Why are officers recognized with awards more than enlisted?

Do you golf? Fluent in sports? Network well? If not, start. Otherwise you can bust your hump and you'll still get decent appraisals but won't be a the top - unless you truly are a superstar. It's all about the club and playing the politics. If that's not your style then try Plan B - truly being a superstar. More than one way to skin a cat although I've never been inclined to actually skin one.

As one officer told me once, "It's all about my OEM." Officers and top enlisted live and die by how their efficiency reports are addressed. The more awards and decorations these individuals can show in their personnel records the better their chances for promotion. Unfortunately, in the process many deserving lower ranking EMs are denied what should have been.

Who is the approval authority for awards? Well there ya go ;) Awards come quickly when you and your buddies are on the signature blocks.

Oh come on. It is simple. The "leader" gets recognized for the accomplishments of the team. So if your team does something outstanding then you can expect the officer or the senior enlisted to get the recognition.

1. Welcome to the military.
2. While I'm surprised that you don't quite understand why yet as an E-4, I'll give it to you plain and simple: Senior leadership only sees what the officers have accomplished. Rarely do they observe what us enlisted guys are doing behind the scenes, actually making it all happen. You have to understand that ultimately, your officer will get all of the praise when the mission is accomplished and done well, and conversely, all of the blame when something goes wrong. A lot of it has to do with MOS, I've noticed as well. It's not uncommon for an admin clerk to leave their first unit with an achievement medal (not sure why, but I've noticed that it's a common trend), while we communicators have to work a little extra for ours. I recently just received a NAM at almost six years of service, which was for running a four-man S-6 in Australia for two months, installing, operating, and maintaining a network for all of our aviation combat element in the brigade to use, as well as setting up infrastructure and providing frequent IT support for a mishap board in the aftermath of a crash off of Oahu that killed 12 Marines. It was in Australia that my 2ndLt received his first NAM with only a year and a half of experience in the fleet but again, he is who the Colonel sees day in and day out; not us little guys.

It's really all up to your leaders to determine what they feel merits an award. Some may be pretty lax about what they require and write that junior admin Cpl up for an award for having processed some few hundred individuals during their stay at the unit, and with others, you may have to pull some operational miracles in the field with your undermanned and overburdened comm section. I say don't be too hard on yourself if you're putting out every day and yet see your officers taking the credit all the time; that's simply the nature of the game we play.

A time of war verses a time of peace has an impact. Considering the Vietnam War years, as a SSgt with 5 1/2 yrs, I reported for OTS. Most others were civilians - but I was able to link up & room with two who were also prior service cadets. On our first formal room inspection our room were 100% squared away and it remained that way way untill graduation. However, our Flight instructor, a Captain & Pilot, took note of our formal uniforms in the closets and made the remark he soon regretted, "I hope you all really earned all those awards." We said Yes, sir. He should have done some prior review of our records. One - a TSgt - had the most ribbons / medals including numerous Bronze Stars and a couple Silver Stars. He multiple tours in Vietman as a C130 gunner involved in combat and support rescue missions aiding all the services. He had been wounded more than once.

I don't know because that wasn't my experience. It seemed to me that junior enlisted were handed "impact" awards very frequently which isn't a bad thing. As a leader you want to recognize excellent performance so I didn't mind writing them. One other thing though, keep in mind that only enlisted members can get the "Good Conduct Medal" which literally is just for keeping your nose clean and doing your assigned job.

Because officers love to jerk each other off. Awards are more about your position than your job. Example, for 15 months I planned every route the MND-B commanding general took. I led the motorcade and got him to every meeting safely and on time. At the end of the deployment I got the "thanks for showing up" ARCOM. His driver who just followed me around the whole time got a DSM. Awards are all about position and nothing to do with effort.

I know a unit that gives out arcoms for things like adminstering a pt test. They gave a mechanic an arcom at an event where there were no vehicles. People just stand in the back and have that look about it.

Because officers approve the awards. Simple answer.