From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United States Air Force and United States Space Force military unit decoration
The
Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award
(
ASOUA
) is one of the
unit awards
of the
United States Air Force
and
United States Space Force
. It was established in 1954 as the
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
and was the first independent Air Force decoration created (to this point, Air Force personnel were routinely awarded
Army decorations
). The
Air Force Longevity Service Award
would follow in 1957 with most of the standard Air Force awards (including the Air Force
Good Conduct Medal
) established in the early to mid 1960s.
The Outstanding Unit Award is awarded to any unit of the U.S. Air Force (including the
Air Force Reserve
and the
Air National Guard
) which performs exceptionally meritorious service, accomplishes specific acts of outstanding achievement, excels in combat operations against an armed enemy of the
United States
, or conducts with distinct military operations involving conflict with, or exposure to, a hostile action by any opposing foreign force.
Multiple awards of the Outstanding Unit Award are denoted by bronze
oak leaf clusters
, and silver
oak leaf clusters
, as applicable, on the ribbon.
Until 2004, the Outstanding Unit Award was the senior most unit award in the U.S. Air Force. It now ranks directly below the
Meritorious Unit Award
, which was established in March 2004, and above the
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award
in the precedence of Air Force awards and decorations. It is awarded to personnel who were assigned or attached to the unit receiving the award during the period it was awarded for. Non-
USAF
personnel (e.g.,
USN
,
USMC
,
USCG
) personnel assigned to USAF units awarded the Outstanding Unit Award are also eligible to wear the ribbon on their uniforms. However, the ribbon does not come in the larger size of unit awards common to the
U.S. Army
.
On 16 November 2020, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award was renamed the Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award by the Secretary of the Air Force.
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References
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Decorations
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Unit awards
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Service medals
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Service ribbons
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