I do remember seeing something about a Randolph NCO getting same. Yep…
Morale patches have been targets a long time. In PSAB in late 90s, a subdued "NATO TIGER" patch vice Provisional Wing patch was a quick way to have some senior NCO run you down on the way to the chow hall to hassle you. Ditto having a boonie hat with any "crimp" or "roll". It was Lord of the Flies on steroids. Its was Catch 22. It was a drama of the absurd.
Best part of the whole trip was a week long divert into Kuwait (Al Jaber) when a wingman had a Hyd leak. We hung out a week at their place, wearing nothing but a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops we bought at the sundry shop while there or our bags. We also drank a lot of beer--smuggled in by the F-16 Sandy guys through their friends in the C-5 world. The base was not as "nice" as PSAB, but it also felt more like a warrior base than a REMF hangout, and I enjoyed that week. The weeks after Desert Storm with the Army as a FAC were likewise absurd…."policing" and cleaning the desert where we camped after the battles while we waited (weeks) to move back south. I hated uniform Nazis in ROTC, and I hated them on active duty too. I love visiting bases to do my seminars--going into the squadrons and the bars. I don't however, shop at the BX or do much outside the "wire" of the flying squadrons. Its just too depressing…