Why are officers recognized with awards more than enlisted?

I am a retired officer having left the Army in 1982, so my comments are perhaps outdated in today's volunteer forces. I did command units up to Brigade level while active and I identify closely with all the troops even today. I always felt the awards "system" and the culture of giving awards was imperfect, but it was the best we could come up with. Especially in the combat environment there were countless acts of bravery and outstanding exhibits of skill that went undocumented or unnoticed. And yes there were abuses of the system which awarded medals to soldiers and officers solely because of their rank. These were the exception however, and not reason to trash the entire award system. In a good unit, the commander has created a team, and everyone on that team recognizes his or her role on the team and, importantly, respects the role of the other team members. To use a football analogy, everyone cannot be the quarterback who gets the credit for the wins. But the quarterback knows he could not have survived without the blocking of his linemen, the ability of the receivers, and the skills of the running backs. Consequently, some roles in an Army team make the leaders more visible and they tend to get "the credit". A good leader will then turn around and find a way to recognize and reward the rest of his team. This doesn't always happen, but I hope that the leaders who read this forum will realize that any award they are given should probably be shared with those who do the grunt work. For those of you who write cynical comments about butt-kissing etc I want to add that the military services at least continue to care more about each other than anything I saw in civilian endeavors, so I hope you will try to make the Army culture better rather than just making snide remarks. We are still a team, and need to stay strong.

Carry it further. Why does someone completing basic training come out with so many ribbons and awards? 20 years ago, you could do a career without more than 3-4 ribbons. Now, you get awards for participating...... Or so it seems to us retired folks.

My observation in Vietnam was that after 6 months an officer received a bronze star, which lessened its value in my opinion. Also, almost every time a battalion officer came, to get his monthly flight hours, and flew front seat cobra (safest seat in the house) and if we engaged ( most days) medals were put in for. None ever took me up on the respectful offer to come fly peter pilot in my loach, some even laughed out load at the offer.

I was by no means a career soldier, so the long-term effects were less important to me. I did get an Army Commendation Medal while I was still a PFC, though I actually received it when I was a spec-4. At the same awards ceremony one of the higher NCOs was moving on and got one for basically sticking around a few years and not messing up.
I am pretty sure mine meant a lot more to me than his did to him. It didn't bother me in the least what he got. His good fortune was not my misfortune.

Try this: go to your squad leader (or supervisor) and respectfully ask him if you can be put in for an award. Be prepared to cite reasons why you feel you deserve it, in case he asks. If he says yes, wait a week and then follow up with him. If he says no, forget about it and try again the next time you do something for which you think you should be recognized and weren't. Also, as a noncommissioned officer yourself you can always recommend to your squad leader awards for soldiers in your team who deserve it.

More like hundreds of years going on. I read the book on the charge of the light brigade, and the uppity entitlement culture played a major role in causing the disaster. Thanks for posting. I didn't know any intel folks got any awards. I sure didn't. I was some sort of politically incorrect, being a teenager and not knowing to lose money to the boss at poker.

I'm 75yrs old and long out of the Corps. but my older brother and I both think of ourselves as Marines.
Some of you will be pissd at my response but some of you will get a chuckle out of it.
As a LCpl. on my way to Vietnam in 1966 I stopped at Okinawa. Was talking to a 1Sgt in his office and during our conversation, he said "what the hell is going on? You should be a Cpl. by now. He looked over my file and went to see the CO. He came back and congratulated me for becoming a CPL :)
When I reported to a GySgt. in Nam, he chewed ME out for being a Cpl. because he had requested a LCpl.
I didn't know if I should be proud of my promotion or upset because I pissed off a Gy.Sgt. :) Thinking about it now, maybe I should be proud that I pissed of the Gy. :)

Level of responsibility.

The people around them and above them are writing awards?

I've processed 2 awards in my S1 shop for officers in a hefty span as the BN S1. And then the standard retirement awards.

I have seen way more awards for enlisted Soldiers than officers. We have Solid NCOs And officers recognizing their Soldiers for their hard work.

I've been in the Army 15 years. 8enliated the rest as an officer. I have one AAM.

I served in a reactivated unit in my single enlistment. We spent 3+ out of 4 weeks in the field for over 2 years. But that's for another topic. During my tour I never so much as received an unfavorable counseling statement. Nothing but awards and letters (I was put in for ARCOM's, which were always downgraded according to my SSGT). Held over for Stop Loss, transferred to another battery as they were so short handed and my battery had an abundance of comm's MOS's. My new platoon SGT would not put me in for a good conduct ribbon when Stop Loss was lifted. He didn't like me and made it known, which was fine, I still did my job. I worked directly with officers and he was one of a few NCO's that seemed to not like that I had a good relationship with them.

Its just a piece of cloth, but to this day at 50, it still grinds me a bit. I was a good soldier and kept my nose clean. Wasn't Eisenhower perfect, but I excelled at what I did and never had an issue. When the Reserve unit nearby knocked on my door for a year asking me to enlist, that ribbon popped into my head. Petty? Yeah. Indicative of some Army leadership? You bet. Wouldn't trade my service for anything and would do the exact same thing all over again, but there are those in leadership who do a great job of chasing decent soldiers out of reenlistment no matter the bonus.