My experience is that there is no way to shame management into action as they spend very few, if any, heartbeats concerning themselves with the feelings of the proletariat.  You guys were all staffers.  Many of you have worked in DC before.  If you want to unstick it, my suggestion is to make it a fire hydrant and let one of the big dogs mark his territory with it.  I understand that this has to go through channels, but when was the last time anybody had a face to face with somebody in the MCPON office?  How about an engagement at CNAP about how some remote control boat operators received their professional badge before the heroes of Indonesia, Japan, New Orleans, etc…Would NHA allow space for an article about it in Rotor Review?  This really is something the sea wall needs engagement on and a lot of what I hear every month is that that may not be happening to the extent that is needed.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease.  Symposium is a great place.  Fleet fly-in is a great place, but “union labor” needs to be organized or the gatekeepers will keep that badge at the bottom of the stack until the boss is tired of hearing about it.