The United States Air Force has one of the most extensive arrays of awards designed to honor civilians whose efforts and achievements have benefitted the Air Force or aided it in achieving mission objectives. Guiding the issuance of both military and civilians awards and overseeing he creation of new ones, the USAF Recognition Program aims to boost mission accomplishment by identifying excellence in service and rewarding it as motivation to strive for even better performance.
The highest award issued by the Air Force to a non-employee civilian, the Secretary of the Air Force Distinguished Public Service Award was created in 2006 after the Air Force had established the Commander’s Award for Public Service ensure a robust lineup of public-service awards. To be considered by the Secretary of the Air Force for this honor, a civilian must make a “profound” contribution at the national level that is representative of substantial progress in fulfilling the Air Force mission. The achievement or service must be of such a scope and scale that all other forms of public recognition are deemed inadequate.
A gold disk measuring 1.375” in diameter was chosen for the honor, charged in the center with “Harp Arnold wings” placed above four small stars representing the four DoD military organizations (Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps). At the base of the medal are laurel sprigs, a symbol of achievement and honor in heraldry.