Would you wear this patch if you had fought ISIS?
A combat patch worn by U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq on the mission against Islamic State is drawing flak from service members and veterans who say the patch — with its palm wreath, stars and crossed scimitars — looks like something the enemy would wear.
The patch isn’t new. Soldiers serving in Operation Inherent Resolve have been sewing it onto their uniforms since April, shortly after the Army authorized it. There is also a medal version for wear on the Army Service Uniform, service spokesman Wayne Hall said on Thursday.
Army Secretary John McHugh approved the patch on March 23 and the service announced itin a message to troops four days later.
But a story on the patch posted on Army Times’ Facebook page has drawn a long string of criticism from readers who say the design makes it look more like a unit patch of a Middle Eastern military — or even something ISIS would wear.
The article, which ran in USA Today, quotes from an Army document stating that the crossed scimitars symbolize the twin goals of the U.S.-led coalition — to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS (also known as ISIL), and to restore stability in the region.
Read more: Military
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