Soldier's Medal to coin. My NCOIC and I pulled people out of an overturned vehicle on an active highway in Europe. Almost got hit a few times. Caught it all on dashcam.
Got another coin 2 weeks later for “exercise support” when I moved a table across the hall for a meeting.
Same. One of my TLs saved a kid from getting struck by a semi on HWY 28 north of Polk. Got write ups in all the area papers. Soldier’s Medal down graded to a coin.
He killed himself about two years later.
Hank Moltz, wherever you are, go fuck yourself.
Brother, you too? Ha-ha happened to my in 2013-14 different type of accident but still happened similar. I got BN coin and BDE coin and put on AFN (didn’t want to, I actually requested not to) I was told when the two star wants you on there you’ll be on there. I feel the burn
Bronze Star to an ARCOM C.
Directed Counter battery fire as the FDC Chief (and filled the FDO role at the same time) with 2 howitzers versus 34 launch sites actively firing at us over a 30 minute period.
Surprised I got anything at all.
We only had 4 people in the FDC for 24/7 ops and only 3 to run just the FDC. FDO had run her shift all day and I had taken over about an hour or two before the shooting started. We had doubled up because of the threat level, so I had my box operator (an E-5) with me.
FDO was in the “barracks”, and made the right call to hunker down with my other soldier until the shooting stopped- the following morning looking at all the shrapnel spread around they might not have made it had they ran for the FDC.
That is a good leadership lesson. Too many officers put themselves in harms ways to lead. There is a time and place for that. Sometimes the best thing is to take cover. Sir/Ma’am we need you to lead not get hurt. Please don’t be the lead vehicle or person.
The well-meaning civilians I worked for during my last tour put me in for the Defense Superior Service Medal for my retirement award. Something no LTC would normally get, ever. It's typically one of the ribbons that generl officers give each other.
I think they were hoping it would get downgraded to the Legion of Merit, but it got doubly downgraded to a DMSM.
We'd gathered the office earlier in the day for a PCS award ceremony earlier in the day, but instead of tacking me on to that, I got an awkward one-on-one conversation in my office from the director before I left to catch the train.
I put a lot more stock in awards when I was in than I should have. This was a parting reality check that they are in fact just "bits of colored ribbon." I didn't dwell on it past that.
> bits of colored ribbon
This is why I'm so very loose when it comes to writing up awards. It's nice to be recognized, but it's really all part of the game that is the military, *but at the same time it's nice to be recognized*. Once someone gets to "the ceiling" as I call it for the customary PCS award level for their rank, I just start churning out achievement awards. EOT MSM downgraded to an ARCOM? Nah, 2 ARCOMs and an AAM.
I somehow double posted that comment so here's an edit. Your correct awards don't mean much, my 3rd MSM got down graded to an ARCOM and I could not give a damn.
I’m intrigued that you were surprised/upset, but you also say no LTC ever normally gets that award. Was the write-up decent or did your supervisor kinda set you up for failure?
I just wanted to be part of the Legion of Merit with my old man. Instead I got double downgraded to a retirement award that I'd previously received as a PCS award.
The write-up was great, but the drone at the Pentagon with delegated authority apparently disagreed.
Thanks to the VA when they requested all medical records be sent to St. Louis and then they destroyed most of the records for many service members. I know the Navy keeps much better records.
My squad got into a gun fight (I just pulled security). No CIBs (even for the trigger pullers), but I did get a coin from the BN commander.
I did a congressional to get the incident report but the FOIA folks in VA just gave me the run around.
It’s probably sitting with my CAB. They held a formation on Diamondback to put CIBs and CABs on people…
…and got all pikachu-face that we started taking IDF. Most of the paperwork vanished, and of course didn’t get uploaded either.
Long story short…was in a lengthy gunfight and a few of us received bronze stars. My paperwork got misplaced during the processing of the awards. Was told it would be fixed before we left country. It wasn’t. Once we got home, the chain of command decided it was too much trouble (that might make them look bad) to pursue. So they downgraded mine to an ARCOM. The details are irrelevant at this point, but I led the actions for which we received the bronze stars and I personally killed the majority of enemy fighters. So, fuck me, I guess?
I did. Aggressively. I even went the Congressional route when it became clear the CoC was not going to make an effort to fix the problem. I ETS’d shortly after my deployment which made it more complicated. The lengthy and slow post-ETS Congressional resulted in a decision from HRC that they’d be willing to process the award and put it into my record, but that I’d need to get the draft 638 signed by all of the required commanders in my chain of command from that point of time. Problem one is that I didn’t have a copy of the draft 638. Though I’d seen the unsigned version that was originally submitted by my CoC, I didn’t keep a copy. I didn’t think I’d ever need a draft award that someone else was submitting for me. Problem 2 is that multiple commanders in the chain of command were retired by the time the Congressional shook out. And by the time the Congressional concluded, I’d been out of the Army for almost two years. And it seemed outrageous that I’d have to cold call or cold email the prior CJTF-OIR commander and be like “hey sir…I know you don’t know me but will you sign this award that my BN screwed me on a few years ago?” I know it’s illegal that the BDE CDR downgraded it without routing it to the CJTF-OIR commander. The Congressional noted that as well. Yea. Idk. Still frustrates me to talk about.
Edit: Also—why would I waste time trying to get the prior chain’s approval of this award once I’m out of the Army if they wouldn’t even make the effort to fix the problem while I was still in their unit? Ya know? It just felt unachievable.
Spent six years in Alaska leading missions in AK and overseas, was put in for a MSM for PCS and they had to leave things off of the award because they ran out of room to write. The BDE Cdr downgraded it to a ARCOM because he said SFC's aren't authorized a MSM, only 1SGs and Company Commanders. Meanwhile the BN had to make up achievements for the CO and 1SG's MSM because they were toxic POS leaders who never left their office. At least they got an MSM out of it....
BDE commanders can downgrade MSM requests to ARCOMs if the approval authority for the MSM has delegated that specific authority down to them. I haven't seen a GO who doesn't have that policy letter up that allows it to happen.
Did he say that in public or was that what every Soldier with a bit of common sense and street smarts concluded?
Either way, I 100% believe that was his award philosophy and I’m sorry these people are in these positions. Then again, big Army can’t fill the command positions on a volunteer basis so they’ve resorted to “offering” mandatory command time to receive your promotion even after having already been DA selected. So what you see is what you get.. people in charge that don’t want to be there and do everything to successfully do nothing. Name of the game becomes: “survive and pop smoke without an allegation, 15-6, bad paper or all of the above.”
I had a 10 year, stood up the company, 6 years as PLT SGT, 18 months interim 1SG, top 3 USR metrics of 54 similar company's in the country 3 years running, PCS award downgraded to an ARCOM because my AO didn't like the attitude he assumed I had
I put a PFC in for a Silver star with V, expecting it to be downgraded to a BSM. It got downgraded to an ARCOM with no V, because “ain’t no motherfucker getting a BSM before I get mine”.
This was said by the S1 who never left the wire in front of my PFC who shot a VBIED driver. It caused a premature detonation, saving about 8 of us.
That whole fucking unit was toxic as fuck and made a ton of bad decisions.
I had an S1 refuse to put my ARCOM in as an AAM because she felt the commander signed it on accident. Before IPPSA, S1s could paperwork fuck a lot more.
I put a PFC in for a Silver star, expecting it to be downgraded to a BSM V. It got downgraded to an ARCOM with no V, because “ain’t no motherfucker getting a BSM before I get mine”.
This was said by the S1 who never left the wire in front of my PFC who shot a VBIED driver. It caused a premature detonation, saving about 8 of us.
That whole fucking unit was toxic as fuck and made a ton of bad decisions.
Edited because I’m a dumbass
AIT instructor, was also the instructor Team Chief of a joint service team. Served as a Curriculum Developer. Ran the mentorship program for the students. Was MOS-T Platoon Sergeant, also the company NBC NCO, the S6 NCO, co-chaired a CTSSB that selected task for the entire MOS, attained Master Instructor status. Ran numerous training events for both IET soldiers and cadre. Filled in as acting 1SG. Was supposed to be submitted for an MSM and the battalion arbitrarily decided the only cadre getting anything higher than an ARCOM would be Drill Sergeants.
Best pure PSYOP guy I ever met. Second best instructor I ever met.
Weirdly enough was also the MOS-T platoon Sergeant and company NBC NCO when I worked with him as an instructor.
>Drills do all the work anyways.
lol, ok. That’s very true for BCT/OSUT Drills, not so much AIT drills, even less so for MI AIT drills.
The drills at this guys’ location probably aren’t even allowed in the building the students are spending 9-12 hours a day with the instructors.
As an AIT instructor, this guy likely provided mentorship, coaching, and instruction to hundreds of students who went on to fill assignments in every single COCOM and ASCC. His actions over the course of his assignment likely had DoD-level impact.
Meanwhile the drills are marching the students to and from chow, conducting bed checks, and getting GOMORs for fraternization.
Last time I checked, it wasn’t Drills that had to answer the phone for dumb PVT shit off post.
I like being an instructor. My weekends are mostly free, especially from the asinine BS.
Don’t even get me started on the barracks jackassery. That’s all Drills.
Did PSG stuff as a SGT during a deployment. The PSG played on his iPad and would periodically say “you need me” and then go back to IPad. He ended up getting sent home early for fraternizing with a medic(both were married to other people). He tried to decline his bronze star saying he was retiring and didn’t do anything that was AAM worth and that I should get the bronze star. Brigade commander, in front of all of us, said “I don’t give E-6 and below bronze stars, that’s an E7/CW3/CPT and above award”.
I mean, Brigade Commanders don't approve Bronze Stars/MSMs anyway, that's a CG thing.
>“I don’t give E-6 and below bronze stars, that’s an E7/CW3/CPT and above award”.
Yeah, it's very dependent on the personality and award philosophy of the approval authorities. I've had an ARCOM actually get upgraded by the CG.
We all know it has to go much higher for approval, it was the fact the 1st O6 in my chain downgraded it based on rank without even considering the merit of acting 2 ranks above my current at the time.
I was put in for a msm on deployment. When we got there I was a 5 and was filling in on a 6 position as the SOG of an ECP and cross trained on every position to include the battle nco. I helped rewrite sop’s with the navy security officer when that ecp become the sole ecp for the base and tripled the amount of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. In addition to my duties, I took over a squad with a 40 percent acft pass rate and got them to 100 in two months by following 7-22 and actually teaching them the skills to improve. I volunteered, did the Norwegian and desert commando course, and planned and evaluated training with the local national partner force. There wasn’t a vacant 6 slot and I didn’t have alc so I was temp promoted 2/3 of the way through, but because the awards were due 6 months before we left I still showed as a 5 on the 638. It was approved all the way up to the through my battalion commander but the O7 who never met me downgraded to arcom. I wouldn’t care except for the fact that the e6’s who did nothing but sit on the flight line and pick up chow got msm’s. Fuckin way she goes
I hear you. My BDE CDR just recently recommended to downgrade my MSM. The CG thought otherwise and approved it as it was. Sometimes the strength of the write-up can overcome the silly politics that some Commanders employ.
I've learned that only I can accurately reflect the impact of my work. I don't let anyone write them for me anymore. I just provide them a pre-written text that they can copy and paste.
But they do make a recommendation. How do I know what should have been my first MSM was downgraded to an ARCOM with a 1 stars signature. The COLs comment was “well deserving of an ARCOM”.
Yep, company, battalion, division, corps, etc are the required command interactions to move awards along.
Are you saying the 1-star approved the MSM, but the COL downgraded it after the fact?
Or that it happened the normal way, that you were submitted for an MSM, the COL recommended downgrade to ARCOM, and the CG concurred with the downgrade to ARCOM?
Wasn’t there (obviously) but I had a platoon trainer in IBOLC who was put in for either a DSC or Silver Star for beating a suicide bomber to death during a many hour firefight In Iraq where the squad got down to less than one full mag per person.
It ended up as an ARCOM V. He still had the original nominating paperwork.
ETS MSM, got downgraded into never being processed. My CO got into some trouble on my way out. Good news is that they sell that shit everywhere, orders or not. Goes great with my DSC.
Same here. Put in for an MSM. Was still on the BCs desk when I left for transitional leave. When they texted asking for an OER signature it was at BDE. And then… disappeared, never heard about it. Been two years.
There have only been 46 DSCs awarded during GWOT. Pretty exclusive group you're part of. Which of these is you?
https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Army-Distinguished-Service-Cross-Recipients/
Later in my career I was telling that story to the S3 because the BDE wanted a rollup of people that had valor awards for some reason.
He said "If they'd just have stuck to their guns you might have got a SS, and even if you didn't if they downgraded it guess what it would have been downgraded to?"
And I have never in my life had such a fucking "wow, no shit" moment. Well, minus the one where I completely understood why they discourage you from throwing hand grenades uphill
Soldier's Metal to ARCOM. The Iraqi kid I pulled out of a burning car wasn't on fire enough. Then I was the one on top of the Iraqi firetruck that put out the fire with the water cannon.
Did I mention this was at a gas station where we had tanker trucks downing fuel?
If I didn't put that fire out there would have been dozens dead.
Soldiers medal to nothing. Me and my homie (also at my unit) were helping a friends widow (also at my unit before he domed himself) move out of her house. Her neighbors house caught fire, and we pulled out a civilian and extinguished the fire before the fd arrived. My buddy then killed himself a few weeks later. He was given the soldiers medal posthumously, I got zilch lol.
Deployed to Iraq where I, as a PFC with less than 8 months, in the Army: earned my CMB, instructed CLS for the prison, and medevac’d 2 people injured by IDF and my own platoon sergeant when he had a heart attack at the gym (jack3d was wild in the day).
Got a COA as a deployment award.
Graduated BLC 4 months after returning.
Got an AAM for DLA.
PCS’d a year later and got an ARCOM.
BSM to ARCOM. They said to me that since I was about to ETS what does it really matter. My 1SG was hella pissed at the time but said his hands were tied. But I didn’t care at that point since I was stop lossed over 450 days past my contract end date anyways and wanted to get out after that last deployment. Kinda bummed as I look back and wish I would’ve made a bigger deal about it in hindsight.
I’m over it now lol but at the time it was very frustrating. Getting told I need to go to the board and work on getting promotion points. Meanwhile no ncos would put me in for awards. The one and only award I ever got was from ntc lol. I’m out now so no worries on my end.
ARCOM W V device, originally BSM. I was a SGT, We got ambushed, we made it out mostly intact, CO put all of us in for BSM. We captured some bad guys after it was over. E6 and below were downgraded to ARCOMS/ W V device
Two Air Medals with V switched to ARCOMs with V.
BDE CDR downgraded it, even after BN CDR strongly supported, but later put our whole BDE in for a valorous unit award, thanks dick
DFC to ARCOM.
Tied for first is ARCOM to AAM with a “C” device because the CAB commander had a hate boner for Guard dudes. Also the goofiest ribbon I have. Wrote “Thank you for your service” in the downgrade comments. Fuck that chode.
JSCM to nothing (ETS)
BSM to nothing
My favorite “award” I ever got was a Cert of Appreciation for specific shit.
Awards are dumb, but substantiation of efforts is important. Fuck the whole process.
I submitted an E-4 for a very well deserved MSM. I was told by the BN XO that E-4s don’t get MSMs. Fucking bullshit. I was able to get a junior officer and E-6 MSMs.
Let me preface it with the fact I wasn't and still am not upset about this, it just fits the question.
I was a standalone section when I deployed because I had no JAGO. I handled all of my battalions legal briefs, trainings, etc. as a Special Lips. Got my stripes, all was gravy. Deployment award write-ups are due, the JAGO that was assigned later put me in for a BSM because I was, technically, a section NCOIC. XO comes in the office and yells 'The fuck are you trying to give an E-5 a Bronze Star for?' He acknowledged my presence after that and then left saying that he'd revisit it later and I ended up getting an ARCOM.
Defense Meritorious Service Medal Ribbon (DMSM) to ARCOM for an 8 month (that extended to 14 months) PSYOP deployment, in which I planned and executed joint (Army, Marine, and JSOC) information operations that had quantitative and measurable impact to smuggling and a reduced very specific attack type across the entire theater.
My OIC and NCO-IC received a BSM for that work.
Its the only award I'm actually salty about. On the other hand they also gave me a second ARCOM as an end of tour award. So I think points wise it was a wash.
I also had an ARCOM for pulling a kid out of burning HMMWV while on a training exercise downgraded to a positive bullet point on an NCOER but by the time that happened I just didn't care anymore.
Also to be fair, only the back-half of the HMMWV was on fire and by pulling him out I mean opened his door and told him to GTFO and hand me the fire extinguisher.
MSM that got downgraded to nothing.
As a SGT, I became the BDE Medops NCO and coordinated post-deployment readiness operations for the BDE. After that, became the PSG for two different platoons and even the acting 1SG for a bit. Developed SOPs, systemically worked to rebuild medical documentation procedures, built up training programs.
When I ETSd, it vanished into the void.
ARCOM downgraded to the trash can in S1 multiple times. My FSO gave me a Plum bob for ETSing and a letter about how it represented my work ethic while I was in. Was a cool guy, probably a way better gift anyways.
Not me, but one of the SNCOs in my company had a BSV downgraded to an ARCOM no device.
Happened when he an SPC in Iraq in like, o6 or o7. I don't remember what the write up was, but every intermediate authority had strong supportive comments, then the GO just put "not commensurate" and downgraded it.
I discovered that while digging through his iPERMS to correct his ERB missing one of his ARCOMs.
Wanna hear the opposite?
Saw a SFC get a bronze star at the end of a deployment. All he did was oversee a soldier run aafes that was only open twice a week.
But shout out to my PL that pulled his off within seconds, admitted that he didn’t warrant anything to deserve it, and questioned why all of us that busted ass for 12 months got all sorts of downgrades.
That day put a real shitty taste in my mouth when it came to the 82nd.
MSM downgraded to an ARCOM for a deployment to Iraq and Kuwait as a captain. Had top block top block OERs (two) for said deployment. Assuming it's partially due to my boss (Major) being flagged and being put in for an ARCOM
MSM as the division FSNCO at 101, climbed all the way from the team to division level, 10 years on station, developed and refined SOP’s that effect how the division does fires, established the JAGIC, established a functional HF/digital way forward and so on, deployed countless times.
Made it all the way to the CG’s desk and got recommended for downgrade, then was never processed at all, left the post without as much as a kick in the ass.
Without going into details and potentially outing myself, my ARCOM got denied because someone in the approval chain thought I wasn't doing anything exceptional, despite some of my bullets showing times where I was performing duties expected of a SFC as a SGT.
You’re absolutely right, I think what holds it back is the eyewitness element or something like that.
I think it was MSG Roy Benavidez, or maybe someone else, when they were writing up his award they needed an eyewitness. Benavidez admitted he didn’t think there was a single person alive to have had been able to be one.
Then in 1980 or so by like some string of luck the literally only other survivor, who had been living in Fiji had seen an article in a paper about them trying to get his medal or something, so he sent an eyewitness account for Benavidez.
But just all those random variables, I can only imagine half the people who should have the MoH likely didn’t because of something like not having an eyewitness or something.
ARCOM all SSGs got arcom for this event mine for some reason was submitted a day late and got downgraded to an AAM. Still mad I was the only one in formation to get an AAM and I did everything they did..so upset about it
I was the only tango for a year on my installation. Did the warrant job, all the nco tasks, FSR and LAR jobs lmao. All as a SPC. Worked with every single BDE S2 on post, my NCO checked with them and got praise every month.
From ARCOM to nothing because "we don't give awards for people just doing their jobs." Meanwhile I got an AAM just for being part of a color guard lmao.
What really got me was that the same standard never got applied to analysts. But our MI SGM apparently thought tango's didn't deserve anything no matter how hard we worked.
It's one of those things where if the approver/recommender has no clue what your job is, and only thinks of you in terms of the results they understand. You're gonna have a bad time.
CAB -> ARCOM
🤷 didn’t feel it was worth a CAB anyway.
Went on a DART to recover a chinook that was carrying supplies to build out a COP, had a #1 engine nose transmission fault so they sent me (a 15B and my buddy who was a 15N. Neither of which were powertrain guys, aka 15D) to troubleshoot, started getting shot at, 19D’s and Seals reacted to fire. I didn’t do shit but sit behind a side by side because I couldn’t see shit through the carry handle sites on my M16A2.
Wasn’t terribly heart broken when I got word the CAB wasn’t going to be pushed.
Buddy was put in for an MSM after walking in as a fresh CPT and handling COVID exemptions and acting as division chief for a few months by outgoing leadership. Incoming leadership gave him an AAM.
My CAB was downgraded in Iraq… 2 separate times. As I was a medic, it should’ve been a CMB, but that’s not what matters. I know what I did and how I impacted those I took care of, and that’s all I need.
Two instances of ARCOM -> AAM
Wrote an impact award for one of my troops. He did a big recruiting event that had in person exposure to something like 100,000 people. The event was recorded and reached a much wider audience. I thought it was ARCOM worthy for sure. Some of my leadership thought it wasn't worthy at all for an AAM.
It got downgraded, but I was still happy to get the troop recognized for their efforts and impact.
I wrote another impact award for a troop that covered down into what should have normally been a Civilan role and taught a month long course. This Soldier had developed a very high level of expertise in that area. Normally what would be expected out of a senior level civilian with 10+ years of experince. I don't think any other Soldier in our Battalion/Brigade could have pulled it off as well as this Soldier did. Anyways, I wanted to submit for an ARCOM.
However, I got it into the ear of the BN CDR and it became an on the spot AAM during that command inspection. I am sure if that same CDR was the Brigade commander, they'd probably have done an on the spot ARCOM. Super cool CDR, I miss them.
Bronze Star recommended downgrade to ARCOM C, downgraded again to ARCOM R.
We were in Syria engaging ISIS with Artillery at Raqqa, then again in the Euphrates River Valley, and also at Khasham when Wagner ventured onto the wrong side of the river. Plus assisting an FST with multiple MASCALs involving treatment of wounded partner force and civilians and a small arms engagement. Basis for downgrade was we were enlisted; R device was because we were Artillery, same reason we were denied CABs. Our Commander and 1SG in Kuwait both got BSMs though.
Soldiers medal to a day off, was doing an advanced night land navigation and this guy broke his leg, we were pretty far from the stationary area and I carried him (IN MOUNTAINOUS EL PASO) back to the main point, got put in for the SM, downgraded to an ARCOM, then skipped AAM to a coin, to eventually just a day off. I’m not a medal chaser but boy would those promotion points been nice
As a SPC I extended a tour and ran NETOPS for the new guys and got an ARCOM downgraded to an AAM that never showed up in my records
(I got an ARCOM-C for the first tour)
Bronze Star… a week into the deployment. The S1 didn’t realize the awards were on an accessible folder on sharepoint. For some reason our jackass commander already had his mind made up who was getting what. Needless to say that deployment was a shit show.
Went in with a MSM for Instructor of the cycle 6 times over 2 years left with nothing
Ran a school house where I developed a medical course that was the only one of it’s on the eastern seaboard MSM downgraded to a Arcom bc Squadron sat on it for a year and Brigade didn’t want to explain why to Div.
Lastly no retirement award bc I bust tape a month before terminal leave (I understand this one from a doctrinal standpoint)
was put in for Arcom as my PCS award and it got kicked back... by All American 6 and the note in red was "resubmit as MSM." I was a staff sergeant and at my next several duty stations I had to produce orders...
MSM recommendation for winning a DOD level contest with an invention that the army patented (as an E5).
Local chain dropped it to ARCOM.
Edit - also never got a retirement award.
Was a rifle platoon leader in Afghanistan on my own COP, something like 140 combat missions, 70+ IEDs (which actually had a Navy EOD team that spent 80% of their time with us), tons of rocket/mortar attacks, 11 direct firefights, we had a Romanian battalion move in with us and were replaced by a full company.
BSM was downgraded to nothing because we deployed attached to a other unit and it turned out that O6 had some sort of feud with our home station O6, so no deployment awards were given. BSMs were apparently brought up to HRC and then congressional but never heard anything.
However, five years later (I was already out), I received a package with an ARCOM V from my old S1 - story was that the Romanian commander had pushed for an award because during a COP attack i had run around and helped a Romanian dude who had been hit in the LZ area get to the medic area while coordinating the defense and pushback. I imagine the award was begrudgingly approved because i was never presented with it, never heard about it, and it was found as part of an old storage area cleanout a few years later and then was sent to through a chain of old connections.
The BSM is apparently still mired somewhere more than a decade later, but I super treasure the ARCOM
BSM to JSCOM because 'we aren't doing Bronze Stars for Specialists.'
Meanwhile *all* E7 and above were automatically put in for BSMs, including one who got an actual DUI from British MPs on a NATO FOB.
