bobdina
09-25-2009, 11:45 AM
Officers more likely to receive combat medal
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 25, 2009 11:13:33 EDT
Enlisted airmen spent a year pushing the Air Force for a medal that recognized their work with soldiers fighting on the ground. In 2007, the service instituted the Air Force Combat Action Medal. Today, numbers show the award is going to officers in numbers far greater than they deploy.
Officers earned 1,947, or 40 percent, of the 4,833 Combat Action Medals awarded but make up less than 20 percent of deployed airmen, according to an analysis by Air Force Times. Enlisted airmen received 60 percent of the medals — 2,886 — but pull a little more than 80 percent of deployments. A total of 4,875 medals have been awarded, including 35 to special agents in the Office of Special Investigations, whose ranks are not specified, as well as four soldiers, one Marine and two Navy officers.
The numbers perpetuate a long-standing belief that the Air Force honors officers more than enlisted airmen, though officials insist the Combat Action Medal recognizes airmen of all ranks and specialties who have engaged in direct combat and doesn’t favor either enlisted airmen or officers.
“The Air Force is an air-specific force, and those who fly are typically officers,” said Col. Ken Sersun, director of the manpower, personnel and services directorate for Air Forces Central Command, whose commander gives final approval for awards in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Certainly there are a lot of enlisted who are in harm’s way, but it would bear out, I think, and make sense that [there’s] a large portion of the force that flies. That’s what we do.”
An Air Force Times analysis of medals and deployments published in February found officers earn more than double the awards for an average deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan than enlisted airmen. Airmen in flying roles, both officer and enlisted, are more likely to receive a medal than those in support roles.
The study showed the notable exception is that enlisted members receive more valor and heroism awards than their superiors.
The Combat Action Medal was born after a year of debate about whether the Air Force should have another combat medal and who would qualify for it.
Retired Gen. T. Michael Moseley, then the Air Force’s chief of staff, supported the idea of recognizing combat experience but also said he didn’t want to exclude any airman based on rank or specialty.
“The intent was to recognize Air Force officers and enlisted folks who have participated in combat operations,” Moseley said. “Officer, enlisted, straight across the board, not just pilots, not just [explosive ordnance disposal] or security forces, but anyone who was in actual combat, assigned to a combat zone.”
When asked the fairness question, Moseley said the numbers don’t tell the full story.
“Not all of the enlisted guys are in combat roles,” he said. “EOD, security forces, combat controllers, those guys don’t make up 100 percent of the enlisted deployed force.”
The Air Force carefully drafted the qualifications and award process to eliminate favoritism, Moseley said.
“Up until recently, 99.9 percent of the combat conducted by the United States Air Force was conducted by pilots and aircrew,” he said. “But over the past few years, you see a higher percentage of folks wearing the United States Air Force uniform engaged in combat on the ground. How do we recognize them at the same level as we do with the pilots and aircrew?”
A technical sergeant who recently returned from a six-month deployment in Iraq, his third overseas tour, told Air Force Times he had been denied the Combat Action Medal. The airman asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
Assigned to an Army unit, the technical sergeant was traveling in a convoy when an improvised explosive device struck and disabled the vehicle in front of his.
“As soon as we got hit, the truck commander starts yelling that we got hit and we just donned our night-vision goggles and made sure we wouldn’t get hit again,” he said.
It would be more than five hours, deep into the night, before the convoy and the quick-reaction force could move the disabled vehicle and return to the safety of a forward operating base, the airman said.
The technical sergeant’s commanding officers nominated him for a Combat Action Medal, but his packet never made it past the group level. The nomination for a fellow airman in the same vehicle also was denied, he said.
“The Air Force, it seems … they’re turning down a lot of people because they weren’t close enough to being killed, I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t really care if I get it, but I know of other guys who deserve it who didn’t get it.”
A panel of three officers and two senior enlisted airmen, all of whom must have served in a combat zone, studies the Combat Action Medal nominations. The board, led by a sixth person, a brigadier general, is given specific instructions on the criteria and panel members undergo mock boards beforehand to ensure they are consistent when they grade nomination packets, Sersun said.
The final approval authority for each award is the commander of Air Forces Central, who currently is Lt. Gen. Gilmary Hostage.
“Any award is rather subjective in nature when it comes down to it,” Sersun said. “The board process itself helps [maintain] a consistent integrity to the process.”
So far, according to Sersun, 75 percent to 80 percent of Combat Action Medal nominations have been approved. By comparison, the approval rate is about 82 percent for the Bronze Star, a non-flight medal and the highest decoration awarded in large numbers, according to the earlier analysis; however, the Bronze Star with valor, which has more stringent criteria, has an approval rate of 41 percent, according to Air Forces Central Command.
In 2007, the first year the Combat Action medal was awarded, 2,285, or 75 percent, of the 3,053 submissions were approved. The rate rose to 82 percent in 2008, when the panel approved 1,928 of 2,352 nominations; of the 842 nominations received so far this year, 662 medals have been awarded — a 79 percent approval rate.
The Air Force could not provide breakdowns of the nomination numbers for enlisted airmen and officers or Combat Action Medal recipients by Air Force Specialty Code.
In almost every case, awards are denied because the actions didn’t meet the criteria or the nomination packet wasn’t written well enough to properly describe the events that took place, Moseley said.
“This is not evil CentAF picking and choosing,” he said. “This goes back to the age-old issue of awards and decorations.”
