What should you consider when writing an ETS Award?

As someone who has written or processed thousands of awards over the years (and in the not so distant future, likely the recipient of a retirement award), let me offer up some thoughts.

The ultimate goal here is to get deserving Soldiers an award commensurate with their longevity, accomplishment, and responsibility.
Longevity speaks for itself. 10 years > 6 years.
Responsibility is often coincidental with rank, but not always. In charge of troops, tasks, or equipment with quantifiable bullets say a lot about what kind of cat they are.
Lastly, achievements are often easily conveyed on paper, but you have to do it the right way and you can't recycle stuff that has been already awarded. Best practice is to show cause and effect.

Example: SSG Snuffy was in charge of the company Body Composition program for two and half years. Through his management and support of Soldiers, he reduced the unit BFC non-compliance rate by over 70%, by far the best results in the battalion.

You should consider the accomplishments achieved over the course of their time. You should consider the level of impact they had on the unit, Guard and mission(s). Have them provide you a summary of their time and what they did during that time. Try not to double tap any achievements previously awarded for. Then, I recommend you look at ArmyWriter for bullet amd citation write ups to give you an idea as to how they can be written. Then, have your 1SG look the 638s over. Be prepared to see the MSM recommendation for the SSG downgraded. Same for the ARCOM.

If they have already been awarded for something, you can't award it again. This will come in to play for the SSG.

Also, look at quantifiable accomplishments first: saved X amount of money, killed X number of terrorists, wrote X number of reports, achieved X number of hours of education. Also remember that subordinate accomplishments are leader accomplishments, too. So X number of hours of education for his/her squad/team/section, etc.

Next, look at qualifiable accomplishments. Won best squad competition. Won NCO of the quarter. Selected for hardest missions, etc.

Next look at impact accomplishments. Improved morale, created SOPs, streamlined processes, etc. If you can, find ways to turn these into quantifiable accomplishments. Streamlined processes which saved X number of man-hiurs or reduced time by 8% or whatever.

Finally, look at individual accomplishments. Schools, training, etc.


Always ALWAYS always tie everything back to impact on unit. I was taught as a rule of thumb, that you need to show how it affected that Commander's unit. So an ARCOM, signed by BDE Commander, needs to have a BDE wide impact. And so on. THIS IS NOT A REGULATORY REQUIREMENT. Ultimately, the Commander can sign whatever he or she wants (I have in my file an ARCOM that was signed by a 2-star which which had only one bullet and that only four words long). And they cannot, technically, pre-establish requirements for awards (like must have division-wide impact). But it is still a good idea. If you want that Commander to sign it, you need to give him or her a good reason to do so.