Editing Bronze Star Medal (section)

==History==
[[File:Roger Vreeland US Bronze Star Medal.png|thumb|An example of an army Bronze Star Medal citation, given for combat valor.]]
[[File:USMC-06207.jpg|thumb|[[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] Col. Richard E. Edgington after being awarded a Bronze Star]]

Colonel [[Russell Reeder|Russell P. "Red" Reeder]] conceived the idea of the Bronze Star Medal in 1943; he believed it would aid morale if captains of companies or of batteries could award a medal to deserving people serving under them. Reeder felt another medal was needed as a ground equivalent of the [[Air Medal]], and suggested calling the proposed new award the "Ground Medal".<ref>{{cite book |first=Col. Red |last=Reeder |authorlink=Russell Reeder |date=1966 |title=Born at Reveille |location=New York City |publisher=[[Duell, Sloan and Pearce]] |page=218}}</ref> The idea eventually rose through the military bureaucracy and gained supporters. General [[George C. Marshall]], in a memorandum to President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] dated 3 February 1944, wrote {{blockquote|The fact that the ground troops, Infantry in particular, lead miserable lives of extreme discomfort and are the ones who must close in [[personal combat]] with the enemy, makes the maintenance of their morale of great importance. The award of the Air Medal has had an adverse reaction on the ground troops, particularly the Infantry Riflemen who are now suffering the heaviest losses, air or ground, in the Army, and enduring the greatest hardships.}}

The Air Medal had been adopted two years earlier to raise airmen's morale. President Roosevelt authorized the Bronze Star Medal by [[Executive order (United States)|Executive Order]] 9419 dated 4 February 1944, retroactive to 7 December 1941. This authorization was announced in War Department Bulletin No. 3, dated 10 February 1944.

President [[John F. Kennedy]] amended Executive Order 9419 per Executive Order 11046 dated 24 August 1962 to expand the authorization to include those serving with friendly forces. This allowed for awards where US service members become involved in an armed conflict where the United States was not a belligerent. At the time of the Executive Order, for example, the US was not a belligerent in Vietnam, so US advisers serving with the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces would not have been eligible for the award.

Since the award criteria state that the Bronze Star Medal may be awarded to "any person ... while serving in any capacity in or with" the US Armed Forces, awards to members of foreign armed services serving with the United States are permitted. Thus, a number of Allied soldiers received the Bronze Star Medal in [[World War II]], as well as UN soldiers in the [[Korean War]], Vietnamese and allied forces in the [[Vietnam War]], and coalition forces in recent military operations such as the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]], [[War in Afghanistan (2001–14)|War in Afghanistan]], and the [[Iraq War]]. A number of Bronze Star Medals with the "V" device were awarded to veterans of the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]].

===World War II infantry award===

As a result of a study conducted in 1947, a policy was implemented that authorized the retroactive award of the Bronze Star Medal (without the "V" device) to all soldiers who had received the [[Combat Infantryman Badge]] or the [[Combat Medical Badge]] during [[World War II]]. The basis for this decision was that these badges were awarded only to soldiers who had borne the hardships which resulted in General Marshall's support of the establishment of the Bronze Star Medal. Both badges required a recommendation by the commander and a citation in orders.<ref name="tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil">{{cite web |url=http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/bronze_star.aspx |title=Bronze Star Medal |website=Institute of Heraldry |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101010100/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/bronze_star.aspx |archive-date=1 November 2013}}</ref>

===U.S. Air Force criteria controversy===
{{see also|Medal inflation}}
In 2012, two U.S. airmen were allegedly subjected to [[cyber-bullying]] after receiving Bronze Star Medals for meritorious non-combat service. The two airmen, who had received the medals in March 2012, had been finance [[Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge|NCOICs]] in medical units deployed to the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan]]. The awards sparked a debate as to whether or not the Air Force was awarding too many medals to its members, and whether the Bronze Star should be awarded for non-combat service.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/archives/2013/03/28/tech-sgts-take-heat-after-receiving-medals/78535944/ |title=Tech. sgts. take heat after receiving medals |last=Schogol |first=Jeff |date=16 April 2012 |work=[[Air Force Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220175154/http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/archives/2013/03/28/tech-sgts-take-heat-after-receiving-medals/78535944/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref> This prompted the Air Force to take down stories of the two posted to the internet, and to clarify its criteria for awarding medals. The Air Force contended that meritorious service awards of the Bronze Star outnumber valor awards, and that it views awards on a case-by-case basis to maintain the integrity of the award.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.af.mil/News/story/id/123299369/ |title=Air Force officials clarify Bronze Star approval process |date=24 April 2012 |access-date=25 April 2012 |website=U.S. Air Force |last=Lyle |first=Amaani}}</ref>

This is not the first time that the USAF has been criticized for offering this award. The Department of Defense investigated the award of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) by the USAF to some 246 individuals after operations in Kosovo in 1999. All but 60 were awarded to officers, and only 16 of those awarded were actually in the combat zone. At least five were awarded to officers who never left [[Whiteman Air Force Base]] in Missouri. During this campaign, the Navy had awarded 69 BSMs, and the Army with 5,000 troops in neighboring Albania (considered part of the combat zone) awarded none.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-reviewing-bronze-star-awards-1.42268 |newspaper=[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]] |title=Pentagon reviewing Bronze Star awards |access-date=29 December 2014 |first1=Jon R. |last1=Anderson |first2=Chuck |last2=Vinch |date=8 June 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Air Force to award 61 more Bronze Stars |first=Jon R. |last=Anderson |newspaper=[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]] |date=18 June 2000 |access-date=29 December 2014 |url=http://www.stripes.com/news/air-force-to-award-61-more-bronze-stars-1.42274}}</ref> In the end, there was a Pentagon review and decision by Congress in 2001 to stop the awarding of Bronze Stars to personnel outside the combat zone.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dailypress.com/2000/11/01/bronze-star-shines-again-as-combat-award/ |title=Bronze Star Shines Again As Combat Award |first=Jim |last=Spencer |date=1 November 2000 |newspaper=Daily Press |access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref>