It's the Thursday before a PCS. Your best specialist has a going-away lunch on Friday, and someone just remembered that the Achievement Medal recommendation is due to the S1 by close of business. You have the commander's nod, two hours, and an empty citation block.

This post covers the Army Achievement Medal (AAM) and the Department of the Air Force's achievement medal: what the regulations require of the citation, where people get the format wrong, and weak and strong examples you can adapt. All names, units and numbers in the examples are made up.

For commendation medals and the other services, see our guide to writing a military award citation.

First, the Air Force medal has a new name

The Air Force Achievement Medal is now the Air and Space Achievement Medal (ASAM). The Secretary of the Air Force approved the rename on 16 November 2020, and DAFMAN 36-2806, Military Awards: Criteria and Procedures, uses the new name. The commendation medal one step up is now the Air and Space Commendation Medal (ASCOM). If your unit's template still says "Air Force Achievement Medal," fix it before it goes up the chain.

What both citations have in common

Both services build a citation from the same three parts:

An opening that names the member, grade, job, unit and dates.
A short body that describes what the member did.
A closing sentence.

DAFMAN 36-2806 (Attachment 5) names these parts the opening sentence, the narrative description and the closing sentence. AR 600-8-22, Military Awards, requires that proposed citations be "factual, concise, and corroborated by supporting documentation."

The opening and closing follow a template. The body is the part you actually write. Give it two or three specific actions, each with a result someone could check.

The Army Achievement Medal

AR 600-8-22 (11 May 2026) awards the AAM for "meritorious service or achievement of a lesser degree than required for award of the ARCOM." General officers can't receive it.

Rules for the AAM citation

AR 600-8-22 processes the Legion of Merit and lower awards, including the AAM, as an IPPS-A awards Personnel Action Request. DA Form 638 is still used for interim, retroactive, posthumous and valor awards (para 3-21). On DA Form 638, block 20 holds up to four achievements in narrative form, and block 21 holds the proposed citation.
Certificate citations for the MSM, ARCOM and AAM are limited to six lines as printed on the certificate.
Certificate citations should be printed in sentence case.
The Army doesn't ban abbreviations. It recommends using only well-known ones and spelling each out on first use, with the abbreviation in parentheses.
The narrative can't refer to the Soldier by first name or nickname.

AR 600-8-22 doesn't prescribe exact opening or closing wording for the AAM. Many units open with "For meritorious service while serving as..." or "For meritorious achievement..." and close with a line like "...reflects great credit upon herself, her unit, and the United States Army." Ask your S1 for the template your approval authority uses and copy it exactly.

Six lines leaves room for the opening, two or three sentences and the closing. An IPPS-A request and a DA Form 638 both include an achievements narrative and a proposed citation (para 3-21). On the 638 they're blocks 20 and 21. Put the details in the narrative.

Weak AAM example

Specialist Rivera demonstrated outstanding dedication to duty while assigned as a supply specialist. Her hard work and professionalism contributed greatly to the success of the unit and reflect credit upon herself and the United States Army.

Nothing here is wrong, and nothing here is checkable. You could put any name and any job in it.

Strong AAM example

For meritorious service as battalion supply specialist from 2 March 2026 to 30 September 2026. Specialist Rivera reconciled four battery hand receipts and found $212,000 in equipment listed as missing, so the battalion closed its inventory with no shortages. Her performance reflects great credit upon herself, her unit, and the United States Army.

What changed: a real duty position, an inclusive period, a count, a dollar figure, and an outcome the commander cares about. Before you submit it, check the printed certificate. If it runs past six lines, cut a clause from the middle, not the closing. The "great credit" closing is common Army practice. Don't copy it into an ASAM, which says "reflect credit."

AAM tips

Match the opening to the award type. State whether it's meritorious achievement or meritorious service (block 12 on DA Form 638). A period of duty, such as a PCS, is usually service. A single event or project is achievement.
Show scope. "Four battery hand receipts" or "a 600-Soldier battalion" tells the approver how far the work reached.
Cut the adjectives. "Outstanding," "exceptional" and "tireless" take up space on a six-line certificate and prove nothing.