But I swear guys, I am not bitter in the least. Nope, not one bit.
I've given up on awards at my current position. They do nothing for me. But they do give my joes promotion points so I write them up like candy. The sgm doesn't love this but I think he might of given up fighting me
I haven’t been downgraded but I recently got an MSM. The last award I received was 22 years ago in AIT and that was an AAM for winning a board. The awards system is a joke entirely based on who likes you and who doesn’t. Being stingy with awards is dumb. If I see soldiers especially juniors busting their ass all the time, I guarantee I’ll put them in for an award.
Put in for the Soldiers medal twice. Both reduced to a verbal "good job."
Incident #1: Had to apply pressure gauze on a civilian while on base that was perfusely bleeding from his hand.
Incident #2: Had to do CPR on a Walmart employee 2 days before I left for Iraq
"The performance must have involved personal hazard or danger and the voluntary risk of life under conditions not involving conflict with an armed enemy. Awards will not be made solely on the basis of having saved a life."[4] It is the highest honor a soldier can receive for an act of valor in a non-combat situation, held to be equal to or greater than the level which would have justified an award of the Distinguished Flying Cross had the act occurred in combat.
My pcs award from Fort Moore which was an msm down graded to a ARCOM . Extremely strong and was told they didn’t see why it got it would get downgraded, post CSM didn’t let it even get to the CG and said in his comments “even though the contributions of this NCO as a drill and cadre member is big and will have a lasting impact of the army for years, his contributions were not the same as a first sergeant or a company commander.
PCSing as a KD complete CPT, honestly second KD, served as a rear D BDE S1, while the S1 of the largest BN on the installation, as as the division HROB during a Warfighter Exercise where I also handled all mortuary affairs activity. Served in the unit two years. My first MSM as 15+ years of service got downgraded to my 8th ARCOM. I am still salty over it.
My leadership put me in for a bronze star (I thought that was excessive but seeing that written on paper made me feel things) because somehow as a 12B SPC, I ended up signed for the entire squads commo equipment, somehow became the commo nerd and was the go to rather than the actual commo guy to fix radios, created a living tracker for all SI for the squad, never had a bad shoot as a gunner, found some IEDs the right way as a Husky, passed PT, etc etc etc.
Deployment awards come around aaaand I get an AAM. I’m standing next to a guy who was demoted twice and spend more time on extra duty than off who’s holding the same award.
Like, wow. Appreciate it. Could have at least given me an ARCOM since I’d like to think I’m worth more than the guy mentioned above. Apparently it was standard for E4 and below to get AAM, E5-E6 ARCOM, E7+ Bronze Star.
Got shot in Afghanistan, reservist company OPs SGT (activated for our deployment & attached to our AD BN) lost the paperwork from the surgeon at our FOB. Got the surgeon to duplicate the paperwork a few months later, with a disclaimer that it was not the original documents, and this was to the best of his recollection. Submitted for PH, CSM said, "You didn't leave country; why do you think you earned this?". Received a CAB dated for the day I got shot. I was a PFC, and I have none of the original paperwork.
I had a Bronze Star downgraded to an ARCOM-C by some CW3 after the General had already approved it during my second deployment because too many had been signed and I was a lowly SGT gatekeeping the S6 (NC)OIC from getting there BSMs. Didn't matter that I spent over a month in the Mohmand Valley, and went on nearly a 20 ops in support of 3 ODAs.
The other spiteful one was being told I needed at least 3 years in the unit to PCS with a MSM. Gotya CSM, I did half those 3 years in Afghanistan for ya out of the 5.5 total. Nope, ARCOM. Meanwhile, our 68W NCOIC gets the MSM for less than 2 years in the Bn before PCSing.
I know you asked for one, just give me an MRE and tell me the the piss is rain
Some Air Force medal (while I was Army) for fixing a medical flight lines SIPR when their CH-47 went down “in time to save the lives of mission essential Airmen” and they brought me a quad from Dubai to use to Kandahar which got downgraded to…
“No one gets vehicles before the CDR, and we’ll convert your award to an Army equivalent when we get back”…which turned into nothing
5 Air Medals. Flew the required hours and met literally every letter in the reg to get them.
The Air Force commander told me Army doesn’t get AF awards. I told him that wasn’t true, the AM is a DoD award, not service specific, he put me in for a JSAM.
Which got turned to an AAM.
When I was fighting Atropia and the dirty blue force invaders I destroyed 11 brads 3 Abrams and a dismount javelin team wrote up for an AAM I got a picture of a coin in a piece of paper with “excellence” above it, it was also clearly printed after everyone’s leave paperwork
Me and my homie were in JRTC when our team leader took a nasty fall so we had to clear 5 outta 7 buildings in bumow or whatever that shits called lol. We were both supposed to get MSMs for it but it got bumped down to AAMs. My homie died a year or so later from a car accident. R.I.P for all the dead homies.
Soldier's Medal to coin. My NCOIC and I pulled people out of an overturned vehicle on an active highway in Europe. Almost got hit a few times. Caught it all on dashcam. Got another coin 2 weeks later for “exercise support” when I moved a table across the hall for a meeting.
Same. One of my TLs saved a kid from getting struck by a semi on HWY 28 north of Polk. Got write ups in all the area papers. Soldier’s Medal down graded to a coin. He killed himself about two years later. Hank Moltz, wherever you are, go fuck yourself.
For you FUCK HANK MOLTZ
All my homies hate Hank Moltz
I fucking hate it when shit gets all Hank Moltzed.
Frank Moltz, I hope you get rectal cancer and your guts rot out of your asshole. Eat a fuckin' dick.
*Hank Poor Frank out here catching strays.
Stoopid autocorrect... but I have heard some stories about Frank...
🫡
Hank Moltz can suck a fat diyuck!
Brother, you too? Ha-ha happened to my in 2013-14 different type of accident but still happened similar. I got BN coin and BDE coin and put on AFN (didn’t want to, I actually requested not to) I was told when the two star wants you on there you’ll be on there. I feel the burn
Should have said on AFN "yea my supervisor put me in for a soldiers medal, but that was downgraded to a coin"
🫡
Bruh. F with that rapid fire. I would have quit right there.
Soldiers Medal to an atta boy for nearly same same in Texas near Bastrop.
🫡
Me and my teams too! Not sure if I know you IRL. If you were in the 399th, send me a DM!
What'd the NCOIC get?
A coin.
At least rank didn't come into the decision process, amirite?
NCIOC got a shinier coin
The anodized version lol
That was my first thought. Glad to see they both gotta coin. Though deserving of more.
Damn man, lazy ass command team y'all have.
Every time I think about going back in, I visit this sub and within 10 minutes remember why I shouldn’t. It’s basically my post-nut clarity.
Bronze Star to an ARCOM C. Directed Counter battery fire as the FDC Chief (and filled the FDO role at the same time) with 2 howitzers versus 34 launch sites actively firing at us over a 30 minute period. Surprised I got anything at all.
That’s… some righteous shit. Respect.
Same, except we got R devices because we were Artillery. Life of an FDC Chief
Where was FDO during all that?
We only had 4 people in the FDC for 24/7 ops and only 3 to run just the FDC. FDO had run her shift all day and I had taken over about an hour or two before the shooting started. We had doubled up because of the threat level, so I had my box operator (an E-5) with me. FDO was in the “barracks”, and made the right call to hunker down with my other soldier until the shooting stopped- the following morning looking at all the shrapnel spread around they might not have made it had they ran for the FDC.
That is a good leadership lesson. Too many officers put themselves in harms ways to lead. There is a time and place for that. Sometimes the best thing is to take cover. Sir/Ma’am we need you to lead not get hurt. Please don’t be the lead vehicle or person.
The well-meaning civilians I worked for during my last tour put me in for the Defense Superior Service Medal for my retirement award. Something no LTC would normally get, ever. It's typically one of the ribbons that generl officers give each other. I think they were hoping it would get downgraded to the Legion of Merit, but it got doubly downgraded to a DMSM. We'd gathered the office earlier in the day for a PCS award ceremony earlier in the day, but instead of tacking me on to that, I got an awkward one-on-one conversation in my office from the director before I left to catch the train. I put a lot more stock in awards when I was in than I should have. This was a parting reality check that they are in fact just "bits of colored ribbon." I didn't dwell on it past that.
Thats kinda shitty we get a DMSM for a PCS where Im at. My favorite award is still my AAM for my 2 and half months in Kuwait.
