Valor not always recognized, says MOAA chief - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Valor not always recognized, says MOAA chief

Troops and their commanders are complaining that acts of valor in Iraq have become so routine they not longer qualify for either the attention of military leaders or of the general public, according to a retired Navy vice admiral who heads a major military organization.

“There is a sense of frustration,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., president of the Military Officers Association of America and a former chief of naval personnel who knows something about military morale.

Just back from a visit to Iraq where he and the leaders of two veterans service organization spoke with people of all ranks, Ryan said sergeants, mid-grade officers and their senior leaders all had similar complaints that the military’s system of recognizing acts of valor had become more restrictive and that interest by the news media to the daily acts of heroism was gone.

“There was no problem with candor on the part of anyone I spoke with,” Ryan said in a Thursday interview.

Ryan said attention, both in terms of military awards and in press coverage back home of the deeds, is a key morale issue at a time when troops and their families do not seen an immediate end to rotations that already have many people being sent for their third tour of duty, if not more.

Troops did not blame news media in Iraq for ignoring acts of valor, he said, but instead blame media officials in the U.S. for failing to broadcast and print the stories. Ryan said that is a mistake. “Every time someone on the Redskins stubs there toe, there is an article about that,” he said. “We ought to be providing that same intensity of coverage on something more meaningful.

Ryan said one senior officer, he did not identify, talked of problems getting his higher headquarters endorse awards for higher awards for valor for what the officer thought were extraordinary acts of heroism by troops in difficult circumstances. Army officials said they are in the midst of a review of the awards criteria that could lead to more honors being given, he said.

The Military Officers Association is going to try to do its part, Ryan said, vowing to have a new feature on the association’s website that features a military hero of the day or heroes of the week to call attention to acts of valor that are being overlooked..