Time: Awards are authorized for a specific time frame to recognize a past or ongoing conflict. What are the basic tenets for determining medals? McGuire is a member of the Army Ambulance Service with the French Army, 1918. Jones, Chief of Service, pinning the Distinguished Service Cross on the breast of Pvt. First American to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. These are typically campaign, service, and foreign awards. Apart from personal awards like a Purple Heart and Silver Star, veterans automatically receive some awards based on time and location. These include rubrics, ledgers, and unit chronologies from the Department of Defense.

Technicians use reference materials to assist in finding the correct medals and appurtenances (e.g., Bronze Stars, V devices, oak leaf clusters, etc.). Other documents that include awards information in a service record are copies of general orders and citations.

Typos and missing information are common on DD-214s (especially pre–Vietnam War era), and as unit chronological information is updated by the DOD, many veterans can receive more awards or appurtenances than they realize. This critical document summarizes the veteran’s service by recording their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), rank, character of service, type of discharge, and a list of awards. The first document they look at is the Notice of Separation (DD Form 214). When a request comes in, NPRC technicians review the veteran’s personnel record for awards information, which is then submitted to the appropriate branch. ( National Archives Identifier 138926472) Note that the service branch issues the awards not the NPRC. When award eligibility is retroactively applied to a time period or conflict, many veterans apply for said award. Requests for replacement medals and awards are routine for the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) they’re wanted for shadow-boxes, memorial services, or to replace lost and stolen medals. Fortunately, the National Archives and Records Administration performs a vital service in this very process. This information changes over time, and inevitably, veterans who want copies of their medals can sometimes face a daunting process. The Department of Defense (DOD) manages the awards procedure and the recognition of foreign awards. New awards are established, and existing ones are amended. It is part of a series on records at the National Personnel Records Center.Īwards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces can be beautifully complex and informative. Today’s post comes from Thomas Richardson, an archives technician at the National Personnel Records Center in St.

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