CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS DELEGATION OF AWARDING AUTHORITY FOR MILITARY AWARDS

[Tony]

UNCLASSIFIED 
 
ROUTINE 
 
R 281601Z APR 22 MID600051755555U 
 
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC 
 
TO NAVADMIN 
 
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC 
 
BT 
UNCLAS 
NAVADMIN 108/22 
PASS TO OFFICE CODES: 
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS// 
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS// 
 
SUBJ/CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS DELEGATION OF AWARDING AUTHORITY FOR MILITARY 
AWARDS// 
 
REF/A/DOC/VCNO/14JUL2003// 
REF/B/MSG/CNO/281411ZMAY2008// 
REF/C/MSG/CNO/211502ZFEB2013// 
REF/D/MSG/CNO/2822172FEB2018// 
REF/E/DOC/CNO/22FEB2018// 
REF/F/DOC/SECNAV/28MARCH2019// 
REF/G/DOC/SECNAV/29MAY2019// 
REF/H/DOC/SECNAV/16AUG2019 
 
NARR/ REF A IS VCNO LETTER TO CFFC, AUTHORIZING SUBDELEGATION OF THE LM TO O-
8 TYPE COMMANDERS FOR O-6 NAVY PERSONNEL IN THEIR CHAIN OF CMMAND AND OTHER 
O-6 U.S. ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL ATTACHED TO THEIR ORGANIZATION (WITH PARENT 
SERVICE CONCURRENCE.  
REF B IS CNO MSG, POLICY ON CONVERSION OF THE COMBAT INFANTRYMAN 
BADGE AND COMBAT MEDICAL BADGE TO THE COMBAT RIBBON.  
REF C IS CNO MSG, CHANGES TO COMBAT ACTION RIBBON ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.  
REF D IS CNO MSG, GUIDANCE FOR PROCESSING NEW "V", "C", "R" DEVICES 
AUTHORIZED FOR WEAR ON CERTAIN MILITARY MEDALS AND RIBBONS.  
REF E IS CNO LETTER TO COMUSNAVEUR COMUSNAVAF,COMUSNAVCENT, CFFC, COMPACFLT, 
COMUSNAVSO AND COMNAVSPECWARCOM, DELEGATION OF WARTIME AWARD AUTHORITY.  
REF F IS SECNAV'S MEMO AUTHORIZING THE COMBAT ACTION RIBBON, STRIKE/FLIGHT 
AIR MEDAL, AND THE "V", "C", AND "R" DEVICES FOR CERTAIN SPECIAL WARFARE 
OVERSEAS CONTINGENY OPERATIONS.  
REF G.  REF G IS SECNAVINST 1650.1.J, DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY MILITARY AWARDS 
POLICY.  
REF H IS SECNAV M.1650.1, NAVY AND MARINE CORPS AWARDS MANUAL. 
 
RMKS/1.  References (a) through (e) are hereby cancelled. 
 
2.  The purpose of this NAVADMIN is to publish the updated Chief of Naval 
Operations' (CNO) delegation of awarding authority for military awards in 
accordance references (f) and (g). 
 
3.  Delegation of military awarding authority (non-combat).  The authority to 
approve non-combat awards is delegated by CNO to subordinate commanders 
subject to the following limitations. 
        a.  Admirals  (O-10):  Legion of Merit (LOM) and below with the 
exception of the Navy and Marine Corps Medal (NM) for grades O-9 and below 
for all Navy and Marine Corps personnel in their chain of command. 
        b.  Vice Admiral (O-9) Commanders:  LOM and below with the exception 
of the NM for grades O-6 and below for all Navy and Marine Corps personnel in 
their chain of command. 
        c.  Rear Admiral (O-8) and Rear Admiral (O-7) in 
command:  Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) and below for grades O-6 and below 
for all Navy and other U.S. Armed Forces service personnel in their chain of 
command.  Commanders may issue written temporary authorization to an acting 
commander for greater than 30 days pursuant to the following: 
             (1)  If the acting commander is an O-8 or O-7 in command, he or 
she may be granted authority to award the MSM and below. 
             (2)  If the acting commander is an O-6, he or she may be granted 
authority to award the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (NC) and 
below. 
       d.  Rear Admiral (O-7):  NC and below for grade O-6 and below for all 
Navy and other U.S. Armed Forces service personnel in their chain of 
command.  Commanders may issue written temporary authorization to an acting 
commander for greater than 30 days pursuant to the following: 
            (1)If the acting commander is an O-6, he or she may be granted 
authority to award the NC and below, for grade O-5 and below. 
       e.  Captain (O-6) in command:  NC and below for grade O-5 and below 
for all Navy and other U.S. Armed Forces service personnel in their chain of 
command. 
            (1)If the acting commander is an O-5, he or she may be granted 
authority to award the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (NAM). 
       f.  Commander (O-5) and Lieutenant Commander (O-4) in command:  NAM 
for all Navy and other U.S. Armed Forces service personnel in their chain of 
command. 
 
