Air Medals

[Mike26]

Does anyone know what the requirements are for an Air Medal in the Navy? I am comparing the requirements with the Air Force.
To receive the medal in the AF you must fly X number of combat missions, each mission is worth X number of points, when you have 300 points you receive an Air Medal, for example during Operation Enduring Freedom each combat mission was worth 30 points, after 10 missions you received an Air Medal. You did not have to be a fighter or bomber aircraft to log "combat missions" either, you only had to fly over hostile country, such as Afghanistan or Iraq.
Does the Navy work in a similar way or is it completely different.
Also does the Navy have Aerial Achievement medals? The AF gives them out for flying X number of "combat support missions"

 

[wildflyin69]

lol, honestly, that has never crossed my mind as far as wanting to be a military aviator...I would've thought that they would only give out medals for extraordinary situations instead of doling them out for seniority...but then again I am naive to the whole process seeing how I'm not even in yet.

"Push the stick foward, the houses get bigger; pull back, the houses get smaller... unless you keep pulling back, then they get bigger again."

 

[Mike26]

extraordinary is not always the case, in the AF anyway. They are important for enlisted as they add points for promotion. As for officers I don't think they are as important, mostly eye candy.

 

[46Driver]

Eye Candy, you are correct! We had flight students showing up with MUC's (Meritorious Unit Citations) simply for attending the Naval Academy.

 

[Av Fan]

Wow, when you graduate from the Air Force Academy, you get a degree and a couple of gold bars. Guess the Navy isnt so extraordinary in this case either.

Victory favors the bold

 

[phrogdriver]

There are two kinds of Air Medal. There's one for individual actions deserving of an award, whether in combat or not. These are denoted by a "V" for combat awards. The non-combat ones are just denoted by the medal itself. This could be anything from handling an emergency in flight exeptionally well to participating in a noteworthy combat mission.

The "Strike/Flight" AM is given based on the point system. The system can get very complicated and the Dept of the Navy changes it slightly every conflict. It generally works by giving 1 point for any sortie in a combat zone and 2 points if that sortie involved delivering ordinance. 20 points equals one award. Personally I don't think it's a "gimme" award, any more than a Combat Action Ribbon is. Well, in the USN the CAR is a gimme, but in the Corps it's not!

Phrogs phorever

 

[dvl_dog_2531]

I agree with Phrogdriver in both that it is not a gimme and that the USN CAR in most cases is (excepting specwar and riverine activities).

On to a different, related subject: a guy I know who was an enlisted Marine aircrewman (gunner) in Vietnam has a shadow box containing (among other awards) a DFC. I do NOT doubt that he was given the award, but he has some PTSD and out of curiousity I'd like to see his citation and obviously don't want to bring up a potentially touchy subject. Anyone know if these are generally available?

If I can't see his citation I'd at least like to know the sort of stuff that would warrant a DFC for an aircrewman.

 

[phrogdriver]

Don't know about how one would look up an old award.

DFCs have been given at various times based on a similar system as Air Medals, just requiring more sorties. As far as an aircrewman getting it, he could have been on the aircraft during a particularly noteworthy flight, or done something noteworthy himself. Aircrew save everyone's bacon more often than pilots would like to admit!

Phrogs phorever

 

[phrogdriver]

Oh yeah, in my previous post, I neglected to mention that the Strike Flight AM is denoted by "Arabic" (i.e. regular) numerals on the right edge of the ribbon.

Phrogs phorever

 

[schmuckatelli]

As an example of what phrogdriver said about aircrewmen the Sikorsky web site recently had a link to a story about a Coast Guard aircrewman that received the DFC for an especially hard rescue.

 

[webmaster]

An AIRMEDAL is not something that your respective FLEET (5th, 7th, 3rd) is just going to "hand out". As perviously mentioned, there is a point structure for recieving the "Strike/Flight" award. You get points for the # of hours flown in combat, for dropping ordnance, and getting shot at (confirmed). For OEF, the only thing I am basing my information off of, you needed 250 combat hours (green ink in your log book), to get awarded your Air Medal, by flight hours alone, to get your 20 points.

 

[phrogdriver]

Well, I had about 45 hours of combat time and got 2, so I think that's a little high.

Phrogs phorever

 

[webmaster]

Fixed wing HVA onstation worked a little differently from what I observed, with respect to how they were awarded, and how points accrued, but in the end, 250 is what we needed.

 

[phrogdriver]

Wow. 250 hours is several months worth of flight time! That's definitely not a gimme!

In Allied Force and Joint Guardian (Albania/Kosovo), I flew 80-some hours and got a numeral "1." A lot of those sorties were flown in support missions, where the point system got really convoluted. About half were flown in Kosovo. So, I guess the rule is, well...I just don't know.

Phrogs phorever

 

[webmaster]

Yeah, we had some guys that flew in Kosovo, but they wouldn't let the time cross over for use in OEF, didn't matter in the end, they still got enough hours.

As for the rules, well, someone else figured it out, told us, and we got them as a side benefit to going out and kicking some ass.