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Air Force Decorations Part 2 of 2
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Air Force Decorations Part 1 of 2
For part 1 of this series I focused on my experience with how the Air Force Achievement Medal (AFAM), Air Force Commendation Medal (AFCM), and Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) are practically awarded. For part 2 my goal is to focus on some administrative tips for completing each level of decoration. As you progress from the AFAM to the MSM the quality of achievement should improve, and this is evident by the progressive level of the approval authority. The only way to achieve a consistent quality across all levels across the Air Force is to adhere to the guidance outlined in the AFI.
Achievement Decorations
For “achievement” types of decorations we should lean heavily on our NCOs and SNCOs. We need to ensure they are tracking and familiar with the unit precedent for each level of award, both in-house and with similar units across the Air Force. As I said in part 1, some examples of “achievements” recognized at the AFAM level are one year of base honor guard volunteer service or support for a contingency operation. For example, if you are at an overseas base and a Combatant Command called the wing you are assigned to into action, it may be appropriate to fight for your NCO to be awarded an AFAM if his duties supported the contingency mission.
Service Decorations
For “service” decorations it is generally accepted that a 3-4 year of duty warrants a decoration. The inclusive date for “service” decorations cannot overlap and the AFI provides very clear guidance for what the dates should be.
1.15.12. Inclusive Dates: The dates to be used for inclusive dates are as follows: 1.15.12.1. PCS: Start date is the date the member arrived to the station/unit; stop date is the date of final outprocessing. 1.15.12.2. PCA: Start date is the date the member arrived to the unit; stop date is the day prior to the effective date of the unit change. 1.15.12.3. Separation/Retirement: Start date is the date the member arrived to the station/unit; stop date is the day prior to the separation/retirement effective date. 1.15.12.5. Achievement: Start date is the date member inprocessed (TDY) or the date the special project or duty started; stop date is the final outprocessing day (TDY) or the date of when the special project or duty ended. 1.15.12.6. Extended Tour: Start date is the date the member arrived to the station/unit; stop date is the day prior to the 3- or 4-year point (see paragraph 1.16.1.6) AFI 36-2803, The Air Force Military Awards and Decorations Program
The “3-4 year” rule is not a hard rule, and the quality of performance during that period is important. Maybe a SrA truly deserves an AFCM after four years of service. Maybe a TSgt who failed two fitness assessments doesn’t deserve a decoration at all. Bottom line, it needs to make sense. Decorations have to be earned and are not a given.
Extended Tour Decorations
My second point for this post is the award of extended tour decorations. Typically an enlisted Airman serves a 3-4 year tour, but it is possible for someone to serve 6-8 years at the same base. Awarding an Airman with one decoration for eight years of service may send a negative message when the Airman is competing for a SNCO promotion board later down the road. Due to this, the AFI authorizes what are called “extended tour” (also known as “mid-tour”) decorations. With these you just have to be careful about what you fight for. For example, a SNCO who served five years at the same assignment may end up leaving with one extended tour AFCMs and one end of tour AFCM, versus 1 MSM for the five-year period. That may matter to the individual.
Opening and Closing Sentences
My final point for this post is about how the opening and closing statements for decorations are determined. The level of award coupled by the decoration reason determine the exact wording of the opening and closing statements. Luckily, this is populated automatically by the system we use to process decorations called vPC. It is just important for us to be mindful of what it is supposed to say so we can make sure it is correct.
The below examples are just the common examples outlined in the AFI 36-2803, The Air Force Military Awards and Decorations Program . Dig into the actual AFI for more details for your specific situation.
AFAM Opening Sentence
3.5.13.1. Opening Sentence: Captain Michelle Canmore distinguished herself by (meritorious service) OR (outstanding achievement), as (duty assignment, and office location) OR while assigned to (office location).
AFAM Closing Sentence
3.5.13.3. Closing Sentence. Confine the closing to one sentence which will personalize the summation.
AFCM Opening Sentence
3.5.12.1. Opening Sentence: Technical Sergeant Ami Ponde distinguished herself by (meritorious service) OR (outstanding achievement) OR (an act of courage) as (duty assignment and office) OR (while assigned to (office) from _____to ).
AFCM Closing Sentence
3.5.12.4. Closing Sentence: The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Ponde reflect credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
3.5.12.4.2. Retirement Award: The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Ponde culminate a (long and) distinguished career in the service of her country and reflect credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
3.5.12.4.3. Separation Award: The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Ponde while serving her country reflect credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
MSM Opening Statement
3.5.9.1. Opening Sentence: Senior Master Sergeant Mickey Smith distinguished himself in the performance of outstanding service to the United States as (duty title) OR (while assigned to the (office) from _____to ).
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MSM Closing Statement
3.5.9.3. Closing Sentence: The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Smith reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force:
3.5.9.3.1. Retirement Award: The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Smith culminate a (long and) distinguished career in the service of his country and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
3.5.9.3.2. Separation Award: The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Smith while serving his country reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Administrative Instructions
Here are a few helpful tips from the AFI I have learned along the way. Reference paragraph 3.4.
