This screenshot from Facebook shows the Cyber Awarness Challenge-inspired challenge coin created by Army 2nd Lt. Michael Moser, a Signal Corps officer. (Facebook)
A jokester has used knowledge gleaned from mandatory online training to create a military challenge coin guaranteed to make Defense Department insiders LOL.
An image of the coin, shaped like DOD’s ubiquitous Common Access Card, was posted Wednesday on the U.S. Army W.T.F! moments Facebook page with the caption: “The perfect challenge coin doesn’t exi …”
Thousands of online viewers had shared the post or commented on it by the next morning, with many asking where they could purchase the coin.
“It’s a masterpiece,” one commenter said.
The Signal Corps coin was designed for a class of 72 soldiers participating in signals training at Fort Gordon, Ga., according to its creator, Army 2nd Lt. Michael Moser, of Choctaw, Okla.
“It was made for our class but now a lot of people want them,” the former enlisted soldier who served with the 82nd Airborne Division said by phone Wednesday evening from Gordon.
Issued to a fictional second lieutenant Signal Corps officer, the coin features an image of Jeff, the goatee-d, blue-vested, computer-generated character who narrated DOD’s Cyber Awareness Challenge until 2019.
The annual online training is mandatory for every active-duty service member and civilian employee of the department.
In the place where a card would list the holder’s branch of service, the coin features the acronym SBOLC, which stands for Signal Basic Officer Leader Course.
This screenshot from Facebook shows the back of the Cyber Awarness Challenge-inspired challenge coin created by Army 2nd Lt. Michael Moser, a Signal Corps officer. (Facebook)
Scanning a QR code on the front of the coin opens up a YouTube video of the 1987 song “Never Gonna Give You Up,” by English singer Rick Astley.
The rear of the coin includes Signal Corps’ coat of arms and branch and regimental insignia. It also features the Singal Corps’ motto — Pro Patria Vigilans (Watchful for the Country) — and the phrase “No Comms, No Bombs.”
Challenge coins are a century-old U.S. military tradition. A rack full of coins is an ordinary sight in veterans’ homes and military offices around the world. They typically identify the bearer’s unit and serve to bolster morale and unit pride and as rewards for hard work and excellence, according to a DOD News post in 2017.
“Many service members and veterans proudly display challenge coins at their desks or homes, showing off the many missions they’ve been on, the top leaders they’ve met and the units for which they’ve worked,” the article states.
