Now don't get me wrong guys, if I recall correctly the Achievement and Commendation medals were actually rolled out in the past 45 years or so and meant to be given to lower ranking guys for their distinct accomplishments, in order to preserve the so-called "medals of valour" (Bronze Star and above) for the
truly brave. I actually support this. Now it's terrible that some people do more than others and get a medal, lets say one Airman in a fuels shop pumped 20,000 pounds of gas every day, and another Airman gets a commendation end of tour even though he only pumped 15,000 pounds, but I'd rather have that vague interpretation and supervisor's discretion for the lower medals than have some guy get the Air Force Cross because he gave his supervisor a rimjob.
Why not take an achievement or commendation when everybody else is and you need them to get promoted anyways? How are you going to get to the top to change all these things if you don't accept the recognition that all your peers are greedingly taking anyways?
I watch guys volunteer to read to old people in the looney shack everyday, they don't give a damn about what they volunteer for, they are just counting the bullets to that AMN, NCO, SNCO, CGO of the quarter plaque!
Who can tell the difference whether they are sincere or not? After all they DID volunteer their time.
So it goes both ways. One of my old ALO's told me a story about getting tapped with an AI mission to blow up a power plant or something like that during Desert Storm and being told up front by his DO that if he doesn't screw it up, he automatically has a DFC guaranteed in the bank. Now I don't think is the way you should do it.
