![\"SFC](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/SFC-Earl-Plumlee-240x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nLast year, we talked about Sergeant First Class Earl D. Plumlee<\/a>, the hero of Forward Operating Base Ghazni. He stopped an insurgent assault on that base while braving enemy fire and treating the friendly victims of the assault. Plumlee was recommended by his commanders for the Medal of Honor, but the nomination died at the Army’s Human Resources Command and it was downgraded to a Silver Star Medal instead. Our buddy, Dan Lamothe at the Washington Post<\/a> writes about what happened in the process that derailed the nomination; <\/p>\n In Afghanistan, the Medal of Honor recommendation received approval from senior officers that included then-Maj. Gen. Austin \u201cScott\u201d Miller, now believed to be the three-star commander of Joint Special Operations Command; then.-Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, now the four-star Army chief; and Dunford, now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<\/p>\n The Army Human Resources Command\u2019s awards branch received the nomination in January 2014. The issue was taken up by the service\u2019s Senior Army Decorations Board afterward, with two three-star generals and the top enlisted soldier in the service, now-retired Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond F. Chandler, serving as voting members. Two of them recommended the Silver Star, while another saw the Distinguished Service Cross, one notch below the Medal of Honor, as more appropriate. Separately, a previous unnamed Medal of Honor recipient serving as a nonvoting adviser to the board also recommended the Silver Star.<\/p>\n One of the voting members said his decision not to recommend the Medal of Honor came down in large part to one thing: Plumlee\u2019s rank. Then a staff sergeant, Plumlee was expected to be a leader once the Taliban attacked rather than \u201ca private who would be seized by the moment and take extremely valorous and courageous action,\u201d the board member told the inspector general, according to the report.<\/p>\n \u201cOne\u2019s a leader. One\u2019s a Soldier,\u201d the member said, according to the report. \u201cAnd so when I looked at the circumstances and, although the battle was ferocious and unfortunately a couple members were killed, I just thought that it wasn\u2019t a sufficient level for the Medal of Honor based off of the individual and the circumstances and that, I just felt there was an expectation of a leader who did a phenomenal job, that there was something more that [the nominee] needed to have done in order to, in my mind, to make a recommendation for a Medal of Honor.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So, basically, Plumlee had too much rank to get the Medal of Honor (he was a staff sergeant at the time of the battle). So apparently, E-6s and above are limited to Bronze Stars and Silver Stars for valor medals, despite the level of valor an NCO displays. Good old Ray Chandler sticking up for the NCO Corps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"