Is there a way to check someone has been properly issued the Cadet Forces Medal and not wearing it illegally? We have a lad in our office who regularly wears his, and other cadet uniform items, but theres been a accusation that hes not entitled to and his cadet service is made up and hes Walting. i wanna find a way to prove it either way and put it to bed so we can sort it. any advice welcome.
Should be gazetted?
Where abouts are they printed please? Is it in the Air Force magazine or something?
If heās sad enough to be āwaltingā about a CFM, Iād leave the poor soul alone.
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Not always easy to find though, especially if you donāt know the dates.
How old is he? If heās under 30 thatās a big clue.
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Do you mean heās wearing the uniform with accompanying badges or has it got badges sewn onto a bag?
The latter isnāt quite as bad (still a bit sad though)
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Under 35 - to allow for delivery back logsā¦
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What other items, Iāve walked used my 120lts bag for transporting stuff around 
Canāt see apart from CFM, and I canāt see why, canāt think of anything else
Agreed, and whatās the āofficeā, not wearing kit to a civvie work place is he?!
I wouldnāt worry about it, itās the definition of a cereal box medal, anyone that knows medals will see it a mile off.
Iād be perhaps a little surprised if it is walting. If youāre going to go to the effort youād get a medal with some status attached to it!
If you can get the service number from the rim you can chuck that into the search box on the London gazette website. That should bring up the award
The OP needs to add more context
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No one āregularlyā wears medals āin the officeā, even If as the OPās username suggests heās military - In which case why would you have a RAFAC CFAV in your office?
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Thereās no such thing as āATCā accoutrements anymore - We wear RAFAC emblazoned rank slides and, in No1s, gilt pins.
The CFM is gazetted, so all thatās needed is the individualās service number (noting these have all changed of late, so you may need their old one), to verify.
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This whole thread is so sad!
Honestly, who actually cares if some kid is wearing a CFM heās not entitled toā¦?!
The OP is as bad as the person heās accusing.
Let it go, mate. Thereās a big world out thereā¦
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Not a lot of context providedā¦
But depending on what the purpose of uniform and medals is forā¦ Itās against the law. Especially where money is concerned. If the guy is using it to get money off people or ply extra tradeā¦
While it is not an offence to own medals which have not been awarded to you, it is illegal under section 197 of the Army Act 1955 to use these to pretend to be a member of the armed forces. (This act will be superseded by the Armed Forces Act 2006 in November.)
The act makes wearing any military decoration, badge, wound stripe or emblem without authority a criminal offence. It is also illegal to wear a replica āas to be calculated to deceiveā, and to falsely represent yourself as someone entitled to wear any such award.
Whilst yes, maybe over the top reaction from OP. Itās not entirely without merit.
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Does the CFM have his name and service number engraved on the edge? This doesnāt prove it is real as this can be added, but the absence of it would mean it was bought commercially. If it does have the service number on it, you could make note of it and check the Gazette.
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Crikey! Please tell me if there is a way to earn money off my CFM - Iāve clearly been missing out!
But reallyā¦ I think you need to calm down. Is a CFM even a āmilitaryā award?
Quoting the law in respect to this example is verging on the preposterous.
Itās a cadet medal. It might upset you if the chap is wearing it - but as far as Iām concerned itās about as illegal as someone wearing a Blue Peter badge theyāre not āentitledā to.
This is the sort of discussion that makes us ALL look like Walter Mittys.
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Just think for a moment about what it represents, the story that could accompany it, and the opinions and reactions that those could garner from others - and what that could potentially mean for the wearer in terms of any benefit they may seek to gain through manoeuvres and leveraging.
Would it be the most egregious example of walting? Possibly not, depending on the intention.
Is it something that most would consider walting about? No.
But if the value perception of such a pretence is low, if someone were to desire to pretend to be a CFAV, why would they do so? 99% of the time walting is for some kind of personal gainā¦
You might think itās stupid, but a narrow, disregarding view risks missing something that could be very serious and ultimately damaging to all CFAV. Itās probably nothing, but what harm is there in verifying?
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Wellā¦ Yes, i can use three years of my service towards it. Itās awarded by the crown through a miiÅitary backed organisation.
Of course! We are all mad here.
Doesnāt at all. Just offering a counterview. Makes no odds to mĆ© whatsoever.
Absolutely not. I have immense respect for all CFAVs do. To wear this cheapens your efforts if itās not earned. You arenāt rewarded enough and someone wearing the award ruins the hard work out it.
Not the worst thing in the world. Iām just offering an alternative view.
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Missed this one outā¦
I have personal experience of seeing members of Britain First collecting money and signatures for ācharityā to help injured servicemen.
They wore berets, with no cap badge and battle of jubilee medals as well as some of those commemorative medals you can buy off the RBL. Looks a bit of a mess to those in the know. But they had old women and those who admire the military fawning over them.
So there is a real danger that this can be misused. As @Giminion has said, think about the damage it does for CFAVs who have worked hard for the right to be awarded that medal.
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This is a definite red flag. Walts tend to have other issues going on and if theyāre willing to defraud on something as obvious as this then they are not fit to be anywhere near our organisation. Get rid
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