- The use of the dollar sign ($) is typically not recommended, however, will be accepted if used in the proper format ($10 million).
- Numeric designators of units should read 3d Aerospace Wing, 4th Mission Support Group, etc.
- Use Times New Roman (TMS RMN) 10- to 12-point size or comparable font.
- Length of citation should not exceed:
- 3.4.8.1. MSM, AM, AAM, and AFCM citations: 14 lines maximum
- 3.4.8.2. AFAM citations: 11 or 12 lines maximum
The actual writing of a decoration is something that takes practice. In general you review all of the EPRs or OPRs for the time period, pick out the best bullets, then write them in narrative form. If there is a demand I will likely do a part 3 to this post at a later date.
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Former Enlisted
I have sort of an odd question when it comes to decorations. Is it possible for the flight commander to mail the actual physical award/certificate (example: AF achievement medal award) to the airman after they have separated? I ask because many of us who served at Beale AFB, CA never got our awards once we separated. They were held up at the base’s MPF. The approval process is very long. So, by the time the award is approved by the Group Commander, the airman is no longer active duty. Btw, everyone should try to stay away from Beale AFB, CA. Bad morale on base. Go to Travis AFB instead.
The short answer is yes. Currently I can only speak to those who use the vPC site process. Once MPS approves it a CSS member, either in MPF or at the squadron level, can pull the approved PDF of the decoration from vPC and print it on the decoration paper blank. My commander wet signs the decoration and gets it back to the CSS member to mail to the member. The CSS ideally has a valid/current mailing address on file… Ideally you get the decoration before you depart but yeah, some people suck.
The unit can even use government funds to mail it so it is just a matter of if the staff had the bandwidth. I’d reach out to the group exec and see if they can help you out, that isn’t right.
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Decoration Templates
With the new MyDecs Reimagined, decoration guidance has changed… A couple of these changes include:
- Line minimum/maximums (for MSM, ASCOM, and ASAM) no longer exist. They must not be longer than 1350 characters.
- Numbers: Nine and below will be spelled out (unless space is limited). All numbers above nine are not required to be spelled out.
- Abbreviations/Acronyms: Authorized if they are found on the approved DAF abbreviations and acronyms list.
- Font: Courier New at font size 11.
Dec Workbench is a decoration drafting tool that builds the opening and closing sentences based on selected options and indicates the number of characters for the 1350 myDec character limit. Please send any edits to TSgt Hansen at [email protected] .
Here are 2 templates made by friends at Nellis:
Template Decoration Narrative Builder
Published Sep 2020. Updated Feb 2024.
Air Force Hub
© 2024 trevor barthel loon cyber consulting.
The views and opinions presented herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its Components. Appearance of, or reference to, any commercial products or services does not constitute DoD endorsement of those products or services. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute DoD endorsement of the linked websites, or the information, products or services therein.
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permanent change of assignment (PCA), extended tour, or posthumously. A recommendation for decoration for an extended tour of meritorious service may be submitted when a member's service was clearly outstanding and unmistakably exceptional for at least 3 years. To qualify as
2.1.3. Personal military decorations and awards may be awarded posthumously. Refer to DAFMAN 36-2806 for guidance on specific awards. 2.1.4. Only one personal military decoration or award of the same type is authorized for the same act, achievement, or period of service. (T-0). This includes DoD and the other Military Departments’ awards.
Commanders use personal military decorations; campaign, expeditionary, and service awards; and unit awards to recognize meritorious or outstanding service, as well as excellence above and beyond the actions of others. 1.1.3. Personal military decorations and unit awards are processed using a 3-step process:
Extended tour is synonymous with mid tour. Yes, that is the condition you would use. As far as writing the Dec goes, narrate their top 3-5 bullets and use your wing writing guide. Have your troop send you their ROP as well for the supporting docs.
Awarding an Airman with one decoration for eight years of service may send a negative message when the Airman is competing for a SNCO promotion board later down the road. Due to this, the AFI authorizes what are called “extended tour” (also known as “mid-tour”) decorations.
Extended Tour. A member may be considered for a decoration for clearly outstanding and unmistakably exceptional or meritorious service for an extended period. For the Bronze Star Medal and lesser decorations, the member should be assigned to the unit or base for 3 or more years; and 4 or more years for the Legion of Merit. Approval authorities ...
consideration for an MSM for PCA should be held and included in a decoration based on a PCS. Extended tour submissions must cover at least a three-year period but should normally not be used...
Go for the extended tour decoration. If you PCS soon, and don't get a PCS dec, the board will see the extended tour dec and understand. Also, you could earn a PCS dec on top of this one.
Input SSN, Query Record, and click “Awards Decs” button. Click “DECORATIONS” button. Create a new record. ( Do Not create a new record if there is an existing update for the same decoration with the same device. Only add a subsequent number to the existing update) In the “Decoration” section input the code for the decoration ...
Here are 2 templates made by friends at Nellis: Template. Decoration Narrative Builder. Published Sep 2020. Updated Feb 2024. Was this tool helpful? Total Page Visits: 172. Air Force Hub. Templates covering the MyDecs Reimagined (v2) version of the AFAM, AFCM, and MSM.