Are the TOC-reported number of missions on ARCOMs accurate?

SPC James Harsh — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 21:24:36 -0400

When people receive an Army Commendation Medal and it includes number of missions, I think that's a number reported from the TOC right? Are they inaccurate? Can share the most you've seen or have too, that would be interesting.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Oct 7 at 2016 9:57 PM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 21:57:14 -0400

I think it depends on the person doing the award. Remember anyone can write up a 638. The person may have been involved in a certain number which may be different than the number recorded in the official duty logs. Also remember there is a "lag" time in the writing of the award and presentation of the award. You have to understand usually there is a time frame for awards, there is also a time frame for getting awards submitted, which is usually shorter than the deployment time. Normally all awards are written and approved down range because many times the approving official is from a higher unit and getting all this done after redeployment is a pain in the ass and so much more time consuming.
A S-1 NCO could answer this much better than I can.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 8 at 2016 9:48 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 09:48:40 -0400

Here's the sad truth about these awards sometimes. I'm not sure who wrote this one for you, but often times what happens is the plt ldr or plt sgt write the awards for everyone in their plt. In doing this they often just use generic stats from what the plt accomplished and not specific details from each individual Soldier. The s1's job is to make sure it is administratively/grammatically correct, but not to fact check it. Some award writers do try to get actual mission counts, miles driven, etc. but that's not always the case.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Oct 8 at 2016 12:37 PM

SSG Trevor S. — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 12:37:17 -0400

When I wrote blanket tour awards it was for team achievement, with team numbers. If there was a significant difference in roles I would adjust numbers as needed. When I wrote impact awards, that was for individual achievement, and all of the numbers would be personalized due to the individual nature of the award.

Response by MGySgt James Forward made Oct 11 at 2016 2:40 PM

MGySgt James Forward — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 14:40:06 -0400

Okay, got to ask... does it make any difference how many missions? Semper Fi.

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Oct 11 at 2016 4:13 PM

CSM Richard StCyr — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 16:13:28 -0400

We did murder boards at the BN level with BC, XO, S3, CSM, and Company 1SGs and Cos as panel members not to approve or disapprove awards above the AAM, but to make sure the recommended Soldiers had the best chance to get what the commands put them in for. Part of the review process was accuracy so folks didn't get shorted out of, or elaborated mission counts, impact statements or project values.
So for our guys I'm pretty confident the numbers were very close to correct. Every mission, patrol, or convoy generates a manifest so I can't see how hard it would be for all units to verify info.