It might be considered ironic that the Air Force’s civilian award that requires the longest length of service also has the shortest description of its eligibility requirements.
Ranked just below the Air Force Valor Award and above the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award (OCCSA) was established to recognize the noteworthy career service of longtime civilian employees of the Air Force upon their retirement. The guidelines for the awarding of the OCCSA, found in Air Force Instruction 36-1004, do not mention a minimum length of service required to be eligible for the award. Instead, the only eligibility requirement is that the candidate had significant accomplishments, displayed leadership and notable competence, and had a major impact on the mission of the Air Force.
Nominations are submitted by the employee’s supervisor and should have a description of the impact of the candidate’s career accomplishments and their impact at the local, command, or Air Force-wide level. To ensure adequate review time, nominations should be presented within sixty days of the candidate’s requirement date or the date at which the award is scheduled to be presented.