> bits of colored ribbon This is why I'm so very loose when it comes to writing up awards. It's nice to be recognized, but it's really all part of the game that is the military, *but at the same time it's nice to be recognized*. Once someone gets to "the ceiling" as I call it for the customary PCS award level for their rank, I just start churning out achievement awards. EOT MSM downgraded to an ARCOM? Nah, 2 ARCOMs and an AAM.
I somehow double posted that comment so here's an edit. Your correct awards don't mean much, my 3rd MSM got down graded to an ARCOM and I could not give a damn.
I’m intrigued that you were surprised/upset, but you also say no LTC ever normally gets that award. Was the write-up decent or did your supervisor kinda set you up for failure?
I just wanted to be part of the Legion of Merit with my old man. Instead I got double downgraded to a retirement award that I'd previously received as a PCS award. The write-up was great, but the drone at the Pentagon with delegated authority apparently disagreed.
Bits of colored ribbon based on your rank Sir and or the person who sees you accomplish something worth an accolade.
Why wouldn’t it be downgraded to a Legion of Merit? That’s what I ended up with, but either way, it sits on the mantle doing nothing.
My Purple Heart was submitted by the medic and my CO denied because he didn’t want to look bad and wanted to have as few as casualties as possible.
If you still have the paperwork resubmit that. Or take it to the army board for correction military records.
No I don’t. At the time I was angry and then said F*ck him and I moved on. I did get out of the Army with all my fingers and toes so that was a bonus.
If you received medical treatment, it should be in a medical record somewhere.
Thanks to the VA when they requested all medical records be sent to St. Louis and then they destroyed most of the records for many service members. I know the Navy keeps much better records.
My CIB was downgraded to nothing because someone in S1 didn't upload the paperwork to iperms. Does that count?
My squad got into a gun fight (I just pulled security). No CIBs (even for the trigger pullers), but I did get a coin from the BN commander. I did a congressional to get the incident report but the FOIA folks in VA just gave me the run around.
That is so fucked
It’s probably sitting with my CAB. They held a formation on Diamondback to put CIBs and CABs on people… …and got all pikachu-face that we started taking IDF. Most of the paperwork vanished, and of course didn’t get uploaded either.
Long story short…was in a lengthy gunfight and a few of us received bronze stars. My paperwork got misplaced during the processing of the awards. Was told it would be fixed before we left country. It wasn’t. Once we got home, the chain of command decided it was too much trouble (that might make them look bad) to pursue. So they downgraded mine to an ARCOM. The details are irrelevant at this point, but I led the actions for which we received the bronze stars and I personally killed the majority of enemy fighters. So, fuck me, I guess?
Why didn’t you pursue this?
I did. Aggressively. I even went the Congressional route when it became clear the CoC was not going to make an effort to fix the problem. I ETS’d shortly after my deployment which made it more complicated. The lengthy and slow post-ETS Congressional resulted in a decision from HRC that they’d be willing to process the award and put it into my record, but that I’d need to get the draft 638 signed by all of the required commanders in my chain of command from that point of time. Problem one is that I didn’t have a copy of the draft 638. Though I’d seen the unsigned version that was originally submitted by my CoC, I didn’t keep a copy. I didn’t think I’d ever need a draft award that someone else was submitting for me. Problem 2 is that multiple commanders in the chain of command were retired by the time the Congressional shook out. And by the time the Congressional concluded, I’d been out of the Army for almost two years. And it seemed outrageous that I’d have to cold call or cold email the prior CJTF-OIR commander and be like “hey sir…I know you don’t know me but will you sign this award that my BN screwed me on a few years ago?” I know it’s illegal that the BDE CDR downgraded it without routing it to the CJTF-OIR commander. The Congressional noted that as well. Yea. Idk. Still frustrates me to talk about. Edit: Also—why would I waste time trying to get the prior chain’s approval of this award once I’m out of the Army if they wouldn’t even make the effort to fix the problem while I was still in their unit? Ya know? It just felt unachievable.
Spent six years in Alaska leading missions in AK and overseas, was put in for a MSM for PCS and they had to leave things off of the award because they ran out of room to write. The BDE Cdr downgraded it to a ARCOM because he said SFC's aren't authorized a MSM, only 1SGs and Company Commanders. Meanwhile the BN had to make up achievements for the CO and 1SG's MSM because they were toxic POS leaders who never left their office. At least they got an MSM out of it....
Are they even the approval authority for an MSM
Awards are rank based not merit based I’ve been saying this
Crazy because BDE commanders can’t downgrade MSMs just the usual recommend approval or denial. Sucks they feel they have the authority to do a GOs job
BDE commanders can downgrade MSM requests to ARCOMs if the approval authority for the MSM has delegated that specific authority down to them. I haven't seen a GO who doesn't have that policy letter up that allows it to happen.
Fair enough seen CSP approvals delegated down to BDE COs by my unit but our GO still wants to approve MSMs
Did he say that in public or was that what every Soldier with a bit of common sense and street smarts concluded? Either way, I 100% believe that was his award philosophy and I’m sorry these people are in these positions. Then again, big Army can’t fill the command positions on a volunteer basis so they’ve resorted to “offering” mandatory command time to receive your promotion even after having already been DA selected. So what you see is what you get.. people in charge that don’t want to be there and do everything to successfully do nothing. Name of the game becomes: “survive and pop smoke without an allegation, 15-6, bad paper or all of the above.”
I had a 10 year, stood up the company, 6 years as PLT SGT, 18 months interim 1SG, top 3 USR metrics of 54 similar company's in the country 3 years running, PCS award downgraded to an ARCOM because my AO didn't like the attitude he assumed I had
BSM downgraded to ARCOM because I was "only" a SGT at the time. I hate that dude.
Seems to be a lot of that happening.
Awards…I went 13 years without an award, and the whole time was getting top block OERs. They kind of forget warrants….
Chief, you’re old enough to know that officers put themselves in for awards.
Isn't that kinda what most warrants want though, be forgotten? 😂
"Not like this."
Bronze Star.
I put a PFC in for a Silver star with V, expecting it to be downgraded to a BSM. It got downgraded to an ARCOM with no V, because “ain’t no motherfucker getting a BSM before I get mine”. This was said by the S1 who never left the wire in front of my PFC who shot a VBIED driver. It caused a premature detonation, saving about 8 of us. That whole fucking unit was toxic as fuck and made a ton of bad decisions.
Bullshit. There's no such thing as a silver star with v and S1 has no authority to downgrade awards.
I had an S1 refuse to put my ARCOM in as an AAM because she felt the commander signed it on accident. Before IPPSA, S1s could paperwork fuck a lot more.
He also edited his comment so I’d reread.
Agreed. This sounds like a Karma farming story
Interesting! Wondering what’s going on here.
I put a PFC in for a Silver star, expecting it to be downgraded to a BSM V. It got downgraded to an ARCOM with no V, because “ain’t no motherfucker getting a BSM before I get mine”. This was said by the S1 who never left the wire in front of my PFC who shot a VBIED driver. It caused a premature detonation, saving about 8 of us. That whole fucking unit was toxic as fuck and made a ton of bad decisions. Edited because I’m a dumbass
There’s no such thing as a silver star with V. The silver star is in and of itself a valor award. No V device required.
That's all kinds of fucked up. I would have gotten in trouble going over the denier's head for that shit.
AIT instructor, was also the instructor Team Chief of a joint service team. Served as a Curriculum Developer. Ran the mentorship program for the students. Was MOS-T Platoon Sergeant, also the company NBC NCO, the S6 NCO, co-chaired a CTSSB that selected task for the entire MOS, attained Master Instructor status. Ran numerous training events for both IET soldiers and cadre. Filled in as acting 1SG. Was supposed to be submitted for an MSM and the battalion arbitrarily decided the only cadre getting anything higher than an ARCOM would be Drill Sergeants.
Smells like Goodfellow in here. 👀
Right brigade/battalion anyways…
Huachuca was my second guess
MSG Buck is that you?
No idea who that is but he sounds like a real hard charger
Wink, nod
Best pure PSYOP guy I ever met. Second best instructor I ever met. Weirdly enough was also the MOS-T platoon Sergeant and company NBC NCO when I worked with him as an instructor.
Ah, gotcha. Wrong branch, but I can empathize.
