Defense Department orders review of valor awards

The 18-month review took into account the input of various veteran support groups, military service organizations and officers who commanded units in Iraq and Afghanistan. Intelligence officers are unlikely to be eligible for the award, officials said.

“The sheer number that are being reviewed here, more than 1,000, would indicate that there’s the possibility” that additional Medal of Honor recipients would be identified, Cook said. Grober was awarded the Medal of Honor on November 12, 2015. The definition of “direct impact on combat operations” is still being determined and will be standardized across the Defense Department, officials said.

Whereas the Pentagon could previously award the Bronze Star medal to any individual whose service was exemplary, whether or not they entered a combat zone or even left the United States, the Bronze Star will now be restricted to valor in combat, Andrew Tilghman wrote for the Military Times.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has to approve the measures.

Defense officials have struggled for years over how to recognize the contributions of troops who operate thousands of miles from the front lines, but still impact the battlefield.

In addition, the paper notes, “Combat experience of commanders differed early in the conflict and this lack of combat experience may have led to an initial reluctance to recommend members for the (Medal of Honor)”.

Charles Dharapak/ASSOCIATED PRESS More than 1,100 medals issued since 2001 could be reviewed for possible upgrades to the Medal of Honor. But, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps will have until September 2017 to review the awards to make sure the service members got the right medal.

Combat veterans were outraged by the new medal’s rank in the official “Order of Precedence” above the Bronze Star, which honors ground troops for specific acts of heroism performed under fire.

The Pentagon has firmly rejected the idea of giving unmanned systems pilots and cyber warriors their own medal, and instead will offer a new “R” device to pin on existing noncombat medals.

The “R” (for remote) will be a small bronze letter that can be affixed to a medal ribbon, and will be awarded to “service members who use remote technology to directly impact combat operations”. The Pentagon will do so to elevate the prestige of actions incurred under specific hostile conditions beyond being deployed to a combat zone.

“We will follow appropriate procedures, including working with Congress to obtain necessary time-waiver legislation, to ensure servicemembers are properly recognized”, Allen said.

All awards apart from the Medal of Honor must be made within a year of the initial nomination.

To date, 17 service members who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have received the nation’s highest commendation for valor.

The Marine Corps is a component of the Navy.

In the past, the “V” device has been used to distinguish Bronze Stars received due to actions in direct combat and those received elsewhere. And the criteria for that “V” device will also be clarified under the new policy.

“And the perception when someone looks at that is that the member did something valorous in combat, but that was not always the case for the Department of the Navy”, the official said.