Why are we now pinning MSMs on E4s for Soldier of the Year when we doing the same for retiring E8s after 20 years of service?

I'm sure you have seen that. I've seen plenty of cases where people win and they are not excused from their work.
I've seen situations where cops led witnesses to make certain statements. Does that make all cops unethical? No, it's just a personal anecdote.

I'm sorry you had unethical leaders, but that doesn't discount the effort of the others who put in the extra work to beat their competition, and in doing so, make their unit/division look good.

When I was in the Army in the seventies, I won Co., Bn, Bde twice, and almost won Island (Okinawa) twice, and all I ever got was a Letter of achievement, and a pat on the back. Nowadays it looks like they just want to give the soldiers something to look good on their uniform. They need to look at the regulations and perimeters of awards before they start handing out all those medals, and give them to the people that deserve them. I worked hard for all of my awards and medals,. and I hope the service hasn't changed that much since I retired in the nineties. We need to keep our standards high, and the Army strong.

To start, the awards are within the regulations, or else the soldiers would not receive them.
Saying, "back in my day..." equates to "change is bad". Change is inevitable.
As for standards, an 18 year old male recruit has to do 35 push-ups to pass and 42 to stay in the Army. Not exactly high standards. Unlike the other branches, the army is too large to have high standards. We accept many moral and ASVAB waivers that other services do not.
The fact that someone earns an award that you did not, does not discredit your award. Among your peers at that time that was the award that you warranted for that moment. Just like $0.25 no longer buys a loaf of bread the value of awards also changes with time.
Dwight Eisenhower had three Awards on his uniform, and our generals have 6 rows.

I always say these competitions are like jury duty. You can’t send the dumb ones but can’t afford to have your best joes gone all the time.SFC (Join to see)

1SG Timothy Trewin - Napoleon said, “A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon”.

I get that the system is f*cked off. But rather than be cynical, I always tried to look at it in the best light. I assumed everyone earned their awards, regardless of rank. (Even though I know and saw E7s/O3s get BSMs and E4s/O1s got ARCOMs just because of rank, though some some deserved lower or higher). It was either that, or get angry about something that I couldn’t change.

If utilized properly, awards can a powerful tool. Even the insignificant ones. Napolean knew that 200 years ago. The problem is that there isn’t a perfect way to utilize the system because it’s highly subjective, people are involved, etc. I think an interesting idea would be to remove promotion points from awards. It won’t happen, but if awards went to being issued solely for the purpose of recognizing the Soldier in front of other Soldiers, that might reduce one level of subjectivity in the system.

*Note, the Army has a tradition of giving out participation trophies. Of course, it’s developed and evolved over the years. After WWI, they all got a shiny medal. WWII, they all got a shiny medal. Participated in the defense of the Philippines in 1941-1942? Yup, they got one just for that. And so on. We don’t look back on those guys like they ‘just participated’. (Even though some probably did). Just like in 75, 100 years, people hopefully won’t look back on us like we just participated. (Even though some of us probably did).

**Note, As tradition is a big part of what we do in the Army, it’s important to remember that in WWII, when the BSM was created, it was soon authorized to retroactively be given to all soldiers that had earned CIB/CMB during the war. Imagine if today, how controversial the BSM would be (more than it already is) if every single CIB/CMB came with one, ‘just because’. I don’t have a CIB/CMB, but I know my BSM (which certainly wasn’t handed out due to my rank) would feel a little cheaper if we were playing by the ‘participation trophy’ rules of yesteryear. Again, as times change, the system changes. We just have to make it the best it can be.

Best of luck

Do not get me started on the DAA photo. I sent in twice for two bards in the seventies and eighties, and watched less qualified soldiers get promoted. Your record and photo is all DA has to determine your qualifications for E-6 and on, but I have seen some really ignorant soldiers promoted just because they could shine in the photo, but as far as being qualified to do the job they lacked any good sense to lead men and women. But so goes the system, and my little input will not change it, but I had to put my two cents in, because I never really understood the reasons behind the system, because a soldier could go up in front of a boartd and get promoted to sergeant, but no higher, when those convening boards knew the soldier, and could see his/her worth instead of shipping a photo to the Pentagon, where nobody kew the soldier.

Did I get a deal.? I was a Brown Shoe Soldier! AFSWP 1957
H. R. 5515
SEC. 581. ATOMIC VETERANS SERVICE CERTIFICATE.
(a) SERVICE CERTIFICATE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Defense
shall design and produce a military service certificate, to be known
as the ‘‘Atomic Veterans Service Certificate’’, to honor retired and
former members of the Armed Forces who are radiation-exposed
veterans (as such term is defined in section 1112(c)(3) of title
38, United States Code).
(b) DISTRIBUTION OF CERTIFICATE.—
(1) ISSUANCE TO RETIRED AND FORMER MEMBERS.—At the
request of a radiation-exposed veteran, the Secretary of Defense
shall issue the Atomic Veterans Service Certificate to the veteran.
(2) ISSUANCE TO NEXT-OF-KIN.—In the case of a radiationexposed veteran who is deceased, the Secretary may provide
for issuance of the Atomic Veterans Service Certificate to the
next-of-kin of the person.

SEC. 582. AWARD OF MEDALS OR OTHER COMMENDATIONS TO HANDLERS OF MILITARY WORKING DOGS.
(a) PROGRAM OF AWARD REQUIRED.—Each Secretary of a military department shall carry out a program to provide for the award
of one or more medals or other commendations to handlers of
military working dogs under the jurisdiction of such Secretary
to recognize valor or meritorious achievement by such handlers
and dogs.
(b) MEDALS AND COMMENDATIONS.—Any medal or commendation awarded pursuant to a program under subsection (a) shall
be of such design, and include such elements, as the Secretary
of the military department concerned shall specify. The Secretary
concerned may use an existing award to carry out such program.
(c) PRESENTATION AND ACCEPTANCE.—Any medal or commendation awarded pursuant to a program under subsection (a) may
be presented to and accepted by the handler concerned on behalf
of the handler and the military working dog concerned.
(d) REGULATIONS.—Medals and commendations shall be
awarded under programs under subsection (a) in accordance with
regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for purposes
of this section

Ribbons and Medals aren't handed out by rank but by action! Stop thinking because are an E-7/8/9 that you should get certain medals and E4/5/6 should not....

So, for the awesome service that led to you being awarded BN, BDE, and DIV SOY, you got 2 AAMs and an ARCOM - three medals and three other awards for the same duties. And as high speed as you were, you must have done something that had enough impact during the year prior to being selected as SOY that if your leadership was on the ball, they should have said, "Damn, Casey is amazing, we should put him in for an ARCOM." Maybe even more than once. So we're talking at least six, and maybe seven or eight awards for the same actions.

SOY isn't an award, it is a recognition. Nowhere in my personnel file does anything say SOY - except the award recommendation. There is no extra shiny that goes on the uniform. So that was three awards over the course of a year of competition. A year in which I spent the majority of my free time preparing for competition - I still had to do my "real job."

And my leadership WAS on the ball - they said "Damn, SPC O'Malley is amazing, we should send him to the Company board and give him a chance to prove himself." And they said, "Damn, he knows his stuff, we should send him to the promotion board, even though he doesn't feel ready to be an NCO yet." And they said, "Just because you are going to boards doesn't mean you can forget your infantry Bible. You better know FM 7-8 as well or better than 21-24 SMCT."

So... Yeah, just the three awards for that. I did earn other awards and medals while in that unit, but they were for totally different actions.

SSgt Joseph Baptist That is a fair point, and I could totally go with that standard