Why are officers recognized with awards more than enlisted?

Imagine this, you are an officer, signed for every piece of equipment your soldier's control. You are in charge of your soldiers, and their actions. Now you are not only accountable for your actions but theirs as well. It is your call whether you want to downgrade PPE, basically, every safety factor that officer can be accountable is at his discretion. You being a single soldier are only accountable for yourself, and maybe a few underlings, but only in the eyes of your Chain. So if your soldier messes up, you may get punished, but they are the ones who are actually responsible. And if you perform great, good but you are one person. If an officer performs great, that means all of his soldiers did too. When you play chess, do you think that the rook is smart because he just took out the queen, or do you think you are smart because you are in charge of the rook, and its capabilities? I hope that answers it all.

I am puzzled, With 8 years in and you are a E-4 and worried about awards. You should be worried about rank and why you are still an E-4 and not at lease E-5 and on your way to SSG. I saw this when I first went into the Army, guys satisfied with PFC E-3 and if they got Spc 4 they just quit trying for anything else. You have to set a goal and work towards it. It doesn't hurt to make sure that others above you know of your goals. They will often help you to it or tell you what you need to do to get there. The ribbons look pretty but the stripes look better.

Having served both with troops and at headquarters over 6 combat rotations, I can say that this topic was frequently discussed at all levels of command. There is a difference between valor awards and service or end of tour awards. Valor awards are based on your individual actions and their effect on protecting and leading others or defeating the enemy in a specific combat situation. Service or end of tour awards are based on the impact and level of responsibility that you held during the period. Generally the perception at higher ranks is that to get a higher level award, like a Bronze Star, you must not only have done a really great job in your individual function but have done something that impacted the larger mission. One of my Staff Sergeants got a Bronze Star on my last Afghanistan tour, because he was flying and driving all across the Division AO training troops going out on patrol improved Counter-IED TTPs, and we were able to show with data that the training was reducing casualties. I have also seen many instances when higher headquarters send back or downgrades awards because the write-up doesn't justify the level of award, and you have to have a local headquarters that can fight for those awards and push the paperwork to get them approved.

My question is, what have you done to earn an award? Sometimes, especially if you are enlisted, you have to push the issue concerning awards.

That is the way it always has been.

Good one, mine hardly went out on missions but got a Silver Star. The coward would ride 4th seat in the back because it was where he said he knew that the enemy would never expected the leadership would be sitting!!!

Funny how the officer comments on this broken system try to make excuses for their good old boy awards program. It's gonna take strong NCOs to stand their ground when submitting the awards. Many times awards are submitted and the approving authority doesn't even know the troop receiving it. I observed down grades many times in my 23yrs and sometimes you need to stand your ground with the officer corps. They seem to put themselves on a pedestal and think they are more important than the rest of the crowd. I did have the privilege to work with a few quality officers that truly valued their enlisted and took great care of them.

It's because the enlisted do all the hard work, while the officers take all the credit.

Because they put themselves in the award.

I never noticed that. I was enlisted on active duty for about four years. I left with a bunch of awards. Including five AAMs and a PCS ARCOM. It may have to do with scope of influence. I had an MSM downgraded to ARCOM because I was an E5 squad leader and all others were E6 and got MSM. Oh well...