PCS, Impact, Deployment, and other awards: Should they be determined by rank?

Well, look at it this way. If the system were to change, who would be the ones to change it? The big wigs, the decision makers with all the rank on their collars, right? Who does the system currently favor? Them, right? So why would it change? Why would they change a system that benefits them?

Sadly thats just the way things are. I've seen and experienced the same thing before. The Army needs to do a "PURGE" and see what happenes then.

Yo Ho Warriors !!! Yup ... the guys in the mud always get the short end of the stick. The 1944 BSM Certificate read " For Meritorious Achievement In Ground Operations Against The Enemy" ... The E-Ring Rangers came up with the MSM to be the "administrative" BSM and if you look at it, there is the BSM in the MSM ... however, the Staff Weenies always get first pick over what comes down the pipeline and since they are "running the war", they miust, by definition, be "more worthy" of the BSM than some Machine Gunner in Upickavillage in Carjackistan ... so so we, the unwilling, led by the incompetenet continue to do the impossible ... Hooah and Drive ON !!!

Yo Ho Warriors !!! I'm "Old" so I have info ... the MSM was developed to serve as the "administrative" Bronze Star ... and by golly ... just like Ragu ... "it's in there" ... this was because all the REMFS in Vietnam were getting awarded the BSM for sitting around Danang and HQ in Saigon ... and the original BSM Certificate stated "For Meritorious Achivevement in Ground Operations Against the Enemy" ... the Army Air Corps had already come up with the Air Medal for their guys and the Ground Forces didn't have a "like award" ... yup ... it's supposed to be for gettin' dirty and fightin' the Bad Guys ... but the E-Ring Rangers who went from one air conditioned office in the Pentagon to the next ..."deployed", of course, all wanted to have a neat sticker on their Dress Blues ... and of course, that led to "quotas" for awards ... and the last guys on the quota list are the guys in the crap ... it never changes ... the actual Warriors never get what they deserve because the REMFS have taken all the good stuff. Drive On !!! Hooah !!!

SPC, one thing you have to look at is the level of responsibility a Soldier of any rank has as well as what they have done. The higher you get in rank the more of a manager you become for the most part. Commanders, Platoon leaders, CSM's and 1SG's for instance set the tone for their unit on many areas including, discipline, PT, Operational Tempo, traninig and moral. That being said awards "should" NOT be based solely or heavily on rank or position as the primary reasons. I don't believe in writing my own award either, I send up bullets to my boss and what they put me in for is what I get. 

I believe that the award should fit the accomplishment. Both times that I deployed under the 82nd we fell under the rank-based, blanket citation deployment award system. Each MOS had their specific citation at their appropriate rank. E-6 and below received an ARCOM, and E-7 and up received a BSM. In my current unit, the awards are written by the Team Sergeants. It's left up to them to put their Soldiers in for the award that they feel is appropriate. For instance, while my Team Sergeant may feel that everyone in our team deserves a BSM, another Team Sergeant has put two of his four NCOs in for ARCOMs.

Based on your statement sir, I totally disagree. Awards and decorations should be based on the act and what you've earned. Never on rank. As a leader, you cannot justify to your Soldiers that so and so earned a BSM or MSM when all they did was shuffle papers. That's what they see. I have no problem with anyone getting any award if they've earned it. I've see too much of it and I cannot explain nor rationalize this to my Soldiers. They know it's unfair and it's very hurtful. Unfortunately, the trend continues. I will continue to recommend my Soldiers for what I think they deserve, despite what anyone else says. There is no one on this planet that can pressure me into anything else. I've even turned down awards because it was unfair.

Get rid of all awards that are not valorous in nature with the exception of the Military Volunteer Service Medal.  The latter medal also shows going above and beyond and service to country. All other actions can be captured in your OER/NCOER or Counseling Packets. Create a permanent counseling record if it's necessary to have proof. Good or bad. You are not entitled to an award. We should learn something from our humble forefathers. 

Well SPC Warden, I can tell you I am deployed right now and that isn't happening at least at the Platoon Sergeant level.  I am a SSG and am a platoon sergeant.  All of the platoon sergeants in our company are getting ARCOM's.  Our unit is trying to fix the awards system here and put meaning back into the awards.  My NCO's know that they need to reward the soldiers with awards based on the scope of their responsibilites.  If they are just doing the job they are supposed to do then they aren't getting an ARCOM.  But if they go above and beyond what they normally do then of course they are going to be put in for an ARCOM.

I have come to realize that the BSM and MSM mean about the same thing.  The BSM has more meaning when in insert the V device...at that time, it becomes something really special and hard earned.  I don't have BSM or MSM, but I can live without them.