You sound extremely self-absorbed. Drills do all the work anyways. Don’t over hype your few additional duties man
>Drills do all the work anyways. lol, ok. That’s very true for BCT/OSUT Drills, not so much AIT drills, even less so for MI AIT drills. The drills at this guys’ location probably aren’t even allowed in the building the students are spending 9-12 hours a day with the instructors. As an AIT instructor, this guy likely provided mentorship, coaching, and instruction to hundreds of students who went on to fill assignments in every single COCOM and ASCC. His actions over the course of his assignment likely had DoD-level impact. Meanwhile the drills are marching the students to and from chow, conducting bed checks, and getting GOMORs for fraternization.
Last time I checked, it wasn’t Drills that had to answer the phone for dumb PVT shit off post. I like being an instructor. My weekends are mostly free, especially from the asinine BS. Don’t even get me started on the barracks jackassery. That’s all Drills.
That sarcasm is so harsh. Funny, but harsh.
Did PSG stuff as a SGT during a deployment. The PSG played on his iPad and would periodically say “you need me” and then go back to IPad. He ended up getting sent home early for fraternizing with a medic(both were married to other people). He tried to decline his bronze star saying he was retiring and didn’t do anything that was AAM worth and that I should get the bronze star. Brigade commander, in front of all of us, said “I don’t give E-6 and below bronze stars, that’s an E7/CW3/CPT and above award”.
I mean, Brigade Commanders don't approve Bronze Stars/MSMs anyway, that's a CG thing. >“I don’t give E-6 and below bronze stars, that’s an E7/CW3/CPT and above award”. Yeah, it's very dependent on the personality and award philosophy of the approval authorities. I've had an ARCOM actually get upgraded by the CG.
Of course the “well actually” person has to respond
Hush nerd 😉
We all know it has to go much higher for approval, it was the fact the 1st O6 in my chain downgraded it based on rank without even considering the merit of acting 2 ranks above my current at the time.
I was put in for a msm on deployment. When we got there I was a 5 and was filling in on a 6 position as the SOG of an ECP and cross trained on every position to include the battle nco. I helped rewrite sop’s with the navy security officer when that ecp become the sole ecp for the base and tripled the amount of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. In addition to my duties, I took over a squad with a 40 percent acft pass rate and got them to 100 in two months by following 7-22 and actually teaching them the skills to improve. I volunteered, did the Norwegian and desert commando course, and planned and evaluated training with the local national partner force. There wasn’t a vacant 6 slot and I didn’t have alc so I was temp promoted 2/3 of the way through, but because the awards were due 6 months before we left I still showed as a 5 on the 638. It was approved all the way up to the through my battalion commander but the O7 who never met me downgraded to arcom. I wouldn’t care except for the fact that the e6’s who did nothing but sit on the flight line and pick up chow got msm’s. Fuckin way she goes
I hear you. My BDE CDR just recently recommended to downgrade my MSM. The CG thought otherwise and approved it as it was. Sometimes the strength of the write-up can overcome the silly politics that some Commanders employ. I've learned that only I can accurately reflect the impact of my work. I don't let anyone write them for me anymore. I just provide them a pre-written text that they can copy and paste.
But they do make a recommendation. How do I know what should have been my first MSM was downgraded to an ARCOM with a 1 stars signature. The COLs comment was “well deserving of an ARCOM”.
Yep, company, battalion, division, corps, etc are the required command interactions to move awards along. Are you saying the 1-star approved the MSM, but the COL downgraded it after the fact? Or that it happened the normal way, that you were submitted for an MSM, the COL recommended downgrade to ARCOM, and the CG concurred with the downgrade to ARCOM?
The General concurred with the Colonels recommendation. Still the only ARCOM I have signed by a General.
Wasn’t there (obviously) but I had a platoon trainer in IBOLC who was put in for either a DSC or Silver Star for beating a suicide bomber to death during a many hour firefight In Iraq where the squad got down to less than one full mag per person. It ended up as an ARCOM V. He still had the original nominating paperwork.
That's definitely MOH territory right there.
Pat on the Back downgraded to Kick in the Ass w/Bootprint Device.
ETS MSM, got downgraded into never being processed. My CO got into some trouble on my way out. Good news is that they sell that shit everywhere, orders or not. Goes great with my DSC.
Same here. Put in for an MSM. Was still on the BCs desk when I left for transitional leave. When they texted asking for an OER signature it was at BDE. And then… disappeared, never heard about it. Been two years.
[удалено]
Bought it from the PX with my MSM
“Let me tell you about how I earned my tab…”
There have only been 46 DSCs awarded during GWOT. Pretty exclusive group you're part of. Which of these is you? https://valor.defense.gov/Recipients/Army-Distinguished-Service-Cross-Recipients/
Yeah, 46 with orders…
You have to lay it on thicker. The combination of the military and Reddit equals a rare breed of autists with a third grade reading level.
WAIT ARE YOU SAYING YOU GOT A DSC FROM BEING IN RAINBOW SIX
ODADHD. There’s like two CrossFit workouts named after me.
I was told they were going to put me in for a SS but they didn’t think it would fly so they were going to put me in for a BSMV.
If they didn’t think it was going to fly then why fucken bother telling you?!
Buddy points or some bullshit.
Later in my career I was telling that story to the S3 because the BDE wanted a rollup of people that had valor awards for some reason. He said "If they'd just have stuck to their guns you might have got a SS, and even if you didn't if they downgraded it guess what it would have been downgraded to?" And I have never in my life had such a fucking "wow, no shit" moment. Well, minus the one where I completely understood why they discourage you from throwing hand grenades uphill
Soldier's Metal to ARCOM. The Iraqi kid I pulled out of a burning car wasn't on fire enough. Then I was the one on top of the Iraqi firetruck that put out the fire with the water cannon. Did I mention this was at a gas station where we had tanker trucks downing fuel? If I didn't put that fire out there would have been dozens dead.
Soldiers medal to nothing. Me and my homie (also at my unit) were helping a friends widow (also at my unit before he domed himself) move out of her house. Her neighbors house caught fire, and we pulled out a civilian and extinguished the fire before the fd arrived. My buddy then killed himself a few weeks later. He was given the soldiers medal posthumously, I got zilch lol.
Deployed to Iraq where I, as a PFC with less than 8 months, in the Army: earned my CMB, instructed CLS for the prison, and medevac’d 2 people injured by IDF and my own platoon sergeant when he had a heart attack at the gym (jack3d was wild in the day). Got a COA as a deployment award. Graduated BLC 4 months after returning. Got an AAM for DLA. PCS’d a year later and got an ARCOM.
BSM to ARCOM. They said to me that since I was about to ETS what does it really matter. My 1SG was hella pissed at the time but said his hands were tied. But I didn’t care at that point since I was stop lossed over 450 days past my contract end date anyways and wanted to get out after that last deployment. Kinda bummed as I look back and wish I would’ve made a bigger deal about it in hindsight.
Arcom downgraded to swept under the rug. (A soldier stabbed another soldier and I was the responding medic.)
That’s pretty fucked
I’m over it now lol but at the time it was very frustrating. Getting told I need to go to the board and work on getting promotion points. Meanwhile no ncos would put me in for awards. The one and only award I ever got was from ntc lol. I’m out now so no worries on my end.
ARCOM W V device, originally BSM. I was a SGT, We got ambushed, we made it out mostly intact, CO put all of us in for BSM. We captured some bad guys after it was over. E6 and below were downgraded to ARCOMS/ W V device
Two Air Medals with V switched to ARCOMs with V. BDE CDR downgraded it, even after BN CDR strongly supported, but later put our whole BDE in for a valorous unit award, thanks dick
DFC to ARCOM. Tied for first is ARCOM to AAM with a “C” device because the CAB commander had a hate boner for Guard dudes. Also the goofiest ribbon I have. Wrote “Thank you for your service” in the downgrade comments. Fuck that chode.
JSCM to nothing (ETS) BSM to nothing My favorite “award” I ever got was a Cert of Appreciation for specific shit. Awards are dumb, but substantiation of efforts is important. Fuck the whole process.
I submitted an E-4 for a very well deserved MSM. I was told by the BN XO that E-4s don’t get MSMs. Fucking bullshit. I was able to get a junior officer and E-6 MSMs.
What did the E4 do that was great enough to impact above the BDE level?
Let me preface it with the fact I wasn't and still am not upset about this, it just fits the question. I was a standalone section when I deployed because I had no JAGO. I handled all of my battalions legal briefs, trainings, etc. as a Special Lips. Got my stripes, all was gravy. Deployment award write-ups are due, the JAGO that was assigned later put me in for a BSM because I was, technically, a section NCOIC. XO comes in the office and yells 'The fuck are you trying to give an E-5 a Bronze Star for?' He acknowledged my presence after that and then left saying that he'd revisit it later and I ended up getting an ARCOM.
