Award Notes

Desert Storm Unit Awards Notes

Units listed in this website are listed by type or branch. There may be some overlap: you may need to look a bit to find your unit. For example, some infantry and armor units had "Cavalry" designations. These units would be listed as "cavalry" in this website. If the actual type of unit is known, a notation is made:

5th Battalion, 5th Cavalry (3AD) (infantry unit) (4 JAN 91 – 15 JUN 91) (GO14/97) VUA
3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry (3AD) (armor unit) (24 DEC 90 – 18 MAY 91) (GO14/97) VUA

In the above example, one of the battalions was actually an infantry unit performing infantry missions; the other was an armor unit performing armor missions. Neither of these battalions performed traditional cavalry missions during normal tactical operations.

The notation VUA or MUC designates the award or citation received by the listed unit. The most common for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm was the Meritorious Unit Award. Other units received the higher Valorous Unit Award. Personnel serving in these units during the inclusive dates are eligible to wear the decoration above the right breast pocket of their Class A, B, and Dress Blue uniforms regardless of the unit to which they are currently assigned.Individuals currently assigned to the units who were not unit members during the inclusive dates may wear the decorations only while assigned the unit. This is how the two ribbons appear:

My Image File  Valorous Unit Award (VUA)
My Image File  Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC)

Awards are listed by type of unit, then by number designation. Units at Brigade and below are listed in unit numerical order regardless of size. For example:

183d Maintenance Company (2 NOV 90 – 19 APR 91) (GO 27/94) MUC
254th Maintenance Detachment (21 DEC 90 – 19 MAY 91) (GO 27/94) MUC
597th Maintenance Company (15 OCT 90 – 19 MAY 91) (GO 27/94) MUC

In the above example, 254th Maintenance Detachment precedes the 597 Maintenance Company. Although a Company is generally a larger unit than a detachment, the unit number designation takes precedence in the lists contained in this website.

The dates listed correspond to the inclusive dates for which the unit received the award.

The "GO" note designates the Department of the Army General Order in which the unit award was announced. For example, a unit with the notation(GO27/94) received an award in Department of the Army General Order Number 27 dated 1994.

The DAGO's currently compiled on this website to date include:

GO12/94 = Department of the Army General Order No. 12, 13 May 1994 (complete)

GO27/94 = Department of the Army General Order No. 27, 27 December 1994 (partial)

GO14/97 = Deparment of the Army General Order No. 14, 11 April 1997 (complete)