page_title: Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
section_title: Army and Air Force
hierarchical_section_title: Presidential Unit Citation (United States) / Creation and official format / Army and Air Force
caption_attribution_description: English: The Presidential Unit Citation pennant awarded to the US Navy ships that assisted in the capture of the German U-Boat, U-505, during World War II. The pennant and medal ribbon shown in the photograph are currently displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago along with the U-505 itself.
context_page_description: The Presidential Unit Citation, originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941. The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions so as to set it apart from and above other units participating in the same campaign.
  Since its inception by Executive Order on 26 February 1942, retroactive to 7 December 1941, to 2008, the Presidential Unit Citation has been awarded in conflicts such as World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan.
  The collective degree of valor against an armed enemy by the unit nominated for the PUC is the same as that which would warrant award of the individual award of the Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross or Navy Cross. In some cases, one or more individuals within the unit may have also been awarded individual awards for their contribution to the actions for which their entire unit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.
context_section_description: The Army citation was established by Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, superseded by Executive Order 9396 on 2 December 1943, which authorized the Distinguished Unit Citation. As with other Army unit citations, the PUC is in a larger frame than other ribbons, and is worn above the right pocket. All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they personally participated in the acts for which the unit was cited; only those members assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award. For both the Army and Air Force, the emblem is a solid blue ribbon enclosed in a gold frame.
  The Air Force PUC was adopted from the Army Distinguished Unit Citation after the Air Force became a separate military branch in 1947. By Executive Order 10694, dated Jan. 10, 1957 the Air Force redesignated the Distinguished Unit Citation as the Presidential Unit Citation. The Air Force PUC is the same color and design as the Army PUC but slightly smaller, so that it can be worn in alignment with other Air Force ribbons on the left pocket following personal awards.  As with the Army, all members of a receiving unit may wear the decoration while assigned to it, but only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award; or if any member of a receiving unit had it at their last duty station prior to being either discharged or retired, they may continue to wear the decoration as prescribed.
  The Citation is carried on the receiving unit's colors in the form of a blue streamer, 4 ft (1.2 m) long and 2.75 in (7.0 cm) wide. For the Army, only on rare occasions will a unit larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration.
caption: Navy Presidential Unit Citation pennant and ribbon awarded 1944 to Task Group 22.3.
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