Timely receipt of unit-held medals

[warlordnik]

Good day all,

I am currently out of the office and cannot access the pubs so I was hoping for some help on here.  I just recently found out that since I did not reply back to my unit Sgt Major about my availability for an upcoming medals parade (I was on leave), that I will be pushed back till next year.  The thing is that my supervisor had informed him, in my absence, that I would be free to attend.  That, apparently, was not good enough.  If I had to wait a couple of extra months I could suck it up, but the thing is that I will be away on a 6 month course next year and the earliest that I would be able to receive it is Summer 2014.  By that point, the medal will have been sitting at the OR for a full year!

I plan to submit a memo requesting that I be presented the medal by my unit CO (as opposed to the GO) before the Xmas Leave Period.  My supervisor supports this but I would like to reference the principle of "timely recognition" in order to add credence to my argument.

Can anyone point me to any specific references with regards to this principle?  Or has it just been a "good unwritten policy" all this time?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

 

[PuckChaser]

I plan to submit a memo requesting that I be presented the medal by my unit CO (as opposed to the GO) before the Xmas Leave Period.  My supervisor supports this but I would like to reference the principle of "timely recognition" in order to add credence to my argument.

Sounds like the Soldier's Christmas dinner would be a good time to present it to you, everyone's in DEU already, and typically there are promotions.

 

[Towards_the_gap]

This will be of no help to you at all but my personal opinion was always that as you were the one who had earned the medal, it should be your choice how your receive the medal, be it on a glorious parade with marching band and cartwheeling dwarves, or wrapped in tissue paper, passed beneath the table like a piece of prison contraband on a Monday morning following a conjugal visit weekend.

But as you have resorted to the internet to find arguments as to why you should be presented the medal before the next ice age, I doubt your unit is the kind to let that sort of thing fly.

Good luck, and I mean that. It's a shame that your unit is so doggedly standing on their idea of decorum that they are holding off you being awarded a medal.

 

[Pusser]

Here's what the applicable reference (A-AD-200-000/AG-000 - The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces) says:

SECTION 3
INVESTITURES

1. Honour recipients are entitled to all public
recognition from the moment the Governor-General or,
for departmental awards, the Chief of the Defence Staff
(CDS), signs the instrument of award, including the
wear of any undress ribbons and the use of authorized
post-nominal letters.

2. Recipients will be invested with the insignia of
their honour at the earliest opportune moment, as
described below.

CEREMONY

3. All honours must be presented with dignity and
respect.

4. Investitures for Canadian orders and
decorations will normally be conducted under the
auspices of the Governor-General at Rideau Hall,
Ottawa, or La Citadelle, Québec City.

5. Presentation of the Canadian Forces'
Decoration (CD) and service medals and bars will be
conducted at the member's unit under local
arrangements.

6. The CDS Commendation will be presented at
a place designated in consultation with the CDS.

7. The Commander's Commendation will be
presented at a place designated in consultation with the
commander who awards the commendation.

8. The ceremony for investitures by the Governor-
General will be in accordance with Government House
practice. Further information is given below. Each
member to be invested will receive details of their
specific investiture direct from Government House.

9. The investiture ceremony for other honours
and awards will vary according to local circumstances.
In general, members of formed units should receive
honours at a parade or other occasion where the
greatest exposure can be achieved. In all cases, the
honours should be personally presented by the most
senior available officer at the establishment, in the
dignified circumstances which the event deserves. As
a minimum, the commanding officer must personally
invest the recipient.

10. In the case of a member who will become
eligible to receive the CD or its clasp while on terminal
leave, the commanding officer may, at his discretion,
present the medal or clasp prior to the leave on the
understanding that it is not to be worn until the eligibility
date.

11. Memorial Crosses (see Defence
Administrative Order and Directive 5022 (to be issued,
see Canadian Forces (CF) Administrative Order 18-19
in the interim) are mementos of personal loss and
sacrifice, and not part of the honours system.
Nonetheless, they are normally presented with quiet
dignity under military auspices by local authorities to
ensure personal contact by the CF on this final
occasion.

 

[Lightguns]

Folks get wrap around the CO's time and forget that the honour belongs to the individual not the unit.  If we are looking to the welfare of our troops ..........................

 

[Fishbone Jones]

As to para 10:

10. In the case of a member who will become
eligible to receive the CD or its clasp while on terminal
leave, the commanding officer may, at his discretion,
present the medal or clasp prior to the leave on the
understanding that it is not to be worn until the eligibility
date.

In most cases, that I know of, the CD or clasps won't be ordered until the eligibility date has arrived. Not before.

And with that comes the inevitable wait, up to two years in some cases, waiting for it to arrive.

Someone going on terminal leave better not be depending on para 10 to come to the rescue :

 

[warlordnik]

Here's what the applicable reference (A-AD-200-000/AG-000 - The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces) says:

SECTION 3
INVESTITURES

1. Honour recipients are entitled to all public
recognition from the moment the Governor-General or,
for departmental awards, the Chief of the Defence Staff
(CDS), signs the instrument of award, including the
wear of any undress ribbons and the use of authorized
post-nominal letters.

2. Recipients will be invested with the insignia of
their honour at the earliest opportune moment, as
described below.

Thanks a lot!  I referenced this doc and the corresponding section in my memo and my supervisor loves it.  Thanks a bunch, I wouldn't have found the PAM without your help.