4.  Delegation of military awarding authority (valor and combat awards).  The 
authority to approve valor and combat awards is delegated by CNO to 
subordinate commanders subject to the following limitations. 
       a.  Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command; Commander, U.S. Pacific 
Fleet; Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, U.S. Naval Forces Africa 
(COMUSNAVEUR USNAVAF), and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command 
(COMUSNAVCENT) are delegated authority to approve the V, C, and R devices for 
O-6 and below Navy and Marine Corps personnel under their command for all 
authorized operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism.  Specific 
authority is granted to approve: 
Legion of Merit with C or R device (L1, L2) 
Bronze Star Medal with V device (BV) 
Purple Heart Medal (only for combat related incidents for actions that 
occurred within the most recent three years) 
Meritorious Service Medal with R device (M2) 
Air Medal with V or C device and on Strike/Flight basis (AH, A1, AS) 
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with V, C, or R device (CV, C1, C2) 
Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with C or R device (N1, N2) 
Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) (only for actions that occurred within the most 
recent three years) 
       b.  COMUSNAVEUR USNAVAF and COMUSNAVCENT may sub-delegate authority to 
approve 
the Strike/Flight Air Medal to their subordinate task force commanders who 
are of Flag and General rank.  Sub-delegation is not authorized for the Air 
Medal when awarded for single mission meritorious achievement (AF) or heroic 
achievement (AH), nor for award of the Air Medal with the C device (A1). 
       c.  Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command is delegated 
authority to approve for O-6 and below Navy and Marine Corps personnel under 
your command all awards listed in subparagraph 4.a with the exception of the 
Legion of Merit.  Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command (COMNAVSPECWARCOM) 
is delegated authority to approve for O-6 and below Navy and Marine Corps 
personnel under your command all awards listed in subparagraph 4.a with the 
exception of the Legion of Merit and the Strike/Flight Air Medal. 
       d.  In addition to the delegation cited above, COMUSNAVEUR USNAVAF, 
COMUSNAVCENT, and COMNAVSPECWARCOM are authorized to approve combat awards 
commensurate with their authority to qualifying Navy and Marine Corps 
personnel participating in special operations conducted within the U.S. 
Central Command and U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility for those 
operations that do not fall under Operations INHERENT RESOLVE (OIR), 
FREEDOM'S SENTINEL (OFS), and ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF).  This authorization is 
effective from 23 December 2016 to a date to be determined. 
             (1)  This is not a blanket approval of these awards to all 
participants in these operations.  For each individual case, awarding 
authorities must verify that all criteria for these awards, as contained in 
references (f) and (g) are met.  All operations covered under this authority 
constitute a single designated operation for purposes of this limitation, 
i.e. only one CAR may be awarded under this authority.  An individual may 
qualify for a subsequent award of the CAR for active participation in combat 
within a different designated operation. 
             (2)  Delegated authorities are responsible for keeping record of 
all operations for which combat awards have been authorized.  A quarterly 
report that contains the name of the operation, commencement and termination 
date will be submitted to the Chief of Naval Operations (DNS-13) for record 
keeping purposes only.  These operations will not be included in the SECNAV 
M-1650. 
 
5.  Awarding Authority Policy: 
       a.  Awarding authorities will ensure eligibility requirements and 
award adjudication are compliant by following the guidelines in references 
(g) and (h). 
       b.  Awarding authority extends only to award nominations that are 
compliant with statutory and regulatory policy, including time limits. 
       c.  Officers exercising delegated awarding authority are not 
authorized to permit awards to be signed by another individual "By direction" 
of the awarding authority. 
       d.  Except as noted in subparagraph 4.b., no further sub-delegation is 
authorized. 
       e.  CNO may revoke awarding authority from Navy Commanders at any time 
for non-compliance with awards regulations. 
 
6.  This delegation of award approval authority remains effective until 
rescinded by future correspondence. 
 
7.  Released by Andrew S. Haeuptle, Director, Navy Staff.// 
 
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