Will the Sailors on the USS Fitzgerald be eligible for combat awards? Specifically, will FC1 Rehm be eligible for the MoH?

I do not believe so as they do not meet the following requirements for the MoH since there there was no known enemy or hostile action:
(1) While engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
(2) While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign
force; or
(3) While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an
opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

However, FC1 Rehm should, and will likely receive a "Navy and Marine Corps Medal" for those actions.


http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/134833v1_dodm_2016.pdf

Since the Fitzgerald was not in a Combat area and not in a battle the MoH and the NAVY CROSS are very doubtful since both are specifically are awarded for heroism and Valor in battle. but there is always the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the highest award that is not battle related.

He would only be eligible for the Soldier's Medal, one that most people don't know. It was created to acknowledge acts of valor performed outside actual combat and applies to all branches of the military

This was not a combat situation, nor was it in a combat area. As such, any decoration, if awarded, would be a non-combat medal.
The Navy and Marine Corps Medal would seem appropriate.

Not to take anything away from this Petty Officer's actions, but no enemy was involved (probably).

SN Greg Wright I think the 1st question, would be what type of mission were they on? Not being a sailor, my vernacular my be off here. Were they on combat mission, or training mission? I think you final comment is key. It is all about circumstances. Until the facts are known, it is hard to say. In the Army, it sounds like a Soldiers Medal. If it was deemed to be a combat mission/attack, or a terrorist attack, that changes what the options are.
http://valor.defense.gov/Description-of-Awards/

Lots to comment on and I'll try not to be totally redundant. Certainly damage control efforts aboard ship come closer to combat than most other non-combat events. As the son of a WW2 tin-can sailor I have to admit that the ship doesn't "care" if the hole in the side was caused by a bomb, torpedo, enemy vessel, or a (assumedly) friendly vessel. The results and the demands on the crew are the same. I have the greatest respect and admiration for the courage and heroism shown by FC1 Rehm. That said, he clearly should be given the highest award appropriate. I say appropriate and know that will get some reactions. First, remember that we all tend to see award precedence as the sole definition of heroism. That's a small part of what it should be. All of the attempts to define and distinguish awards are aimed at consistency more than some totally lineal scorecard. The history of the MoH is very erratic, at best. Many were given out during the Civil War for actions that might not even rate a Navy Comm today. Many of those were subsequently downgraded. Prior to WW2 a select few were given for non-combat heroism (I think before the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and its other service equivalents were created). But between WW2 practice and the 1963 change, all of which made for a more coherent awards system, the MoH and the Navy Cross are clearly restricted to combat and short of a finding of an intentional terrorist attack, do not apply. Now we all know that the awards system is far from perfect. Any system administered by literally thousands of imperfect human beings is going to fall short. But, that should not be used as justification to totally ignore the very specific criteria. Clearly there is a lot more to learn about the collision. None of which reflect on the character of FC1 Rehm's actions. At the risk of sounding like I am making fun (and I am not), the headline of the old Naval Institute Proceedings ad for "Farwell's Rules of the Road" keeps circulating in my head: "A collision at sea can ruin your entire day."

I understand that the requirements were tightened around WW2, but there have been awards for heroism above and beyond in peacetime. One such was Ensign Henry Drexler of the USS Trenton.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clay_Drexler

Perhaps time for an exception?

As important as it may seem to award these sailors with some kind of posthumous award for bravery what about the guy or gal who allowed this collision to occur in the first place? Was the radar out, no commo with the captain, no collision avoidance radar? WTH someone needs to answer to this negligence!

I don't think the situation would qualify for MoH, even if it was determined if the ramming was intentional.

In my mind, an analogous situation would be a group of soldiers on a bus. Someone sees this, decided to ram the bus on a highway, and caused the bus to flip or some other accident. If a Soldier performed heroic measures, I could see the Soldier's Medal, but not MoH.

Again, that is just my take

Regrettably, to give combat awards there will have to be real evidence that it was enemy action not F-up. that is not fair but that is what the Regs and law require.