Why are officers recognized with awards more than enlisted?

I served in the Army in the ‘60s and early ‘70s and it was a rarity to see an enlisted man with anything other than a National Defense Ribbon. If they'd been in a few years, a few more like Vietnam Service or Campaign ribbons. Officers however, always seemed to have several more even though an enlisted and an officer had the same same time in service, always wondered what they did more than an average enlisted man! The thing that really surprises me is the number of ribbons on just about every soldier today, both officer and enlisted! I've seem 1st Lts., 2nd Lts., E4s, 5s, and 6’s with more fruit salad on their dress uniforms than Gen. Patton. They must hand out a ribbon for just about everything these days, I guess that's in line with “everyone” gets a trophy mentality.

As a Sergeant in 1991, I was working the night shift at Hohenfels as an OPFOR scripter with an E4 and a 1LT. The SPC was talking about award inflation and how leadership tends to take care of leadership with the BSM and other combat awards. Having just returned from an infantry battalion in SWA, I said that awards should recognize the recipient's level of responsibility, not just what outsiders saw him do, while noting that BSMs were given out too freely. This 1LT said it sounds like sour grapes from people who never got a BSM. I told him I was speaking as one of the few E5s in my unit who received one. I deserved mine, but other people who also did weren't properly recognized. He got offended by this and he stopped short of calling me a liar, saying there was no way I should have received one.

Back in the late 60's when I wan in the Corps I would see an officer with high valor awards. The first question that always popped into my mind was "I wonder how many enlisted men had to die for him to be awarded that?"

The character of a man is not the uniform or awards. Be professional about it . NCOs make it happen. Chain of command is a good solution. Make that command decision, live with the consequences and drive on . In the end those ribbons won't mean a damm. Only to your grandchildren.

No offense, but we are the one's that make them look so good because we take pride in our work and care about our fellow soldiers. My chaplain got the Meritorious Service ribbon after deployment for working on his promotion to CPT. But on the other hand, my Chaplain back in the states worked his butt off for our soldiers and the command and only received COL after we went to Kosovo after being promised a promotion the year before. I guess it depends on the command.

“A soldier will fight long and hard for a piece of ribbon”

That’s the answer Napoleon gave when asked why he issued medals. Think about that for a minute and you’ll realize it’s about manipulating someone to do stuff by giving them otherwise worthless fabric.

Now I get it, I had a fair share and I was proud of it. I realized later though that Napoleon had been right about me and it pissed me off. Forget the fabric! Do it because you’re a badass American soldier and let the officers enjoy the brain wash games to feel good about themselves. You should feel proud simply because you are a member of a brotherhood and you know in your heart you always push to be the best.

When you get out and later in life what still matters? The ONLY thing that still seems to matter to everyone at least in my experience is each other! Your brothers and sisters in arms is really the highest reward you will receive while in the military. Always remember that.

Most awards given are BS awards. Some of the greatest Military Heroes have very few awards. It is about being the best Soldier you can be.

Yes, there is a problem with awards but start thinking of solutions to problems.
1. Your O/NCODP should have "How to write an Award" topic (each service should have it too).
2. Teach your Soldiers to keep track on their accomplishment during deployment and garrison. This will help during evaluations and writing awards. (i.e. 7 CLPs with 2 DF, 3 IED or wrote 5 SOPs for company that became BN standard)
3. If what the Soldier did to impact the unit (AAM), the next level (ARCOM), or the Army (MSM). Of course, it has to be balanced with the position and the actual rank (O4 vs E6) would clearly be above expectations.
4. What are the standards for the position? " Successfully graduated 12 Soldiers out of 15 with a 3.96 GPA" The Army standard is a 70% pass rate, this is an 80% pass rate. As an instructor, you should strive for 100% pass rate.
5. Does your unit have a policy letter for Impact, End of Tour, PCS, and Retirement? If not, write one of your own and submit it to your chain of command. Maybe they are too busy with other things.
6. Be the solution!

As a JM in 78 has pay

You're going to get the "increased levels of responsibility" and so forth as far as why officers get more or higher levels of awards. That is partially true because some awards are developed for those senior / higher positions. Few enlisted will earn higher than a garrison MSM or deployed Bronze Star.

It's not written (or shouldn't be but some units were dumb enough to put it in writing): O1 and O2 plus E4 and Below receive Achievement medals; O3, E5 and E6 receive Commendation medals; O4, O5, E7 and E8 in non leadership positions receive nothing higher than an MSM; O5 in leadership and E9 get LOMs. The higher awards are for E9s plus O6s and up.

If an officer does the exact same thing as an enlisted member, then they should receive the same award. If an enlisted member does more than an officer, they should get a higher award.

I have seen it happen this way. Officers and NCOs completed Nimmegen 100 mile march and all received the same award. I saw a SPC receive a MSM for exceptional service and an CPT receive an AAM for his end-of-tour award.

I have also seen the well liked members receive awards for doing the minimal effort and those introverted personalities receive a lower award than their efforts deserved.

From the retiree standpoint: Awards seemed so important to me when I was enlisted and later commissioned. Now that I am retired... I don't think about them at all. Pieces of clothe on a uniform that I don't wear anymore. There are awards for government civilians and for private sector employees that are more relevant. Do you know what we value more? Pay increases, time off awards and monetary awards... I've left several civilian assignments since I retired from the military and haven't received one PCS / EOT award certificate, but I have received what are relevant, tangible awards that I could put to good use - spending time with my family and having extra funds to spend on them.