DoD plans awards database
According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon announced today that they’ll establish a database of awards revipients in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to sink the Stolen Valor Act;
The idea of establishing a database is to make it easier to check on award claims, and perhaps to deter those who would make false claims.
Little said details of how the database would be established have yet to be worked out. He said the hope is to include valor awards and medals going as far back in history as possible.
I’d heard that Joe Heck was having a press conference in regards to the new Stolen Valor Act today, too. So someone is moving somewhat on rectifying the gaping hole that the USSC made in the stolen valor issue.
Thanks to Doug Sterner for the link.
Category: Stolen Valor Act
Clearly this won’t be abused at all….
It’s not like someone who can hack this database can now draft a fraudulent DD214 and siphon benefits away from someone who is currently in service, and therefore HAS no DD214…
The security issues are solvable, David. The Army Reserve has had on-line official records access for over 15 years. All that’s needed here is read-only access to a very small subset of what’s in official records. And there are ways to do this without storing PII other than the name.
We’ll know the powers-that-be are serious about this when they put it in the FYDP as a line item and budget for it. Until then, it’s little more than PR.
While I certainly understand, and sympathize with, the motivation behind this, I have some serious reservations about putting personal information out and available to everyone.
No one informed us that enlisting in the armed services made us subject to having details about our service become public information. Will there be a way to opt out? May I turn in any awards I earned to remain off that datatbase??
OWB, no one told me when I became a congressional staffer that my salary and other information would be available through a searchable database and that people who called my office could look it up while I was on the phone with me and tell in great detail how overpaid they thought I was. But I accepted that as part of the privilege to work in the U.S. House. Yeah, I said “privilege” — and it was.
However, your information, as has already been covered here, has been available publicly for years. This just makes it accessible in a different form.
Welcome to the land of the Internets.
From what I understand, it will only be Purple Hearts and above in the database and just the awards, not your entire DD214. And you’ve all seen enough FOIAs on TAH to know that your information is publicly available without the DoD’s database.
Jonn: dunno, amigo. A commendation medal w/V device is an award for valor also. And I seem to remember that the Navy and Marine Corps also allow the V device on their Achievement Medal.
Oh, I understand all that. Don’t have to like it, though.
Some of us were just not raised in an era that felt the need to share every last bit of personal information with the world. Or felt entitled to annonymously access private information.
Having been a public servant as well as a taxpayer other than in the military I also understand that my salary amount, for instance, was available to those who paid it. Got no problem with that. In most cases, that sort of information was traditionally publicly available without tying it to a specific individual.
It’s just icky to have all these rules changed after the fact. And to have so many people feel that they should have access to it.
What gives people a greater right to access personal information than the individual has to keep it private?
This is good. It’ll probably take a while, but the wait should be worth it.
Sadly, I don’t think it will do much to stop the onslaught of posers…I’d prefer Stolen Valor Act.
I read something where the question was asked about having military records filed electronically. The person working at the archives in St Louis said it would literally take YEARS to do this.
What about the Arcom with Valor?
WIN
Are they going to add the over 50K BSM’s for service over the last 10 years too? And the comments about “V” devices on AAM and ARCOM’s, there are thousands of those as well. I agree that it is a worthy endevour, albiet a daunting one as well. Job security for records clerks I guess. I would rather spend our tax dollars on this than an extraneous F35 engine.
SFC Holland: even if this database is limited to awards for heroism, the LOM, Air Medal, and V Devices are IMO going to make population with valid, near-complete, and accurate data a real issue. The LOM may be awarded for either valor or service. The Navy and USMC award it with the V device to distinguish combat awards of the LOM. The Army and USAF do not. The Air Medal may be awarded for either acts of heroism or non-heroic acts. All services but the USAF use the V device to denote awards for heroic acts. For some reason, the USAF does not. Go figure. All services use a V device to denote combat award and/or award for heroism of the BSM and their respective AchievementCommendation Medals. (Ditto DoD with the Joint Service Commendation Medal.) The Navy, USMC, and USAF also allow their Achievement Medals to be awarded with V device for combat service and/or heroism. The Army does not allow the Army Achievement Medal to be awarded with V device, and the same is true for the Joint Service Achievement Medal (V device not authorized). Bottom line, if we’re really talking all awards for valor we’re talking a load of decorations (LOM, BSM, AM, Commendation Medals, Achievement Medals) that will need to be (1) reviewed and categorized as either awarded for heroism or not, and (2) entered into the database accurately. And we all know that every decoration gets into official records 100% of the time – right? (smile) The problem is compounded by the fact that, for the Army at least, for people who left the service before about the mid-1990s as far as I know only paper or microfiche personnel records exist (the Army Reserve started converting to digital records sometimes in the 1990s, but I don’t think the Army ever converted the records of those who’d been discharged or retired previously). So if we end up needing to review records to determine awards, a whole lot of files will need manual review. And the whole file will need to be reviewed – often a separation DD214… Read more »
TOTAL awards above the BSM in HISTORY number about 350,000. It would be WRONG to leave out LOMs/DFCs etc. without “V”s. Only the Navy (to USN/USMC/USCG) give LOM’s with a V. So if you limited it to “V” awards, ALL Army LOMs (some of which are indeed valor awards) would be left out. USAF gives DFC with “V” but not other branches. Again, same arguement.
It is really a pretty reasonable job to do ALL awards above the BSM…alone I’ve done nearly a third myself.
BSM/Vs number approximately 200,000 in history (which excludes nearly all of the approximately 1/2 million BSMs from WWII. TOTAL for ALL BSMs (V/S/A) is about 1.5 million in history…a large number but not daunting.
Nearly ALL (close to 98%) of all awards up to 1975 are a slam-dunk, data entry effort. I can PROVE that…forget the 1973 fire, I’m talking Award Cards and the Navy Yard and General Orders at NARA in College Park and Maxwell AFB. The real challenge is post 1975 awards, when services changed their systems. Awards above the BSM pose no real issues, however BSMs (and anything below) could be difficult.
The DB should ALSO include the PH and POW Medals at the least, even if limited to BSMs and higher. Again, I can demonstrate quickly how this can be done, and is actually the easiest, least time consuming, and costliest of the areas of the entire DB. For more details, download the pdf (it is broken into two parts because of its size) from my February testimony before Congress on this. It gives numbers, process in brief detail, and more. This CAN and MUST be done. Worse than STOLEN valor is FORGOTTEN valor…the loss to history of the deeds and sacrifice of men and women who did serve, all for lack of good record-keeping by the services.
I agree with OWB whole heartedly. Maybe they wrote more intelligent words, but it is interesting to see they weren’t told they have no basis for their thoughts/opinions.
#14 Mr. Doug Sterner….what if people do not want this….by people I mean military vets. I know if I asked my peers in or out of military most of my brothers would say this goes to far. I do not want this nor does the hand full of similar age combat vets I have talked to.
OWB had a great point…How do people opt out of this? If I don’t even want a medal plate and got the honoring vets plate just because I love my brothers why would people think myself or people like me want a http://www.lookatmeeasily.mil website?
Another case of a few idiots fucking up and the government or military using it to fuck with everyone else negatively. I want stolen valor ass clowns who use it for gain to be held accountable but I don’t wish to be screwedd with what so ever. If you don’t think there is communities and situations where you would want people to not have easy access to you even being military you are wrong.
Yes I understand it is already public but so few know how to get it and even fewer would put that much effort.