Torn down a strip

Hi,
I am looking for the meaning of "torn down a strip". Context - a soldier did his job (mission) - but not the way he was ordered to do it. then the book says:

This way, he might later be *torn down a strip*, but at list the goal would have been met. ddd

What rank was the soldier? They probably demoted him one grade so that his arm insignia had one stripe less than before. SS