Are awards rank specific, such as the Meritorious Service Medal?

By the books? No. Rank is not a criteria or discriminator for awards. Off the record or unofficially? It absolutely is...

It's not uncommon, especially in a deployment zone, to find unofficial award quotas by rank floating around...

Having served briefly as an awards clerk before going to college I have some experience with this issue. There is not direct link or reference to rank in the Army's award system and regulation. The reg. basically states the level or responsibility and impact of the Soldier's actions will dictate the appropriate award. The recommender writes the award and recommends an award to be given. It is critical that the recommender write the recommendation appropriately; this has more of an impact on what is eventually awarded than the action(s) of the Soldier. The approving authority and higher levels of the chain of command have very little visibility of what a particular Soldier does on a daily basis. So yes there is some bias toward rank with respect to what award is given. But it is not directly driven by any restrictions in the regulation.

You are correct, rank should have no bearing in what award is presented for actions. I believe units do this because it takes a certain level of approval for all awards, the higher the award the higher the approval. So they don't want to take the hard right and try to explain why a SGT or SSG deserves a Bronze Star or MSM to a Division Commander. The award system has been broke for a long time.

You are 100% correct! The problem comes from the person that is recommending you for an award, and that is a tough one to overcome.

Hey bro, Drill Sergeants, who arguably make sacrifices every day and make a huge impact on the army as a whole aren’t even presented with MSM. ARCOMs and thats it. We were told if we want one, we have to go win boards, etc because that makes more of an impact on the Army and on your specific regiments than successfully training the future soldiers of the United States Army. Up to and including 250 of them for a mandatory 2 years.

Well, there is a sort of unspoken rule. PCS, end of deployment awards etc. Rank does play a part. AAM, ARCOM, MSM, LOM are the usual suspects. Sometimes it is political. Like when I was at J2 as a SSG in Korea. You wanted to get your JSAM and JCOM from exercises, having your soldiers and yourself score perfect on PACOM exams etc. The politics comes in for your PCS move. Remember, J2 LTC's outnumber privates (hell all enlisted lol) you regularly see the 3 and 4 star and are literally 10 feet away with the Watch officer if you are in charge of the COP. So having access to the 2 star in operations upstairs is pretty common and easy to do. This is the first General officer in your Chain of Command. I watched many E-6s roll out with an MSM just by playing the politics. Of course this is a bit different at most other units but the concept still remains firm. You have to plan for these things, speak up and play the politics. The other part is you need to be seen, go above and beyond what you are doing. It sucks, it is extra work, but it does get noticed. If you aren't doing that, then you are at the mercy of RNG lol.

It’s entirely up to the command to approve. My company commander who I really had no contact with recommended my MSM get downgraded. But the LTC, COL, LTG above him approved it. So as a SPC I received a MSM.

It shouldn't, but unfortunately it does.

I would agree, rank has its benefits.

It's two pronged. It depends upon rank and branch of service. Having served in both branches, I know the Marine Corps is far less generous than the Army. But one award in particular really bothers me, the Bronze Star. It is routinely awarded by the Army upon completion of a tour in a combat zone. Officers, Warrants, and senior enlisted are almost guaranteed a BSM. Trouble is, the BSM without the Bronze V for valor is an achievement medal and detracts from the BSM w\V. I returned from Viet Nam with 3 ribbons, which was standard for most Marines. Now I see E-2's out of Basic wearing more. The awards process does 'favor' rank for the higher awards. Ever see anyone below O-7 with a DSM? Ever see someone below E-8/O-5 with a LOM? The awards system suffers from inflation and bias based upon rank, the bias isn't necessarily intentional or unfair. With rank comes added responsibility so achievement is at a higher standard. Valor awards are based upon individual actions under combat conditions, as it should be.