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 25, 2009 11:13:33 EDT
Enlisted airmen spent a year pushing the Air Force for a medal that recognized their work with soldiers fighting on the ground. In 2007, the service instituted the Air Force Combat Action Medal. Today, numbers show the award is going to officers in numbers far greater than they deploy.
Officers earned 1,947, or 40 percent, of the 4,833 Combat Action Medals awarded but make up less than 20 percent of deployed airmen, according to an analysis by Air Force Times. Enlisted airmen received 60 percent of the medals — 2,886 — but pull a little more than 80 percent of deployments. A total of 4,875 medals have been awarded, including 35 to special agents in the Office of Special Investigations, whose ranks are not specified, as well as four soldiers, one Marine and two Navy officers.
The numbers perpetuate a long-standing belief that the Air Force honors officers more than enlisted airmen, though officials insist the Combat Action Medal recognizes airmen of all ranks and specialties who have engaged in direct combat and doesn’t favor either enlisted airmen or officers.
“The Air Force is an air-specific force, and those who fly are typically officers,” said Col. Ken Sersun, director of the manpower, personnel and services directorate for Air Forces Central Command, whose commander gives final approval for awards in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Certainly there are a lot of enlisted who are in harm’s way, but it would bear out, I think, and make sense that [there’s] a large portion of the force that flies. That’s what we do.”
An Air Force Times analysis of medals and deployments published in February found officers earn more than double the awards for an average deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan than enlisted airmen. Airmen in flying roles, both officer and enlisted, are more likely to receive a medal than those in support roles.
The study showed the notable exception is that enlisted members receive more valor and heroism awards than their superiors.
The Combat Action Medal was born after a year of debate about whether the Air Force should have another combat medal and who would qualify for it.
Retired Gen. T. Michael Moseley, then the Air Force’s chief of staff, supported the idea of recognizing combat experience but also said he didn’t want to exclude any airman based on rank or specialty.
“The intent was to recognize Air Force officers and enlisted folks who have participated in combat operations,” Moseley said. “Officer, enlisted, straight across the board, not just pilots, not just [explosive ordnance disposal] or security forces, but anyone who was in actual combat, assigned to a combat zone.”
When asked the fairness question, Moseley said the numbers don’t tell the full story.
“Not all of the enlisted guys are in combat roles,” he said. “EOD, security forces, combat controllers, those guys don’t make up 100 percent of the enlisted deployed force.”
The Air Force carefully drafted the qualifications and award process to eliminate favoritism, Moseley said.
“Up until recently, 99.9 percent of the combat conducted by the United States Air Force was conducted by pilots and aircrew,” he said. “But over the past few years, you see a higher percentage of folks wearing the United States Air Force uniform engaged in combat on the ground. How do we recognize them at the same level as we do with the pilots and aircrew?”
A technical sergeant who recently returned from a six-month deployment in Iraq, his third overseas tour, told Air Force Times he had been denied the Combat Action Medal. The airman asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
Assigned to an Army unit, the technical sergeant was traveling in a convoy when an improvised explosive device struck and disabled the vehicle in front of his.
“As soon as we got hit, the truck commander starts yelling that we got hit and we just donned our night-vision goggles and made sure we wouldn’t get hit again,” he said.
It would be more than five hours, deep into the night, before the convoy and the quick-reaction force could move the disabled vehicle and return to the safety of a forward operating base, the airman said.
The technical sergeant’s commanding officers nominated him for a Combat Action Medal, but his packet never made it past the group level. The nomination for a fellow airman in the same vehicle also was denied, he said.
“The Air Force, it seems … they’re turning down a lot of people because they weren’t close enough to being killed, I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t really care if I get it, but I know of other guys who deserve it who didn’t get it.”
A panel of three officers and two senior enlisted airmen, all of whom must have served in a combat zone, studies the Combat Action Medal nominations. The board, led by a sixth person, a brigadier general, is given specific instructions on the criteria and panel members undergo mock boards beforehand to ensure they are consistent when they grade nomination packets, Sersun said.
The final approval authority for each award is the commander of Air Forces Central, who currently is Lt. Gen. Gilmary Hostage.
“Any award is rather subjective in nature when it comes down to it,” Sersun said. “The board process itself helps [maintain] a consistent integrity to the process.”
So far, according to Sersun, 75 percent to 80 percent of Combat Action Medal nominations have been approved. By comparison, the approval rate is about 82 percent for the Bronze Star, a non-flight medal and the highest decoration awarded in large numbers, according to the earlier analysis; however, the Bronze Star with valor, which has more stringent criteria, has an approval rate of 41 percent, according to Air Forces Central Command.
In 2007, the first year the Combat Action medal was awarded, 2,285, or 75 percent, of the 3,053 submissions were approved. The rate rose to 82 percent in 2008, when the panel approved 1,928 of 2,352 nominations; of the 842 nominations received so far this year, 662 medals have been awarded — a 79 percent approval rate.
The Air Force could not provide breakdowns of the nomination numbers for enlisted airmen and officers or Combat Action Medal recipients by Air Force Specialty Code.
In almost every case, awards are denied because the actions didn’t meet the criteria or the nomination packet wasn’t written well enough to properly describe the events that took place, Moseley said.
“This is not evil CentAF picking and choosing,” he said. “This goes back to the age-old issue of awards and decorations.”