The Air Force Organizational Excellence Award (AFOEA) was created in August, 1969 to provide recognition for noteworthy achievements of Department of the Air Force organizations, typically unnumbered, that are internal entities within larger organizations. In November 2020, the Secretary of the Air Force renamed it the Air and Space Organizational Excellence Award (ASOEA).
Some of the types of units that are eligible for the award are MAJCOM Headquarters; Direct Reporting Units (USAF Academy, USAF Operational Test and Evaluation Center, and Air Force District of Washington); Field Operating Agencies (outside the purview of MAJCOMs); offices of Secretary of the Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Chief of Space Operations, and Headquarters Air Force Secretariat and Assistant Chiefs of Staff; and other unnumbered organizations above the squadron level.
Also eligible are Air Force-level schools (examples include the Test Pilot School and the Combat Ammunition Center) and Air Force Reserve Officer Training Detachments. Unnumbered organizations below squadron level are not eligible for the ASOEA.
Additional ASOEAs are denoted by oak-leaf clusters.