 2011, organized by Kokesh and Code Pink, involved about 200 protesters and 75 dancers. About 10 minutes after the dancing began, police began clearing the monument.^[25] No arrests were made. When asked by a journalist if he had a permit to protest, Kokesh reportedly produced a copy of the Constitution and said, "Actually I got a permit. It's the same one I swore an oath to when I enlisted in the Marine Corps. And it says something about 'freedom of assembly.' Which means you don't need permission from anybody to come together and speak your mind."^[26]

VFW position[link]

The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has defended the right of Kokesh and others who have been given honorable discharges to protest in uniform or in a tank.^[20]

2010 congressional campaign[link]

In 2010, Adam Kokesh attempted to unseat Democratic representative Ben Ray Luján in New Mexico's heavily Democratic 3rd congressional district running as a libertarian-oriented Republican.^[27] Kokesh received mostly out-of-state money,^[27] support from Ron Paul,^[28] and an endorsement from the Republican Liberty Caucus, the organization that represents the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.^[29] Kokesh's opponent in the New Mexico GOP primary was Tom Mullins^[30] to whom he lost.^[31]

"Adam vs The Man"[link]

Since July 2010 Kokesh hosted a talk radio program called "Adam vs. The Man." The program airs weekdays from the studios of 1550 KIVA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.^[32] In April 2011 his show was picked up by Russia Today television network ("RT").^[33] Accuracy in Media criticized Kokesh's appearing on RT, a non-profit organization which largely is funded by the Russian government.^[34][35][36] The conservative group wrote that RT uses Americans like Kokesh to make propaganda points.^[37] The show was canceled in August 2011.^[38]

Kokesh has continued his "Adam vs. The Man" video reports independently on YouTube, noting he was "fired from my only radio and TV gigs."^[39] On the channel he has filed some critical reports of the "Occupy DC" version of the Occupy Wall Street movement.^[40][41]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal
	Dance portal

• List of U.S. Marines
• Campaign for Liberty

References[link]

External links[link]

• Adam Kokesh's talk radio show: ADAM VS THE MAN
• Adam Kokesh's blog
• Adam Kokesh's profile at IVAW.org
• Adam Kokesh's Debut on RT