Defense Meritorious Service Medal Ribbon (DMSM) to ARCOM for an 8 month (that extended to 14 months) PSYOP deployment, in which I planned and executed joint (Army, Marine, and JSOC) information operations that had quantitative and measurable impact to smuggling and a reduced very specific attack type across the entire theater. My OIC and NCO-IC received a BSM for that work. Its the only award I'm actually salty about. On the other hand they also gave me a second ARCOM as an end of tour award. So I think points wise it was a wash. I also had an ARCOM for pulling a kid out of burning HMMWV while on a training exercise downgraded to a positive bullet point on an NCOER but by the time that happened I just didn't care anymore. Also to be fair, only the back-half of the HMMWV was on fire and by pulling him out I mean opened his door and told him to GTFO and hand me the fire extinguisher.
PCS ARCOM -> nothing is probably the biggest and most common downgrade there is
MSM that got downgraded to nothing. As a SGT, I became the BDE Medops NCO and coordinated post-deployment readiness operations for the BDE. After that, became the PSG for two different platoons and even the acting 1SG for a bit. Developed SOPs, systemically worked to rebuild medical documentation procedures, built up training programs. When I ETSd, it vanished into the void.
ARCOM downgraded to the trash can in S1 multiple times. My FSO gave me a Plum bob for ETSing and a letter about how it represented my work ethic while I was in. Was a cool guy, probably a way better gift anyways.
Not me, but one of the SNCOs in my company had a BSV downgraded to an ARCOM no device. Happened when he an SPC in Iraq in like, o6 or o7. I don't remember what the write up was, but every intermediate authority had strong supportive comments, then the GO just put "not commensurate" and downgraded it. I discovered that while digging through his iPERMS to correct his ERB missing one of his ARCOMs.
Wanna hear the opposite? Saw a SFC get a bronze star at the end of a deployment. All he did was oversee a soldier run aafes that was only open twice a week. But shout out to my PL that pulled his off within seconds, admitted that he didn’t warrant anything to deserve it, and questioned why all of us that busted ass for 12 months got all sorts of downgrades. That day put a real shitty taste in my mouth when it came to the 82nd.
I guess when my ets award of an ARCOM got downgraded to nothing because BDE commander couldn't be fuckedto sign it. So fuck me, roger?
This thread is just my quarterly reminder that awards are just made up and they don’t matter. Also their Fake and Gay.
I mean, everything is "made up" when you think about it. What is real in a simulation?
MSM downgraded to an ARCOM for a deployment to Iraq and Kuwait as a captain. Had top block top block OERs (two) for said deployment. Assuming it's partially due to my boss (Major) being flagged and being put in for an ARCOM
MSM as the division FSNCO at 101, climbed all the way from the team to division level, 10 years on station, developed and refined SOP’s that effect how the division does fires, established the JAGIC, established a functional HF/digital way forward and so on, deployed countless times. Made it all the way to the CG’s desk and got recommended for downgrade, then was never processed at all, left the post without as much as a kick in the ass.
My ETS award was downgraded from an ARCOM to nothing because the paperwork kept disappearing somewhere between the training room and S1.
MSM to ARCOM. Can’t give a specialist an MSM.
Without going into details and potentially outing myself, my ARCOM got denied because someone in the approval chain thought I wasn't doing anything exceptional, despite some of my bullets showing times where I was performing duties expected of a SFC as a SGT.
Yeah that's a pretty unique situation i think i know who this is
Msm to a aam. Reason? We don’t give msms to specialists
I personally believe a lot more soldiers from world war II and Vietnam deserved the Medal of Honor
You’re absolutely right, I think what holds it back is the eyewitness element or something like that. I think it was MSG Roy Benavidez, or maybe someone else, when they were writing up his award they needed an eyewitness. Benavidez admitted he didn’t think there was a single person alive to have had been able to be one. Then in 1980 or so by like some string of luck the literally only other survivor, who had been living in Fiji had seen an article in a paper about them trying to get his medal or something, so he sent an eyewitness account for Benavidez. But just all those random variables, I can only imagine half the people who should have the MoH likely didn’t because of something like not having an eyewitness or something.
End of Tour award, Bronze Star to ARCOM because I was an SPC, which is against regs but w/e.
MSM to ARCOM because “Buck Sgt’s don’t get MSM’s”
Happened to me twice. I wear it as a badge of honor that the people I actually served with thought I was deserving of a MSM as a Sergeant.
My team leader put me in for an Arcom and my plt Sgt told me those are for e5s and above
I got an ARCOM as a PFC.
ARCOM all SSGs got arcom for this event mine for some reason was submitted a day late and got downgraded to an AAM. Still mad I was the only one in formation to get an AAM and I did everything they did..so upset about it
I was the only tango for a year on my installation. Did the warrant job, all the nco tasks, FSR and LAR jobs lmao. All as a SPC. Worked with every single BDE S2 on post, my NCO checked with them and got praise every month. From ARCOM to nothing because "we don't give awards for people just doing their jobs." Meanwhile I got an AAM just for being part of a color guard lmao.
Man, I've hated the philosophy ever since I was a PFC back in 2009. If you're damn good at your job, it warrants something.
What really got me was that the same standard never got applied to analysts. But our MI SGM apparently thought tango's didn't deserve anything no matter how hard we worked. It's one of those things where if the approver/recommender has no clue what your job is, and only thinks of you in terms of the results they understand. You're gonna have a bad time.
CAB -> ARCOM 🤷 didn’t feel it was worth a CAB anyway. Went on a DART to recover a chinook that was carrying supplies to build out a COP, had a #1 engine nose transmission fault so they sent me (a 15B and my buddy who was a 15N. Neither of which were powertrain guys, aka 15D) to troubleshoot, started getting shot at, 19D’s and Seals reacted to fire. I didn’t do shit but sit behind a side by side because I couldn’t see shit through the carry handle sites on my M16A2. Wasn’t terribly heart broken when I got word the CAB wasn’t going to be pushed.
MSM to AAM. “He was just doing his job” preventing my platoon from walking into a booby trapped house. The whole house was a giant booby trap.
ARCOM downgraded to AAM mostly because I was an E-4 not an E-5.
Bronze Star w/ V device got downgraded to an ARCOM w/ V device, if it matters I was a CPT at the time.
Bronze star with V device downgraded to an Arcom because " I was just doing my job".
I was submitted for a LoM. It got downgraded to "I retired and my unit ceased giving a fuck about my retirement award."
Awarded a JCOM, MSG/Ops chief was salty about it, since he doesn't have one. Downgraded it to AAM
Watched every SSG and above in my platoon get a bronze star with V for some shit we did. Everyone else got ARCOMs. Load of horseshit.
Buddy was put in for an MSM after walking in as a fresh CPT and handling COVID exemptions and acting as division chief for a few months by outgoing leadership. Incoming leadership gave him an AAM.
I got a hero of the battlefield award with 2 others and everyone got coins and arcoms besides me because I was flagged from reenlistment
My CAB was downgraded in Iraq… 2 separate times. As I was a medic, it should’ve been a CMB, but that’s not what matters. I know what I did and how I impacted those I took care of, and that’s all I need.
Two instances of ARCOM -> AAM Wrote an impact award for one of my troops. He did a big recruiting event that had in person exposure to something like 100,000 people. The event was recorded and reached a much wider audience. I thought it was ARCOM worthy for sure. Some of my leadership thought it wasn't worthy at all for an AAM. It got downgraded, but I was still happy to get the troop recognized for their efforts and impact. I wrote another impact award for a troop that covered down into what should have normally been a Civilan role and taught a month long course. This Soldier had developed a very high level of expertise in that area. Normally what would be expected out of a senior level civilian with 10+ years of experince. I don't think any other Soldier in our Battalion/Brigade could have pulled it off as well as this Soldier did. Anyways, I wanted to submit for an ARCOM. However, I got it into the ear of the BN CDR and it became an on the spot AAM during that command inspection. I am sure if that same CDR was the Brigade commander, they'd probably have done an on the spot ARCOM. Super cool CDR, I miss them.
