What awards and decorations transfer from the USAF to the Army?

SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 16:42:31 -0500

I switched branches a little over three years ago and still have discrepancies with my ERB. No awards or decorations from the USAF show up on my ERB. Every time I have been to an S1 shop I have been met with confusion because I am usually the first person they have seen that has switched to the Army from the USAF. So I am curious what exact awards and ribbons transfer and what regulation states it? Additionally, what documentation do I need? Is the citation good enough for the medals and my DD214 for the ribbons?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 2 at 2018 4:56 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 16:56:50 -0500

I believe most of them should work. Let's see what others say.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Dec 2 at 2018 5:04 PM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 17:04:57 -0500

That's an interesting question, though I don't know, unfortunately...I always understood that, at least from what I've seen, those awards gotten in one branch have, at least that I've known, pretty much always seemed to transfer over to another branch, since they're legitimate awards, irrespective of which service gave them...now, I obviously could be wrong, certainly, and, also, I likely am grossly oversimplifying the whole thing, for the reasons you explained, however, that was always my understanding of the whole thing, at any rate...when I'd been at USAF OTS after I hadn't finished Army ROTC, we had a good many who'd attended USAF OTS as interservice transfers, I'd pretty much always see them wearing awards from their prior service...one guy, and that was of course the only time I ever actually saw it, actually wore Navy enlisted sub dolphins, as he'd obviously been prior Navy, and had gotten them while in with them, of course (I'd thought to have gone Navy nuclear enlisted the next day, if USAF OTS hadn't taken me on appeal, I had to resubmit to get in, then had to go through the Lackland program twice, I got recycled there once, that was obviously way before USAF OTS got moved to Maxwell, back when dinos and mastodons walked the Earth)...as I'd said, at any rate, that was a good question, I'd certainly be curious to see what others might send in, as I'd said, I just honestly don't know the specifics on that sort of thing...I'd expect some stuff might change over to a USAF version, perhaps, some stuff might not typically be allowed...I'd certainly expect if there's an award and/or decoration group of some kind for your unit, I'd seen you were listed as ARNG, I'm sure they'd know, or be able to find out from USAF...maybe they might know their opposite numbers in ANG, as opposed to ARNG, who might have a decent clue also, just another thought, obviously, you know?

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 2 at 2018 5:10 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 17:10:13 -0500

I wore all that I had earned in the Air Force. Never had anyone question it.

Response by MSgt John Taylor made Dec 2 at 2018 5:56 PM

MSgt John Taylor — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 17:56:39 -0500

As long as they're not state awards, you should be fine.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 2 at 2018 6:35 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 18:35:45 -0500

As far as I know ALL awards and ribbons transfer to the Army. The thing that confuses most people is that it doesn't convert to the Army equivalent. For instance, Marines will earn a CAR and assume that means they earned the combat patch for that Marine unit. Or if you earned an AF AM that doesn't convert into an AAM. Receiving awards from Sister services is how you wee Army generals with ribbon stacks 8 rows high.
I have seen prior AF and Navy wearing some of the badges they earned, but I don't know how legit that is. You'd have to check 670-1.
As for citation, a DD214 is always considered an adequate source document. You can't even find a blank one online, making them a bit harder to fake.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Dec 2 at 2018 6:51 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 18:51:27 -0500

SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member you need to go to the HRC awards page. They have a sister service article. You need to present your sister service awards for Army acceptance. Article explains it.

Response by LTC John Mohor made Dec 2 at 2018 9:43 PM

LTC John Mohor — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 21:43:30 -0500

Your citations and DD -214 are in deed sufficient. I'd provide both AF Regs and Army Regs as references. If Active Army has an issue check with Reserve component folks. We always have folks that have served in one or more branches. Remember any "unit " specific awards would go above your right breast pocket if individually awarded along with unit of assignment. Hope that helps

Response by 1SG John Millan made Feb 15 at 2024 11:18 PM

1SG John Millan — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 23:18:51 -0500

All federal ribbons including NOAA, USPGS, NASA, lmao, but I wouldn’t wear the participation ones line long your, short your, basic training, etc. you’ll be razzed mercilessly. No AF MOS badges are allowed and most Army badges are now allowed except Airborne.