(READ UPDATE!!!) How do you handle a situation where a Soldier is wearing a deployment patch they did not earn? What are the repercussions?

"On the spot correction," remove it. Doesn't remove it, recommend action to the chain of command as refusal of a lawful order. Back in my day, I'd rip it off & tell him to see the First Sergeant to complain.

There was a policy memo from one of the commands granting wear of the SSI-FWTS for I thought was 1 day in Iraq. This was 2017. I think it came from TF Spartan or one of the other Commands they likely fell under in Kuwait. I might just double check that. Not sure about the "being entitled" part however - he should have received some sort of memo authorizing the wear. Hope this helps.

Have some insight on this. In 2014, my unit deployed to Spartan Shield, and just before we went ISIL took Mosul and I served on the BCT staff. Because there was a really strict BOG restriction, we sent two of our combat battalions forward to Iraq, but had to kind of "rotate" individuals in and out. There was a lot of discussion on this topic because many people did not stay in Iraq for 30 days at a time, just long enough to do what they do and leave. Bottom line, after IG complaints, JAG involved, etc., this is what we were told. AR 670-1 21-17, (e) 3) does say "The military operation must have lasted for a period of 30 days or longer." This is what they call the "named operation" requirement. This does not mean a Soldier needs to be there for 30 days, just that the Soldier there is a part of an operation (Operation Inherent Resolve, New Dawn, etc) that has existed for longer than 30 days. The kicker here is AR 670-1 21-17, (e) 7) "Soldiers of all Army components who deploy during periods of service designated for wear of the SSI-FWTS are authorized to wear the SSI-FWTS. THERE ARE NO TIME IN THEATER REQUIREMENTS." (I put that in all caps because that is the relevant part of this portion.) Now this is all from notes I took from those discussions back then. This is how interesting it got. I don't know if your JAGs or IGs all concur on this (the ARCENT group definitely did). So if you decide to call out this Soldier for this, all that was really required was a memo stating the Soldier traveled to the zone for x amount of time. I have that memo in my file, but I don't wear that particular patch because I have one from a previous deployment to Afghanistan and I had some "questions" myself about all of this. The brigade commander actually went so far as to fly individuals into Iraq for a day and then fly them out just so they could get a patch. When the Army scaled down what could go in your file a few years back, the memo disappeared. So like I said, for me personally I'm not so worried. But if you do decide to correct this Soldier, just be aware of all of this and that if he has such a memo, he may be authorized wear of that insignia and he may be able to have JAG back him up.