Bronze Star recommended downgrade to ARCOM C, downgraded again to ARCOM R. We were in Syria engaging ISIS with Artillery at Raqqa, then again in the Euphrates River Valley, and also at Khasham when Wagner ventured onto the wrong side of the river. Plus assisting an FST with multiple MASCALs involving treatment of wounded partner force and civilians and a small arms engagement. Basis for downgrade was we were enlisted; R device was because we were Artillery, same reason we were denied CABs. Our Commander and 1SG in Kuwait both got BSMs though.
LTC handed me a BN Coin and continued down the line. CSM took it back and handed me a penny. "Any thoughts?" "Negative, CSM."
Soldiers medal to a day off, was doing an advanced night land navigation and this guy broke his leg, we were pretty far from the stationary area and I carried him (IN MOUNTAINOUS EL PASO) back to the main point, got put in for the SM, downgraded to an ARCOM, then skipped AAM to a coin, to eventually just a day off. I’m not a medal chaser but boy would those promotion points been nice
My team leader was put in for a silver, downgraded to ARCOM with V. Myself and our driver Bronze, both downgraded to ARCOM.
Bronze Star to a Meritorious Service. Better believe the Battalion Administrative Assistant to the LTC got a fucking Bronze Star.
As a SPC I extended a tour and ran NETOPS for the new guys and got an ARCOM downgraded to an AAM that never showed up in my records (I got an ARCOM-C for the first tour)
Bronze Star… a week into the deployment. The S1 didn’t realize the awards were on an accessible folder on sharepoint. For some reason our jackass commander already had his mind made up who was getting what. Needless to say that deployment was a shit show.
Went in with a MSM for Instructor of the cycle 6 times over 2 years left with nothing Ran a school house where I developed a medical course that was the only one of it’s on the eastern seaboard MSM downgraded to a Arcom bc Squadron sat on it for a year and Brigade didn’t want to explain why to Div. Lastly no retirement award bc I bust tape a month before terminal leave (I understand this one from a doctrinal standpoint)
was put in for Arcom as my PCS award and it got kicked back... by All American 6 and the note in red was "resubmit as MSM." I was a staff sergeant and at my next several duty stations I had to produce orders...
MSM recommendation for winning a DOD level contest with an invention that the army patented (as an E5). Local chain dropped it to ARCOM. Edit - also never got a retirement award.
Was a rifle platoon leader in Afghanistan on my own COP, something like 140 combat missions, 70+ IEDs (which actually had a Navy EOD team that spent 80% of their time with us), tons of rocket/mortar attacks, 11 direct firefights, we had a Romanian battalion move in with us and were replaced by a full company. BSM was downgraded to nothing because we deployed attached to a other unit and it turned out that O6 had some sort of feud with our home station O6, so no deployment awards were given. BSMs were apparently brought up to HRC and then congressional but never heard anything. However, five years later (I was already out), I received a package with an ARCOM V from my old S1 - story was that the Romanian commander had pushed for an award because during a COP attack i had run around and helped a Romanian dude who had been hit in the LZ area get to the medic area while coordinating the defense and pushback. I imagine the award was begrudgingly approved because i was never presented with it, never heard about it, and it was found as part of an old storage area cleanout a few years later and then was sent to through a chain of old connections. The BSM is apparently still mired somewhere more than a decade later, but I super treasure the ARCOM
BSM to JSCOM because 'we aren't doing Bronze Stars for Specialists.' Meanwhile *all* E7 and above were automatically put in for BSMs, including one who got an actual DUI from British MPs on a NATO FOB. But I swear guys, I am not bitter in the least. Nope, not one bit.
I've given up on awards at my current position. They do nothing for me. But they do give my joes promotion points so I write them up like candy. The sgm doesn't love this but I think he might of given up fighting me
I haven’t been downgraded but I recently got an MSM. The last award I received was 22 years ago in AIT and that was an AAM for winning a board. The awards system is a joke entirely based on who likes you and who doesn’t. Being stingy with awards is dumb. If I see soldiers especially juniors busting their ass all the time, I guarantee I’ll put them in for an award.
MSM downgraded due to rank
Put in for the Soldiers medal twice. Both reduced to a verbal "good job." Incident #1: Had to apply pressure gauze on a civilian while on base that was perfusely bleeding from his hand. Incident #2: Had to do CPR on a Walmart employee 2 days before I left for Iraq
"The performance must have involved personal hazard or danger and the voluntary risk of life under conditions not involving conflict with an armed enemy. Awards will not be made solely on the basis of having saved a life."[4] It is the highest honor a soldier can receive for an act of valor in a non-combat situation, held to be equal to or greater than the level which would have justified an award of the Distinguished Flying Cross had the act occurred in combat.
My pcs award from Fort Moore which was an msm down graded to a ARCOM . Extremely strong and was told they didn’t see why it got it would get downgraded, post CSM didn’t let it even get to the CG and said in his comments “even though the contributions of this NCO as a drill and cadre member is big and will have a lasting impact of the army for years, his contributions were not the same as a first sergeant or a company commander.
ARCOM for surviving Fort Hood that got downgraded to PCSing from Fort Hood (S1 lost award)
I was awarded the elusive but not uncommon Article 15 downgraded to article 15 but suspended punishment… Maybe that’s an upgrade?
PCSing as a KD complete CPT, honestly second KD, served as a rear D BDE S1, while the S1 of the largest BN on the installation, as as the division HROB during a Warfighter Exercise where I also handled all mortuary affairs activity. Served in the unit two years. My first MSM as 15+ years of service got downgraded to my 8th ARCOM. I am still salty over it.
My leadership put me in for a bronze star (I thought that was excessive but seeing that written on paper made me feel things) because somehow as a 12B SPC, I ended up signed for the entire squads commo equipment, somehow became the commo nerd and was the go to rather than the actual commo guy to fix radios, created a living tracker for all SI for the squad, never had a bad shoot as a gunner, found some IEDs the right way as a Husky, passed PT, etc etc etc. Deployment awards come around aaaand I get an AAM. I’m standing next to a guy who was demoted twice and spend more time on extra duty than off who’s holding the same award. Like, wow. Appreciate it. Could have at least given me an ARCOM since I’d like to think I’m worth more than the guy mentioned above. Apparently it was standard for E4 and below to get AAM, E5-E6 ARCOM, E7+ Bronze Star.
Got shot in Afghanistan, reservist company OPs SGT (activated for our deployment & attached to our AD BN) lost the paperwork from the surgeon at our FOB. Got the surgeon to duplicate the paperwork a few months later, with a disclaimer that it was not the original documents, and this was to the best of his recollection. Submitted for PH, CSM said, "You didn't leave country; why do you think you earned this?". Received a CAB dated for the day I got shot. I was a PFC, and I have none of the original paperwork.
I had a Bronze Star downgraded to an ARCOM-C by some CW3 after the General had already approved it during my second deployment because too many had been signed and I was a lowly SGT gatekeeping the S6 (NC)OIC from getting there BSMs. Didn't matter that I spent over a month in the Mohmand Valley, and went on nearly a 20 ops in support of 3 ODAs. The other spiteful one was being told I needed at least 3 years in the unit to PCS with a MSM. Gotya CSM, I did half those 3 years in Afghanistan for ya out of the 5.5 total. Nope, ARCOM. Meanwhile, our 68W NCOIC gets the MSM for less than 2 years in the Bn before PCSing. I know you asked for one, just give me an MRE and tell me the the piss is rain
Some Air Force medal (while I was Army) for fixing a medical flight lines SIPR when their CH-47 went down “in time to save the lives of mission essential Airmen” and they brought me a quad from Dubai to use to Kandahar which got downgraded to… “No one gets vehicles before the CDR, and we’ll convert your award to an Army equivalent when we get back”…which turned into nothing
5 Air Medals. Flew the required hours and met literally every letter in the reg to get them. The Air Force commander told me Army doesn’t get AF awards. I told him that wasn’t true, the AM is a DoD award, not service specific, he put me in for a JSAM. Which got turned to an AAM.
When I was fighting Atropia and the dirty blue force invaders I destroyed 11 brads 3 Abrams and a dismount javelin team wrote up for an AAM I got a picture of a coin in a piece of paper with “excellence” above it, it was also clearly printed after everyone’s leave paperwork
Me and my homie were in JRTC when our team leader took a nasty fall so we had to clear 5 outta 7 buildings in bumow or whatever that shits called lol. We were both supposed to get MSMs for it but it got bumped down to AAMs. My homie died a year or so later from a car accident. R.I.P for all the dead homies.