NGLA-ENA-Z
SUBJECT: Awards Board Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
NGLA-ENA-Z 1 May 2013
MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD
SUBJECT: Awards Board Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
1. References.
a. Electronic Mail, 205th Battalion Commander, 22 April 2013.
b. Awards SOP, 205th Engineer Battalion, 3 April 2013.
c. Awards SOP, Area Support Group-Kuwait (ASG-KU), not dated.
d. Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, 15 September 2011.
2. General Purpose.
a. Establish internal Awards Board SOP and validation/denial procedures.
b. Follow applicable Army regulations and ASG-KU guidance for award/packet submission.
c. Review award “comments” for justification for the award.
d. Provide recommended upgrade/downgrade/rejection/approval.
e. Document findings and recommendations along with voting members’ vote.
f. Ensure Soldiers get the awards they deserve while maintaining the integrity of the military awards presented.
3. Board Responsibilities.
a. Chairman.
(1) Schedules and organizes meetings.
(2) Serves as liaison between the Battalion Command Team and the Awards Board.
(3) Serves as the tie-breaker for award recommendations.
(4) Proposes screening and evaluation criteria to the board members for consideration and approval.
(5) Reviews all board member recommendations to identify packets that require rescreening. Packets that have wide variations in recommendations between individual board members will be set aside and discussed in an open forum to ensure all actions of the individual Soldier being recommended for an award have been recognized.
b. Members.
(1) Review all DA Form 638s and enclosures (if applicable).
(2) Make recommendations to approve, disapprove, upgrade, or downgrade each award.
(3) Assist the chairman with various tasks to include but not limited to determining the process for award recommendations, creating/editing the Awards Board SOP, and designing all figures and attachments for the SOP.
c. S-1 Representative.
(1) Responsible for bringing one hard copy of each award to be reviewed in a two pocket folder to the Awards Board reviews.
(2) Attends all board meetings to serve as the liaison for his/her section and company awards processing representatives.
(3) Serves as a subject matter expert for award related items to include but not limited to AR 600-8-22 and the Awards SOPs of the BN and ASG-KU.
(4) Updates the battalion awards tracker in order to maintain visibility of the status of all packets.
4. Board Proceedings.
a. Meetings. The board will meet NLT the 5th of each month or when at least five awards have been reviewed by the S-1 and forwarded to the board for further processing. Therefore, the board could meet multiple times per month depending on availability of board members and operational tempo (OPTEMPO).
b. Preparation for Awards Review. It is the individual responsibility of each board member to become familiar with appropriate Army Regulations governing the submission, transmittal, and approval of awards. It is also the board members’ responsibility to become familiar with the battalion Awards SOP and the SOP(s) of the higher command(s).
c. Awards Review.
(1) When required, board members will collectively review the digital version of each award using a monitor or projector. In addition, the hard copy packet will be passed around for review by individual members and for each board member to complete his or her portion of the Award Evaluation Sheet (Enclosure 1).
(2) When one or more members are not able to attend in person, they can review the digital copy of the award, complete their portion of the Award Evaluation Sheet, and send the recommendation to the chairman via email or network share drive.
(3) The chairman will only complete his/her portion of the Award Evaluation Sheet if one of the following situations occur:
(a) When there isn’t a clear recommendation from the board members (i.e. the recommendation is a “tie”) or there is a wide variation among the board members’ recommendations.
(b) The DA Form 638 is for one of the board members.
(c) One of the board members will not be available for an extended period.
d. Recommendations to Command Group. Each member will complete an individual evaluation of each award and record their recommendation on the Award Evaluation Sheet. Results from each member will be tallied and a consolidated board recommendation will be made. The Board Chairman will review the recommendation and determine if the award requires additional action from the board before it is forwarded to the next step of the awards process.
5. Screening and Evaluation Criteria. Screening criteria will be utilized to determine if an award meets basic requirements for potential approval, and will be answered with a Yes or No response. Evaluation criteria will be rated using a three tier numbering system starting with 0 and ending with 2. If there is no supporting data to support the minimum requirements for an evaluation criteria, that evaluation criteria will be rated a 0. If there is supporting data to support the minimum requirements for an evaluation criteria, that evaluation criteria will be rated as a 1. If there is supporting data that exceeds the minimum requirements for an evaluation criteria, that evaluation criteria will be rated as a 2. Refer to the Awards Board Presentation (Enclosure 2) for more detailed information on the scoring of each screening and evaluation criteria that follows.
a. Bronze Star Medal (BSM).
(1) Screening Criteria: Impacted mission accomplishment of another unit? (Yes or No)
(2) Evaluation Criteria: Criteria (a) and (b) are weighted twice as much as (c) and (d).
(a) Level of responsibility.
(b) Measure of performance.
(c) Level of personal risk.
(d) Specific achievements.
b. Meritorious Service Medal (MSM).
(1) Screening Criteria: Impacted success of ASG-KU or higher brigade? (Yes or No)
(2) Evaluation Criteria: All of the evaluation criteria must be demonstrated simultaneously for the award of this medal. All three criteria are weighted the same.
(a) Demonstrated high level of leadership.
(b) Demonstrated high level of performance.
(c) Demonstrated high level of responsibility.
c. Army Commendation Medal (ARCOM).
(1) Screening Criteria: Only one of the following two screening criteria must be answered yes to proceed to the evaluation criteria.
(a) Soldier performed extremely well and far exceeded the standard with a relatively low level of responsibility? (Yes or No)
(b) Soldier performed to standard at higher levels of responsibility? (Yes or No)
(2) Evaluation Criteria: All three criteria are weighted the same.
(a) Deeds continuously exceeded standards, requirements, and expectations.
(b) Clearly above peer performance.
(c) Positively impacted mission accomplishment of their unit.
d. Army Achievement Medal (AAM).
(1) Screening Criteria: Maintained good character? (Yes or No)
(2) Evaluation Criteria: All three criteria are weighted the same.
(a) Deeds exceeded normal standards, requirements, and expectations.
(b) Performed their duties to standard.
(c) Made positive contributions to their assigned section, company, and the battalion.
6. Award Processing.
a. Awards will be routed using the process outlined in the flowchart shown below.
b. The Award Routing Sheet (Enclosure 3) will be added to each packet and will be updated by the S-1 as each packet is routed until it reaches the approving authority and a final decision is made.
c. In addition to the Award Routing Sheet, the S-1 will be responsible for updating the battalion award tracker which will be accessible on the network by select personnel to include board members.
7. Point of contact for this SOP is CPT Ford at or DSN 318-480-0235.
3 Encls BATTALION COMMANDER
1. Award Evaluation Sheets LTC, EN
2. Awards Board Presentation Commanding
3. Award Routing Sheet
4