Going back to my previous, it would also be great encouragement to align it to certain standards.
You join the organisation and do the basic stuff (which is incredibly valuable in its own right), you eventually get a long service medal as a thank you. Very appropriate.
You take on significant extra responsibility such as unit command/WSO etc, which in many cases can more than double the time you give, you get a BEM. Good job done is necessary.
You command a wing and do a really good job, you get an MBE.
The key bit think is that for us its not just relevant to have purely RAFAC opinion, the nomination needs to come from our side so local councillors, parents etc
Part of the issue could be the citations are written purely from RAFAC.
When you get the box that says âif other people are doing this, what makes Bloggsâ contribution noteworthyâ, a purely RAFAC view will make the mistake of thinking squadron command (for example) isnât extraordinary because lots of people in the organisation do it.
But of course, when viewed through a civilian lens and compared to everyone in the country, youâre already in the top X% just for turning up and giving so much of your time away on a regular basis.
In all fairness, that isnât any different to the regulars. I have less responsibility and management input than my FS so why should my award be the same?
But the rest of it I agree with, there should be more recognition.
As things stand, most of that basic stuff is being done by CIs, who donât even get the CFM. The barriers to getting into uniform, treating it like a massive additional commitment over what CIs are already doing, effectively elevates the CFM from being what you describe here to a tier 2 award for doing the extra stuff that requires going into uniform.
I wonder how the people in St John Ambulance do it, because while they do nominate their people for national honours (MBE, OBE etc), they also have their own order which is signed off by HM.
No less prestigious, but they control it, which has clear benefits, because they understand exactly what their people are achieving.
And they still have a long service medal. 10 or 12 years. Something like that.
The biggest problem here is culture (and it clearly goes all the way to the top).
If your wing kings and squadron commanders donât get recognised regularly when theyâre doing the hardest jobs, youâre not priming them to recognise anyone else, because theyâll view everything relatively.
If you have a squadron boss who has busted a nut for 5-10 years, been incredibly effective and transformed lives, but never awarded a BEM, what sort of impact do you think theyâre going to be looking for before they put someone forward?
What you said before though, about perspective - weâve internalised and normalised what to a normal person is impressive.
âŚSo weâve set our own bar too high - and as you go on to say, if a Wing Commander didnât get something, how are they going to view a citation where their first thought is âbeen there, done that, know 10 others with the same t shirtâ?
Very true, in my my last wing I could easily name 6 Squadron Commanders and probably the same number of other staff who would meet the BEM criteria of:
But since there is no tradition of putting people forward it doesnât happen. I put a CivCom chairman forward and zero support from Wing despite decades of service because âheâs already had a LL Commendationâ.
Maybe this is the real question that needs posing to the valued volunteer forum you have.
Quote the BEM criteria, then ask if the organisation would back an almost standard nomination form, with relevant details inserted, to recommend key roles for that award following the requisite years of service.
Thatâll get you an interesting answer either way.
Youâre already in the 1%. Donât go making it harder.
This years excuse - âNobody got an award because we didnât receive any nominationsâ.
Next years excuse - âNobody got an award, because, after last years comments by the now departed Comdt, we received 9,190 nominations and we are still processing them!â
As long as RAFAC and the MOD keep saying commissioned volunteers can only get recognition in the Military Division of the Order Of the British Empire then the BEM is not available to them. It simply dosent exist as an eligible award.
This wouldnât apply to all other volunteers but it is a blocker.
Sheâll have almost certainly got the order though.
Edit to add:
She was made a Dame of the Order in 2012 so would likely have been recognised with lower levels before then, I just canât be bothered to search further in the gazette. So sheâs reached Grade 2 in one order (Grade one being very hard to get) and now starting on another order
The higher up the food chain and experience, the higher the qual you work towards 
