Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States military . The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize the contributions of junior officers and enlisted personnel who were not eligible to receive the higher Commendation Medal or the Meritorious Service Medal . Each military service issues its own version of the Achievement Medal , with a fifth version authorized by the U . S . Department of Defense for joint military activity . The Achievement Medal is awarded for outstanding achievement or meritorious service not of a nature that would otherwise warrant awarding the Commendation Medal . Since the Achievement Medal is designated as an award solely for junior personnel , it is generally only awarded to officers in the pay grade of O - 4 and below and enlisted personnel below the grade of E - 7 . Award authority rests with local commanders , granting a broad discretion of when and for what action the Achievement Medal may be awarded . History . U . S . Navy and U . S . Marine Corps . The Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal ( NAM ) , is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps ' version of the Achievement Medal . The United States Navy was the first branch of the United States Armed Forces to award such a medal , doing so in 1961 , when it was dubbed the “ Secretary of the Navy Commendation for Achievement Medal ” . This title was shortened in 1967 to simply , the " Navy Achievement Medal " . On 19 August 1994 , to recognize those of the United States Marine Corps who had received the Navy Achievement Medal , the name of the decoration was officially changed to the " Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal " . Nonetheless , the award is still referred to in shorthand speech as a " NAM " , an acronym for Navy Achievement Medal . Chain of Command approval . From its inception in the early 1960s to 2002 , the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal could not be approved by the commanding officers of ships , submarines , aviation squadron , or shore activities who held the rank of Commander ( O - 5 ) . Awards for crewmembers had to be submitted to the Commodore or Air Wing Commander or the first appropriate O - 6 in the chain of command for approval , who then signed the award and returned it . This led to a dramatically lower awarding rate when compared to similar size units in the Army or Air Force awarding their own achievement medals , especially considering that those services did not establish their respective achievement medals until the 1980s . Since 2002 the commanding officers of aviation squadrons and ships have had the authority to award NAMs without submission to higher authority . For the Army , battalion commanders ( or the first O - 5 in a soldier ' s chain of command ) is the approving authority for the Army Achievement Medal . U . S . Coast Guard , U . S . Army and U . S . Air Force . The United States Coast Guard created its own Achievement Medal in 1967 ; the U . S . Army and U . S . Air Force issued their own versions of the award with the Army Achievement Medal in 1981 and Air Force Achievement Medal in 1980 . The Joint Service Achievement Medal was created in 1983 . This award was considered a Department of Defense decoration senior to the service department Achievement Medals . Effective 11 September 2001 , the Army Achievement Medal may be awarded in a combat area . Since this change over sixty thousand Army Achievement Medals have been awarded in theaters of operations such as Iraq and Afghanistan . Devices . Additional awards of the Achievement Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters , except for the Navy and Coast Guard which issues 5 / 16 inch star s . Oak leaf clusters are authorized by all services for the Joint Services Achievement Medal . The Combat " V " may also be authorized for the Navy & Marine Corps and Coast Guard versions of the Achievement Medal . The Operational Distinguishing Device may also be authorized for wear on the Coast Guard Achievement Medal , upon approval of the awarding authority . External links .