What awards are appropiate to give for retirement?

The individual soldier reserves the right to refuse any award at any time for any reason. When retiring, my command wanted to give me an ARCOM for 23 years of service with 3 deployments (all three with leadership roles at or above my grade). I received ARCOMs for each of my deployments to Iraq and a JSAM for my deployment to Bosnia. I told my 1SG (who wrote my award) that I didn't care what he put me in for, but not to waste the paper if it wasn't at least an MSM. Any award less than an MSM for a retiring soldier regardless of rank is a slap in the face. Although, the regulation allows for it, an award should be based on the individual's achievements and performance, not on their grade. After our discussion, my 1SG fought to get me the MSM that I ended up with. Though we didn't always see eye to eye, he was one of the best 1SGs that I had in my 23 year career. He fought for what he thought was right regardless of his personal feelings on the matter.

The most egregious concern is why in the world he/she was denied a retirement flag to represent faithful service (I suspect because an admin NCO skipped that part of the retirement checklist). Beyond that, retirement ceremonies are optional and the SM generally bears the cost of the refreshments. As to awards, the most appropriate should be the one that is commensurate with the Soldier's accomplishments (to include rank & deployments) and length of service. Keep in mind that, according to regulation, anyone with "knowledge of" can write the award recommendation. Sometimes leaving that to the Commander or First Sergeant is problematic.

Depending on the soldier's prior awards and duty assignments, an MSM and perhaps Legion of Merit are appropriate awards SSG Byron Hewett.
If the soldier served in a joint billet a Defense Meritorious Medal could be appropriate.

Assuming a clean record and good service, to me, the only two appropriate awards are MSM's and LOM's. ARCOM's are given away just for attending a deployment, so I feel it's inappropriate.

I do not have a solder's perspective and I do not know Army regulations on awards. I am a retired Marine Chief Warrant Officer and I have written and occasionally presented over two hundred awards while on active duty. From the DOD perspective, there is no award for retirement. There are two types of awards, the first are called impact awards and are to recognize a significant impact of a particular act. All the heroism awards are this type and they are written about the single act that stood out. The second are awards for "sustained superior performance" and are usually written and awarded at the end of a tour. A retirement award would fall into that category. The award is written about the accomplishments achieved at that last duty station. For a retirement they just add a sentence to commemorate the number of years of service, but the actual award is for the actions at the last duty station. As to the level of the award, in all cases it is supposed to be based on the impact of the act or actions. Often, rank has a play but the award is supposed to be based on the impact. What that means is if the action impacted the platoon or company, it should be a service achievement (i.e. Army Achievement, Navy Achievement, etc.). Battalion or Regiment should be a service commendation. MSM and up usually require an impact to a Brigade or Division. Higher impact = higher awards. Where rank comes into play is usually because of the limitations of what impact a particular rank has. Where the billet is also has a significant play in that.

As to the retirement ceremony, there too may be a difference between the Marine Corps and the Army, but is it difficult to not have a ceremony in the Corps. There are a few who manage to slip away quietly, but the majority will have at least a Battalion level formation. For our Marines, we usually have a flag flown at a specific location that is significant to that Marine and it comes with a certificate that certifies that day it was flown and in honor of that Marine's retirement. We usually try to get it flown on an anniversary date. My flag was flown at the Marine Memorial in Arlington on the anniversary of my graduation from basic training plus 30 years. I can't imagine why anyone would be denied that

It's incredible to me how lazy senior members of units are. When I retired from the Air Force as a SMSgt E-8 I received two flags one from my unit and one from close friends. I closed out with 30 years, 12 in the US Army, and 18 in the US Air Force. I received an MSM for
retirement and a full ceremony from my entire unit. It was a truly good ceremony with much heartfelt thanks to all in my unit. The folks that trained me in hails, and farewells, to include retirements taught me well. I inturn trained my junior NCOs to take over from me. They put my retirement on and I was so proud to see how far they had come. To honor people not only for a lifetime of service but all through their careers is the only right way to do things. It's wrong to send folks away with nothing. My unit the 920th Rescue Wing I'm proud to say is one of the best by and far that recognizes the right thing to do. And we did it very well in peace and war.

Its really beyond my comprehension how any leadership could let someone retire without submitting them for a retirement award. I attended an installation retirement ceremony (conducted monthly) at Ft Benning not to long ago and saw an SFC presented with an AAM as a retirement award. I thought that was a slap in the face. Personally, I wouldn't have bothered to go if I new they were giving me an AAM for 20 plus years of service. Retirement awards can cover a 10 year period of time, I don't think its too much to expect to receive an MSM for a successful 20 year career. If you held positions of greater responsibility an LOM should not be out of the question.

I have a novel idea why not only give awards to those who are deserving based on the nature and quality of their service. Separation/retirement awards should not be done for every Soldier. Not every Soldier who separates or retires was deserving of an award. If they only did their job and nothing more then why should should they get anything additional? Awards should be awarded to those who are truly exceptional and not just given out just because. I am sure this will ruffle some feathers but after some of the oxygen thieves I have seen get awarded these types of awards I have my biases about such things. Sorry if I offended any of the oxygen thieves with this post.

That's messed up but at the same time if you're out who gives a shit. Employers don't care about awards.

Retirement awards in the Marine Corps are not guarrenteed just because of 20+ years served. They must be warranted for outstanding service at the last assignment, and specifics for the awards presented must meet standards that correlate with rank, responsibility, and billet assignment. The awards system in the Marine Corps is less elevated than other services, so for individual's E6-E7 the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal would not be unusual, and the same is true for the Meritorious Service Medal for E8-E9. Next higher awards (MSM / LOM) signify significantly greater performance or billet responsibility at the time of award.
Through recognition of 20+ years of service should be recognized, it should not be automatically assumed that a certain medal should be awarded, unless it's a standardized "service" medal for all branches of the Armed Forces. To do so cheapens the "personal" award system, and the efforts of truly warranted service members.