MARADMIN 222/24 - Military Awards Guidance for the 2024 Permanent Change of Station Season

Scope

MARADMIN 222/24 published the Department of the Navy Personal Military Decoration (PMD) processing guidance for the 2024 Marine Corps PCS season. The message covered nominee identification, iAPS origination and format rules, submission timelines, expedite requests, retirement award dating, and the recurring mistakes MMPB-31 saw in PMD packages.

Audience

Unit Award Administrators (UAAs). Award originators. Awarding authorities. S-1 and IPAC personnel processing awards in iAPS. Joint commands nominating departing Marines.

Key clauses

• Identifying nominees. Before PCS season, UAAs download the unit outbound roster from the Marine Online Outbound Interview Module and publish it to command leadership. Originators identify high performers deserving of PMDs and submit recommendations in iAPS early enough to finish before the planned presentation date.
• PMD format. Every DoN PMD from a Marine Corps command originates in iAPS with a Summary of Action. SECNAV M-1650.1 limits the SOA to two pages. The iAPS SOA field has no character limit, so originators verify length with the print PDF button.
• Citations and certificates. The certificate and citation attach to the certificate section of the iAPS case for upload into the recipient OMPF. Meritorious Service Medal and above carry a 1670 character citation limit in standard sentence case. Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and below carry a 1250 character limit in all capital letters, with authorized deviations of 8 to 12 point pitch and 0.5 to 1.0 inch margins.

Timelines

• PMD nominations arrive at the final awarding authority at least 60 days before the desired presentation date.
• CMC-approved awards reach CMC (MMPB-31) in iAPS no later than 60 days before the planned presentation.
• SECNAV-approved awards reach CMC (MMPB-31) in iAPS no later than 90 days before the planned presentation.

Expedite requests

MMPB-31 acts on expedite requests for retirement, relief and appointments, or change of command. The senior endorsing General Officer or their Chief of Staff signs the request, and the request explains the need. An expedite reduces the votes required by the HQMC Military Awards Board without guaranteeing completion by the presentation date.

Retirement and separation awards

The meritorious period end date falls about two weeks before terminal leave starts. This window lets MCTFS report the award so the DD-214 records it. An award reported after terminal leave begins normally misses the DD-214 and forces the Marine to request a correction. Marines retiring from a joint command route the NAVMC 11533 through the first General or Flag Officer in the joint chain, then to the MMPB-3 shared mailbox.

Certificates of Commendation and below

A SOA is not required. Originators type "SOA not required" in the SOA field. Meritorious Mast recommendations created in iAPS tend to auto-forward to MMPB-31 in error, so the approver should originate the award and upload a signed certificate before approval.

Common mistakes

• Incorrect opening or closing sentences on NC and NA citations.
• Inconsistent action dates across the NAVMC 11533, SOA, citation, and certificate.
• Action end dates too late for MCTFS processing before separation.
• Dates on the certificate differing from the iAPS approval date.
• "Great credit" used below the Air Medal.
• A commander approving an award outside their delegated authority.
• A commander directing rescission and origination of a lesser award. Only the official with approval authority downgrades or disapproves.
• The approved iAPS award differing from the citation and certificate presented.
• A Marine commander approving a DoN PMD for a foreign service member.
• Letters of transmittal or the NAVMC 11533 attached to the iAPS certificate field. Attached items land in the recipient OMPF.
• Administrative corrections route to MMPB-31 using the template on the MMPB-31 website.

References cited inside the message

• SECNAVINST 1650.1J, Department of the Navy Military Awards Policy
• SECNAV M-1650.1, Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual
• MCO 1650.19J w/CH-1, Administrative and Issue Procedures for Decorations, Medals, and Awards
• MARADMIN 074/21, CMC Delegation of Awarding Authority for Military Awards

Status

Superseded. MARADMIN 093/25 cancels this message together with MARADMINs 065/20, 080/21, 132/22, and 086/23 and publishes the enduring PCS season guidance. Retained in the registry for citations anchored to the 2024 season. Applicable to the total force at release. POCs at release were LtCol J. E. James, HQMC MMPB-3, and Capt A. L. Cruz, HQMC MMPB-31.