AAAA Awards Overview
AAAA Awards recognize the Army Aviation community at large, including Active Army, its Reserve Components, Department of the Army Civilians, and Industry organizations/individuals (when applicable). Any individual or unit may submit an Awards nomination form. Membership in the AAAA is not necessary to submit, or be submitted, for an award.
Historical Awardees
Awards Available Through AAAA
Guidelines
Guidelines for AAAA Awards stipulate that:
- Approval of AAAA Awards is to be made solely by the Association's National Executive Board.
- Selection of Award winners is to be accomplished by the AAAA Awards Committee.
- Sponsorship of all National Award plaques or trophies will be a
responsibility of the Association, or such agencies or firms approved by
the National Executive Board.
- Sponsorship of all AAAA Award plaques or trophies will be a responsibility of the Association, or such agencies or firms approved by the National Executive Board.
- The venue for Presentation of l Awards is to be determined by the National Executive Board.
Underwriting for the winners of AAAA Awards to attend the presentation ceremonies is to be a responsibility of the Association.
Eligibility
Any United States Army Aviation Soldier, Unit, Department of the Army Civilian (DAC), or Industry organizations/individuals (when applicable), in good standing, is eligible to receive AAAA Awards.
Nomination Submittal
Nominators do not need to be AAAA members. Any person may submit an official nomination form directly to the AAAA for consideration, subject to the following:
If Submitting Through a Chapter:
- If an AAAA Chapter elects to appoint a selection committee to nominate candidates for the AAAA Award, then all nominations within the Chapter should be submitted to the Chapter Awards Committee for their consideration. Only the winner of the Chapter competition should be submitted to the AAAA National Office for consideration. This policy, as it applies to Chapter selection committees, is permissive and should not be construed to mean that Chapters are required to have a selection and nomination process.
- Where a person resides or a unit is based within an AAAA Chapter area having its own annual awards competition and selection process, the nomination should be submitted to the AAAA National Office through the AAAA Chapter.
If Not Submitting Through a Chapter:
- Where a Chapter does not pursue its own competition and selection process, the nomination should be submitted directly to the AAAA National Office.
- Nominations should be submitted to the National Office prior to the deadline date. Awards nomination material - including photographs - will not be returned.
Submit for an AAAA Award
Nominations for AAAA awards are open approximately three months prior to the award submission deadlines. The opening for submissions is advertised in the Army Aviation Magazine, through the AAAA website, and through several e-mail blasts from the AAAA National offices.
All nominations must meet the award criteria and must be submitted and received prior to the specified deadline date for the pertinent award. All submitted packets must include:
- A completed AAAA nomination form for that award.
- A "Summary" document of not more than 250 words.
- A "Support" document of not more than 1,500 words.
- When the award is for an individual, a bio for that individual is required. When the award is for a unit, a bio for the commander, the Sr. NCO, and the CCWO (when applicable) for that unit are required.
- When the award is for an individual, a head and shoulder photo for the individual is required. When the award is for a unit, a head and shoulder photo for the commander, the Sr. NCO, and the CCWO (when applicable) are required.
AAAA Award Recipients Selection Process
Completed Award nomination packets, received by the award deadline date, will be evaluated by the AAAA Awards Board members. Awards Board members evaluate each nomination packet with a score between 1 - 10, with 10 being the highest. The voting results are tabulated and the nomination receiving the highest score is selected to receive the award.
The top scoring individuals are then cleared by Army Sources and the winner is notified by AAAA.
Putnam-Marr
Since its inception, the AAAA has solicited awards nominations "from the field" -- any member may nominate an individual or a unit for our AAAA Awards. At the same time, several AAAA Chapters have established local "Awards Committees" to evaluate and select their winners for l Awards consideration. This caused situations where nominations accepted "from the field" were selected over the nominations that were submitted by the Chapter Awards Committee -- resulting in discontent and a perception of undermining the local award process.
This subject was discussed at the February 4, 1984 meeting of the Awards Committee at which MG George W. Putnam, Jr., then AAAA Senior Vice President, and COL John W. Marr, then immediate Past President of AAAA, drafted procedures to resolve the problems created by accepting nominations "from the field". These procedures were then presented to the AAAA National Executive Board and approved at the National Executive Board meeting in Washington, D.C., on March 29, 1984. The procedures are outlined as follows:
Nominations for National Awards may be submitted directly to the National Awards Committee. However, if an AAAA Region (or an AAAA Chapter that is not within a Regional organization) elects to appoint a selection committee to nominate candidates for the various National Awards, then all nominations within the Region (or Chapter) should be submitted to and considered by the Regional (or Chapter) Awards Committee and only the winners of the Regional (or Chapter) competition should be submitted to the National Awards Committee for consideration as candidates in the National selection process.
This policy, as it applies to Regional or Chapter selection committees, is permissive and should NOT be construed to mean that Regions or Chapters are required to have a selection and nomination process.