If a soldier recieves a Certificate of Achievement for something, can it be upgraded to an AAM?

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 12:21:14 -0500

I have a soldier that received a Certificate of Achievement for being Distinguished Honor Graduate at a school. Can I recommend him for AAM? I think he's far more deserving of an AAM instead of just a COA. Help appreciated. PFC Private RallyPoint Member SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4" LTC Stephen F. CPL Dave Hoover SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SSG Private RallyPoint Member Capt Dwayne Conyers CPT Jack Durish MSG Private RallyPoint Member SGT Ben Keen CPT Private RallyPoint Member

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Mar 7 at 2020 12:26 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 12:26:14 -0500

Why would you want to give him an COA for that? By doing so you can't really use it when it comes to do his ETS award.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2020 12:26 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 12:26:37 -0500

As I remember the rules, you can only receive one award for an action. My old unit had a default for those who came back on the commandant's list. Now that being said, if he were to be nudged into sharing his experience with his fellow troops and that led any of them to earn their promotable status or go on to earn commandant's, then that is a great opportunity to recommend him for what you feel he deserves. Good luck either way.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2020 1:16 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 13:16:28 -0500

You can always recommend a Soldier for an award.

Response by SSG Kenneth Ponder made Mar 7 at 2020 2:58 PM

SSG Kenneth Ponder — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 14:58:19 -0500

No, just put him in for an AAM for anything. I've seen them hand them out for PT test, showing up in formation. It's a BS award.

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2020 3:14 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 15:14:31 -0500

You can recommend whatever you wish. It's up to the chain of command to act upon the info provided.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2020 4:19 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 16:19:45 -0500

You can't upgrade the award, but you can recommend a separate award.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2020 3:19 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 03:19:00 -0400

You can't upgrade it. You can write a separate award. The rub would be if you tried using the same bullets from the COA for the AAM.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 8 at 2020 9:39 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 21:39:22 -0400

No, it would have to be for a separate action that warrants an award. Someone striving to be a SSG would and should know this.

And on a complete side note, you are one of the individuals who tags 20 people to keep your top spot that I mentioned in one of my posts.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 8 at 2020 11:20 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 23:20:13 -0400

An Army Achievement can be awarded as an impact award my friend SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member. I was awarded the AAM twice as an impact award.

Response by SSG Kenneth Ponder made Mar 9 at 2020 8:10 AM

SSG Kenneth Ponder — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 08:10:01 -0400

Why would you want an AAM?

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Mar 9 at 2020 10:33 AM

CSM Richard StCyr — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 10:33:23 -0400

You can recommend anything you want, however the Soldier was recognized already by the Chain of Command with the COA and that covers the achievement. Look in AR 600-8-22, para 1-19 that discusses not duplicating recommendations based on the same action, para 10-7 discusses COAs.
You can get on the open door and discuss this with your 1SG. Probably wont get this Soldier an AAM but may get follow on Troops one.