Would there be a reason my OIC can recommend civilians for an award but not military?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 20:29:03 -0500

Recently the results of our yearly TRICARE Inpatient Satisfaction Survey (TRISS) came out. The ward I work on had the highest overall patient satisfaction for the entire Regional Healthcare Command- Atlantic, which is a pretty big thing. The commanding general paid is a visit. I asked her about the possibility of recommending all the SMs on the floor for a JSAM since it’s a joint facility. She said she couldn’t do that for some reason that didn’t make sense. Would there be some reason as to why SMs couldn’t be recommended for an award but civilians could.

Response by LTC John Mohor made Feb 23 at 2019 8:43 PM

LTC John Mohor — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 20:43:41 -0500

It’s a really sticky slippery slope when it comes to awards especially on active duty at her level. Civilians stay there at that one location whereas service members are ther usually two to three years. I’m not trying to give excuses just that I can see a perception that you would see it the way you asked your question. Your Supervisors up to a couple levels up as well as your peers are the ones that saw who went above and beyond Twitter work and who did there job. Giving out a blanket award especially at the Commendation Level would potentially “cheapen” the award at that unit. That’s just my Humble opinion based on the limited information provided by your question.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 23 at 2019 9:24 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 21:24:47 -0500

Unless I misunderstood your question, recommending every SM for an award, barring some high speed operators for a significant operation during combat, isn't realistic. Then, everyone wouldn't likely be recommended for the same award.
A supervising NCO, and maybe the top 2 jr enlisted, "maybe."
Not a thorough research, but it appears it may not be authorized.
DOD MANUAL 1348.33, VOLUME 4 MANUAL OF MILITARY DECORATIONS AND AWARDS: DOD JOINT DECORATIONS AND AWARDS
(1) The JSAM is awarded in the name of the Secretary of Defense to members of the U.S. Armed Forces below the grade of O-6 who, while assigned to a JDA after August 3, 1983,
distinguished themselves by outstanding performance of duty, meritorious achievement, or
service.
(2) Service members assigned or attached to a JTF as individuals (not as members of a Service unit) may be eligible for the JSAM. Members of military-specific units (i.e., Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force) assigned or attached to a JDA or JTF are not eligible for the
JSAM but retain eligibility for PMDs and unit awards from their respective Military Service.
A few impact AAMs may be an option, depending on the factors.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Feb 23 at 2019 9:39 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 21:39:19 -0500

Anyone can recommend someone for an award. She couldn't or wouldn't? Big difference. What service is your OIC? I have seen quirky circumstances where Navy and Air Force are stingy with awards and draconian oversight of the submissions. In the case of the Navy, the recommendations from sister service personnel had to vetted at Department level. Has the approval authority layered some rules of delegation in that are not readily known?

There could be a host of reasons why civilians could be recommended and not Service members, especially if this is fruit born from an extended long-term effort on their part outside of what the more transient service members had accomplished.

Without knowing what the Commander's award philosophy is, it's hard to tell anything else. They may look at a JSAM as a PCS award since it is Joint and harder to get. JSAMs were awarded like AAMs in my joint assignement in NATO where the approval authority was collocated. JSAMs, JCOMs, and DMSMs were routinely awarded as PCS awards. The officers tended to recommend more junior people for Joint awards for big training events and combined exercises where they contributed significantly. It was not consistent but it was better than nothing. The NATO force structure is predicated on training exercises in other places so a three or four star exercise was a big deal.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2019 3:35 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 03:35:25 -0500

“She said she couldn’t do that for some reason that didn’t make sense.”
Or did she say something that you didn’t understand? Because respectfully, issuing JSAMs in a blanket way for a situation as you’ve described is simply inappropriate. See DoD Manual 1348.33 v4.

Also, regardless of your position, a SPC asking a the CG for awards...is inappropriate. If the service members’ work was as exemplary as described, some fruit salad is likely to follow. (Especially if it makes the CG’s facility stand above those of her peers). But the CG generally doesn’t want to get shaken down by junior enlisted for awards.
(*a general rule of thumb is if a soldier ever has to ask for an award, an award probably isn’t warranted).
Best of luck.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2019 11:15 AM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 11:15:19 -0500

Without looking at FMSWeb, I am just going to guess that the Army personnel there are assigned to an Army TDA, not a JMD or JDA. That's why no JSAM.
You guys just did very well on a survey, so take a look at those stellar performers that stepped up all year, recommend them for AAMs or ARCOMs and put the survey results as the first citation.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Feb 24 at 2019 4:21 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 16:21:20 -0500

The reason nobody can throw out a bunch of awards is Flags and Skippers have a limited amount of ammo they can shoot off. Since lower awards are delegated, that doesn't mean there's more. ACH/COMs are not on a Flag radar screen. That ammo is reserved locally for the upper third performers, preferably with even demographics. Back in the day, my allowances wouldn't cover that deep (I got creative with paper) but don't know where fruit salad mania is nowadays. Individual Awards go hand in hand with eval and promotion strategy. They are closely linked for it to work reliably. If your Command leadership doesn't execute a solid promotion strategy, good luck while they wonder why the morale went into the dumpster.

I Know I'll get a wet blanket on this one: TRISS pales in comparison to success/failure on Joint Commission. I was the regional engineer for 3 hospitals and about 14 clinics. A whole section of the evaluation I was on the hook for. We passed (Facilities were graded Excellent) and few got anything because it was our job to pass. Most, like me, got a LOC which equated to a sentence fragment in the next FITREP. That, and the party after was epic.

Also TRISS is likely similar to what's done in commercial sector. The problem with that is Medicare and other payments are linked to the scoring. Good right? If you call increased mortality a good thing because patients get less of what they need as payment is based on such things a room color preference and their feelings, have fun. Conscious health care providers know this, but also know their money isn't correctly linked to quality medical service. Additionally, any "customer satisfaction" thing tied to a "Not For Profit" (read Govt too) is an administrative check block for senior administrator promotion. It's one of the overhyped competitive areas for them. Wind up lower on the list and standby for the downhill flow. All those hospitals are still there next year, but look who gets promoted. Your skipper is likely feeling they dodged a bullet, this time.

JMUCs would be an idea, but the relevance to combat is too much of a stretch. That's as close to a participation trophy (used to be a plaque) you can get.

Response by MAJ Christopher Thompson made Feb 25 at 2019 9:59 AM

MAJ Christopher Thompson — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 09:59:49 -0500

You are NOT assigned to military Joint Task Force under the proper provisions, you are part of Regional Healthcare Facility. JSAMs are NOT a qualifying award. If you want your ENTIRE section to be officially recognized have your NCOIC make preparation for the potential submission of a unit citation for the accomplishments for the entire year. The closest qualifying unit citation would be a Superior Unit Award, but this requires a lot of work, clear achievements, documentation, and a good author. It is more likely several impact awards would be preferable to key individuals. I would not recommend asking any CG for blanket award requests in the future as they will respectfully say no for many reasons.

Response by 1SG Charles Hunter made Feb 25 at 2019 11:27 AM

1SG Charles Hunter — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 11:27:42 -0500

Blanket award of individual decorations makes no sense. Is some level of a unit citation appropriate?