[boston_clone]

You mean this part of the regulation, right?

> Prior to 7 January 2016, awards may be made to recognize single acts of merit or meritorious service.

Which corroborates my other claim - including the timing - about the tightening of criteria? Dang. That's wild. Good thing you have a source that you didn't link or apparently read.

https://ri.ng.mil/Portals/31/Documents/MILITARY%20AWARDS%20A...

[gonzoflip]

What are you talking about? your original statement was that they were awarded automatically, now you are talking about the standards for awarding it, which implies it is not actually automatic. I said In my original response that we could discuss the standards, but your statement that they are automatic for O3-O4 is just plain false. Your sources do nothing to back up your original claim, in fact, they do quite the opposite. No level of snark will make your assertion correct. There is a reason why your original response was flagged, which I had no part in.