Why are officers recognized with awards more than enlisted?

Here's a situation that happened to me. Our UH -1 crew many years ago in Vietnam happened to hear a call for an emergency Med-evac and responded to the call. After picking up a Marine Major, we were Army, we found out that one of his units were in heavy contact with the enemy and their LT was severely wounded and needed to be airlifted out of a hot LZ and we were also to insert this Major into the battle. We accomplished our mission thinking nothing about being awarded for doing our job. A few months later we stood in formation and found out the Major put our crew in for awards. The Aircraft commander, a Warrant, received the DFC while the other three of us, which included an LT co-pilot, received the AM/V. Now, we were all on the same ship and it was a team effort to save this mans life, why weren't we all awarded the DFC? Unfortunately that's the way the military works, there's no fairness in awards when it come to officers and enlisted men, and at times some officers get screwed like our LT on our ship that day because he wasn't the aircraft commander.

If I have to be just, I think with rank comes some responsibility to include the leadership of the officer over the enlisted with whom they work on such project and in other to preserve that integrity, it would make sense to award the person with leadership over the other, a higher award. Well, while the above makes sense, I like to encourage my soldiers so it would better pay off awarding the junior soldier at one event and focus on awarding senior soldiers at a different event in this way, such highlight is prevented or diminished.

Great feeling when you (E4) have more awards than your CAPT or when your the only person under E9 or MAJ in your unit with an MSM. People get so jealous over awards. Yes officers and senior NCOs get higher awards for the same actions. Those that don’t believe that are naive.

Well that answer is simple they write there own awards
The ones I have seen with a lot of awards are the admin personal for the reason they know how to format them correctly
But to be honest I that has been the only thing in the military that irks me the most Promotions of Jr officers and awards they receive
My E-7 And E-8 was just handed to me literally on pass by in hallway

As the battalion adjutant, I personally review all awards that are submitted in the battalion. Everything is a process, and awards have restrictions on them. Even if you do something really well, the command may hold off on recommending an award in order to roll it in to an award later. The problem comes when Plt Cmdrs and OICs change hands and there’s no letters of continuity. On another token, many people are just doing their job and don’t rate their service achievement medal. Sometimes, an outstanding fitness report or higher promotions points are more appropriate. Not everyone should always be receiving awards.

Concerning the level of awards, scope of responsibility is the key factor. Your average E-5 and below will almost never rate an MSM or higher level award just due to the sheer fact that their impact just doesn’t measure up. I’m not applying this to valor awards but only to non-combat awards. I have, however, seen higher level life saving, non-combat awards be awarded and presented when it was justified.

Everything comes down to someone recommending an individual for an award and doing the appropriate write up. It also takes someone like myself to educate my fellow officers concerning the ins and outs of awards. I’d say my unit does a pretty good job.

Because they are officers and write their own fitness reports as well.

Seems to me, as my National Guard was preparing to return home, a number of my unit members were nominated for Bronze Stars... there unit members whose service and risk deserved the BSM were quoted out of a truly deserved award. The reason? VII Corps (US) decided to limit awards by rank, category of service (we were "those national guard pukes") and MOS. It isn't a matter of having leaders who know the ropes of the awards ladder. Our SGM wrote most of the BSMs for soldiers whose service and other aspects were worthy of the various awards he wrote. All it takes is a fitting acknowledgement of an act to make soldiers want to be career minded, but when nothing nice rolls down to those on the line, it becomes difficult to keep a soldier motivated. No, before I'm accused, I'm not advocating "participation" decorations. A junior soldier who only hears bitching from the head shed is going to feel less inclined to go the extra mile.

I think really it comes down to a lack of understanding about the awards system. Any soldier can recommend a soldier for an award (army statement, but I assume the same in other services), regardless of rank. For some reason, award writing is not developed in the lower ranks. The most important aspect of an award recommendation is first hand knowledge of the action required to earn the award and at what degree of merit equates to the specific award recommendation requirements. Officers understand this and submit awards for peers as a matter of course. BTW: An award does not need to be shiny medal or pretty ribbon on your chest ... Certificates of Achievement or Appreciation can be just as meaningful when written and presented correctly. I have a ton of each and they mean something to me, mainly because someone recognized something I did with thoughtfulness. MWR, Family Support Groups, Section Chiefs, and etc. I had the number of hours in additional volunteer service to have qualified for the MOVSM, which had not yet been invented! Anyway, do your best for personal satisfaction, for completing the mission with superior degree of effort, and your reward will be the feeling of accomplishment and the admiration of those who serve with you. Anyone who earned the Medal of Honor did not do their act with the thought of earning such an award. Be the service member that everyone enjoys serving with, for that is the greatest recognition of all ... A smile and a comment like 'I am so glad we serve together!' My opinion.

Who cares?
The little bits of colored ribbon don't mean shit.
What your people think of you means a lot.

They need them?