WING CC COMMENDATION FOR A CADET VS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

[SierraOneThree]

I communicated with a high level member of the Group staff and the Wing Personnel officer. The responses from both were lame.I neglected to mention above that a prior award sat at Wing for close to a year with no action taken on it. Finally it was approved. That cc has fortunately been replaced some time in the last year.  The Group cc goes off to other functions sometime in the not too distant future, at which time I will re submit it. If rumor control proves correct, the new one will have this up to Wing in under 2 weeks. They have already seen it and confirm it should go to Wing. If that person does not get it, hard to predict the ultimate result.  Meanwhile, there should be some type of alarm system when something sits at a HQ with no action for x amount of time. Overall a disgusting and frustrating fiasco that ignores the reg implication that these items should be handled with a sense of urgency.

Good old paper F120 to the rescue if you need it. Get it filled out with the same citation and information, get it to your group commander, and if they fail to respond after repeated attempts, email it direct to the wing commander with the group commander cc'd.

Paper F120s also circumvent the intended recipient's chain of command. If you know your own chain would sign off on something for someone in another wing, but that wing has a reputation for denying everything and anything, send the paper copy up your own chain so you can better advocate for signatures.

[TheSkyHornet]

I communicated with a high level member of the Group staff and the Wing Personnel officer. The responses from both were lame.I neglected to mention above that a prior award sat at Wing for close to a year with no action taken on it. Finally it was approved. That cc has fortunately been replaced some time in the last year.  The Group cc goes off to other functions sometime in the not too distant future, at which time I will re submit it. If rumor control proves correct, the new one will have this up to Wing in under 2 weeks. They have already seen it and confirm it should go to Wing. If that person does not get it, hard to predict the ultimate result.  Meanwhile, there should be some type of alarm system when something sits at a HQ with no action for x amount of time. Overall a disgusting and frustrating fiasco that ignores the reg implication that these items should be handled with a sense of urgency.

Good old paper F120 to the rescue if you need it. Get it filled out with the same citation and information, get it to your group commander, and if they fail to respond after repeated attempts, email it direct to the wing commander with the group commander cc'd.

Paper F120s also circumvent the intended recipient's chain of command. If you know your own chain would sign off on something for someone in another wing, but that wing has a reputation for denying everything and anything, send the paper copy up your own chain so you can better advocate for signatures.

I disagree. You shouldn't have to use multiple means to get something put through, or at least acknowledged.

One of the practices I use is to input the award into eServices and then email the responsible person of responsibility to notify them that I submitted the award. I usually include either a screenshot or attachment of the narrative for review.

But I'm not going to put it into eServices and then start having a totally different document floating around. That just leads to more disorganization, and it changes the expectations by others that they should expect to see things on paper or PDF while there is an electronic system already built for this.

I'm seeing it right now with Of-the-Year Awards where the Wing Director of Personnel asked for Google Form responses from units, but some commanders are deciding to use eServices. Now we have nominations in two places instead of one, which increases chances of something being missed.

If the Group Commander isn't acknowledging the award in eServices, an email reminder should suffice. If there isn't any response after a week, then a follow-up email is appropriate. If there still isn't any response, I would add the Wing Commander to the thread and include "Attempt #3." It is totally unacceptable to not provide any reply. Now, that Awards Committee may only meet once a month rather than ad hoc, which isn't unreasonable. BUT, it's fair to expect at least an acknowledgement.

One issue with awards submissions is that the submitter does not receive an automated reply, and unit commanders do not received any automated notification that a member in their squadron has received an award. These are things that require a courteous heads up by either the person doing the approving or some designee (Personnel Officer, etc.). This goes back to why I like email threads to coincide with awards.

Submitter:  All, I submitted an award nomination for (award) in eServices for (person) for (event/issue). Attached is the narrative that I included. Your review is requested.
Group Commander:  Approved on my end.
Wing Commander:  Thank you. The awards committee will review.

[NIN]

I think I may have mentioned it "up thread," but I *always* do a CAPF 120 and attach it to the eServices nomination when I am putting in awards. Because then you have a legit 120 (with at least the originator's signature) and then if its approved you have the approval in eServices.

The entry screen used to munch the text badly and kill paragraph breaks, etc.  If you want an award citation to at least remain readable thru the process, attach it as a PDF even if you don't use a 120.

[SierraOneThree]

I disagree. You shouldn't have to use multiple means to get something put through, or at least acknowledged.

One of the practices I use is to input the award into eServices and then email the responsible person of responsibility to notify them that I submitted the award. I usually include either a screenshot or attachment of the narrative for review.

But I'm not going to put it into eServices and then start having a totally different document floating around. That just leads to more disorganization, and it changes the expectations by others that they should expect to see things on paper or PDF while there is an electronic system already built for this.

I'm seeing it right now with Of-the-Year Awards where the Wing Director of Personnel asked for Google Form responses from units, but some commanders are deciding to use eServices. Now we have nominations in two places instead of one, which increases chances of something being missed.

If the Group Commander isn't acknowledging the award in eServices, an email reminder should suffice. If there isn't any response after a week, then a follow-up email is appropriate. If there still isn't any response, I would add the Wing Commander to the thread and include "Attempt #3." It is totally unacceptable to not provide any reply. Now, that Awards Committee may only meet once a month rather than ad hoc, which isn't unreasonable. BUT, it's fair to expect at least an acknowledgement.

One issue with awards submissions is that the submitter does not receive an automated reply, and unit commanders do not received any automated notification that a member in their squadron has received an award. These are things that require a courteous heads up by either the person doing the approving or some designee (Personnel Officer, etc.). This goes back to why I like email threads to coincide with awards.

Submitter:  All, I submitted an award nomination for (award) in eServices for (person) for (event/issue). Attached is the narrative that I included. Your review is requested.
Group Commander:  Approved on my end.
Wing Commander:  Thank you. The awards committee will review.

There's ideal, and then there's reality. One of my old wings had possibly the most obnoxious awards board who flatly refused any and all submissions for valid acts that warranted awards. This was particularly obvious for cadets vs seniors during encampment season.

That wing often partnered/partners with its neighbor wing for encampments, and the fact of the matter is that awards submitted in that other wing would be approved for home wing members, but since the e-F120 was routed to the member's home chain of command, many of those awards were either downgraded or denied altogether.

So I'm sorry, but I'm not going to bother submitting an award for someone deserving to a chain I know won't approve it. I'm going to do it in a way I have more confidence it will get approved, because if I'm going to submit someone for something they've earned, I want to see them actually get it. It's political sure, but it's entirely above-board, especially given my experience with wing awards boards and (some) wing commanders.