Art wrote:
Medal are awarded by supererior officers based on reports, investigations and
recommendations. Kerry didn't award himself anything. And the neocons who
say
he did are all liars as usual.


That is an over simplification of the process Art. It is also kind of like
efficiency reports, anyone rated less than superior is dead as far as career
moves.

The standard practice in my era was to recommend an individual for an award at
least one above what you wanted him to get, want him to get a Bronze Star, put
him in for a Silver Star. It gets a little bit dicey when the person really
deserve a higher award and you can't get it for them.

Also remember Art, superior officers tend not to do the work, the enlisted men
(remember those guys?) usually do the research and buck the report up to the
officer in charge of awards, who then sends it up to the next level, etc.

Also remember the purple heart is almost automatic, just a minimal amount of
paperwork required.

I personally know an RF-4 crew who got Bronze Stars for leaving their camera on
an instant too long while jinking and "accidentally" took photos of a target
that had been missed by three other crews. The paperwork made them look like
the best recce crew in the world. They deserved Silver Stars for other missions
that never got written up, so their commander let it ride.

Awards are controlled by fate, some you deserve, some you don't, usually it
evens out if you live long enough. If you are a great politician, you can get
yourself enough fruit salad to cause you to lean to the left by just protecting
the main O'club bar, but they don't mean squat in the Stag Bar.

Rick Clark