I could hardly believe it when I found out they got a ribbon for basic. "Dorm Guard and KP" I guess. Do they still do KP? But at least we got a stripe upon graduating basic. Now they don't get E-2 until 6 months later. BTW, my daughter bypassed E-2 and was promoted to E-3 recently. She has over 20 hrs college and enlisted for 6 years, so she gets that as incentive. The skill badges make some sense. Kind of like the Rate the Navy has. It identifies a skill level and general career field. When I first saw an airman with a skill badge, I had to look twice. At first I thought it was jump wings. But that is just a skill, too, when you think about it. It's just a three week school. But when you see a sailor wearing the trident, you know he is among a very few select warriors.