Achievement Ribbon?

[lordmonar]

I think it is a little of both.

Commanders are the the focal point for all things coming in and out of a squadron.

They should be watching what their people are doing and either writing them up or tasking their subordinate to write up THEIR subordinates to give due recognition.

IT IS the job of the commander to make sure that their people are recognised.

It is every leader's job to forward (via a CAPF 120) their recommendation when they think someone is worthy.

Members need to be more proactive in giving due recognition and commanders need to be proactive in getting their mid level leaders to do those write ups.

[RiverAux]

I agree with ICE that ideally others should be initiating award recommends, however in real life it rarely happens in most organizations.  I don't know how many groups I'm in where it is hard to get anyone to nominate someone for an award.

Personally, if someone had informally told me (when I was a squadron commander) that Capt. Fuzzy deserves an award for some action and if I had asked them to write it up, but never received anything, then I would take it on myself to get it done.  Better to make sure people are recognized when appropriate than stand on principle. 

[Gunner C]

The purpose behind the Achievement Medal was to give the Group Level folks an alternative for recognizing their people without having to go through the wing level and it taking alot of time. It is not a replacement for anything and is by no way a "cheap thank you". If that is what folks are using it for than they are wrong.

Not entirely, it was also to fill in the gap between the commander's commendation and the certificate of achievement.  This was a good move by the military and a good move by CAP.

[JohnKachenmeister]

I agree with ICE that ideally others should be initiating award recommends, however in real life it rarely happens in most organizations.  I don't know how many groups I'm in where it is hard to get anyone to nominate someone for an award.

Personally, if someone had informally told me (when I was a squadron commander) that Capt. Fuzzy deserves an award for some action and if I had asked them to write it up, but never received anything, then I would take it on myself to get it done.  Better to make sure people are recognized when appropriate than stand on principle.

River:

You're not gonna like this.

Writing the award yourself is taking the easy way out.  As a commander, it is your duty to trai n subordinates.  Writing up awards is a necessary skill.  Doing it for them will meet the short-term objective, but will not teach the junior officer the skill he needs.

So when you leave command and the junior officer takes over, who will write the award recommendation when one of HIS junior officers deserves one?

[IceNine]

Bingo.

And given the amount of times that people ask for examples of write-up's here there are too many times when we fail at this.

[lordmonar]

Bingo.

And given the amount of times that people ask for examples of write-up's here there are too many times when we fail at this.

I agree....but there is a happy median between "It's not my job" and "I'll do everything".

If you are at group level and squadron level members are telling you about soneone who deserves recognition....we need to be following up to make sure that their chain is 1) aware of it and 2) not slow boating or simply not doing their job and recognising their people.

Same at the squadron level.  The CC needs to have eys on their people and make sure they are tasking their middle managers to submit F120s when they are needed.

[Cecil DP]

Bingo.

And given the amount of times that people ask for examples of write-up's here there are too many times when we fail at this.

I agree....but there is a happy median between "It's not my job" and "I'll do everything".

If you are at group level and squadron level members are telling you about soneone who deserves recognition....we need to be following up to make sure that their chain is 1) aware of it and 2) not slow boating or simply not doing their job and recognising their people.

Same at the squadron level.  The CC needs to have eys on their people and make sure they are tasking their middle managers to submit F120s when they are needed.

When someone says "so and so deserves recognition, hand them a CAPF 120 and ask him to take the time to write it up. Training, recognition, and responsibility all in one action.

[RiverAux]

When someone says "so and so deserves recognition, hand them a CAPF 120 and ask him to take the time to write it up. Training, recognition, and responsibility all in one action

Who has forms anymore.

Really guys, in theory you are correct, but in practice it is always up to the commander to get something done when someone in their command drops the ball.  Sometimes you leave the ball on the floor, but in this case the commander should pick it up and run with it to make sure their people are recognized when appropriate.