The Air and Space Achievement Medal

DAFMAN 36-2806 (para A2.15) awards the ASAM to members in the grade of O-5 and below for outstanding achievement or meritorious service. Two limits catch people out:

The ASAM can't be awarded for aerial achievement or for retirement.
It's meant for work that is "clearly outstanding and unmistakably exceptional when compared to similar achievements and accomplishments of personnel of like grade and responsibilities." Finishing a set number of tasks isn't, by itself, a valid basis for the award.

Rules for the ASAM citation

DAFMAN 36-2806, Attachment 5, sets these rules:

The citation can't exceed 1,350 characters, typed in Courier New 11 point. MAJCOM supplements can differ. AETC's 2023 supplement, for example, still lists a 14-line maximum, so check the supplement that applies to you.
Use no abbreviations apart from Jr., Sr., II, III and so on after the member's name. Commonly known code names such as Operation ENDURING FREEDOM are allowed.
Spell out the full grade in the opening sentence and use the short title after that. The DAFMAN's own example shortens Technical Sergeant Ami Ponde to Sergeant Ponde.
Spell out the numbers one through nine unless space is tight.
Keep the inclusive period on one line.
Leave out "superfluous embellishments or quotations."

The DAFMAN gives two forms of the ASAM opening sentence. For service or achievement over a period:

[Full grade] [Name] distinguished himself/herself by meritorious service (or outstanding achievement) as [duty title and office], from [date] to [date].

For a single act:

[Full grade] [Name] distinguished himself/herself by outstanding achievement at or near [location], on [date].

The closing sentence for an Airman reads:

The distinctive accomplishments of [short grade] [last name] reflect credit upon himself/herself and the United States Air Force.

The ASAM closing says "reflect credit," not "reflect great credit." The DAFMAN's ASCOM example closes the same way, while its examples for the Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal and Legion of Merit use "great credit." The DAFMAN's ASAM sample ends with "United States Space Force" because its sample recipient is a Guardian. Airmen use "United States Air Force."

Weak ASAM example

Senior Airman Chen distinguished himself by meritorious service as a maintenance technician. He consistently performed his duties in an exemplary manner and was instrumental in the success of the flight.

There are no dates, no unit and no closing sentence. "Instrumental in the success" doesn't tell the reader what Chen actually did.

Strong ASAM example

Senior Airman David L. Chen distinguished himself by outstanding achievement as Crew Chief, [squadron], [base], from 2 February 2026 to 20 March 2026. During this period, Airman Chen found a corroded flight control bracket that two earlier inspections had missed. His report led the squadron to inspect the same bracket on every assigned aircraft, and maintainers found and replaced two more corroded brackets before those aircraft flew again. He also trained three newly assigned Airmen to task qualification while the phase inspection finished 11 days ahead of schedule. The distinctive accomplishments of Airman Chen reflect credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

This version runs about 680 characters, so it leaves room under the 1,350-character limit for a unit and base name. It follows the template, uses no abbreviations, and spells out "two" and "three." It leads with the safety finding instead of a task count, because the DAFMAN says a task count alone doesn't justify the medal.

ASAM tips

Lead with the biggest result. If one action kept a jet flying or closed an inspection finding, put it first.
Write sentences, not EPB bullets. EPB shorthand like "SrA," "hrs" or "$1.4M" breaks the no-abbreviation rule. Write "$1.4 million" and spell out every unit name.
Stay inside the dates. Everything in the body should fall within the inclusive period in the opening sentence.

Questions to answer before you write

Before you draft, write down answers to these:

What was the member's actual job during the period?
What did they do that someone else in that job wouldn't have?
What number goes with each item: a count, hours saved, dollars, or people?
What would have happened if they hadn't done it?
Who benefited, and how many of them?

If you can't answer the third question, ask the supervisor. Our guide to quantifying accomplishments when you have no numbers covers ways to recover a figure, such as work-order histories and sign-in rosters.

Mistakes that get citations sent back

Using the old Air Force name. "Air Force Achievement Medal" on a 2026 certificate tells the reviewer the template is stale.
Writing "great credit" in an ASAM closing. The DAFMAN uses that wording for higher decorations.
Running long: more than six printed lines on an AAM certificate, or more than 1,350 characters in an ASAM citation.
Leaving abbreviations in an Air Force citation. "SrA," "AFB" and "NCOIC" all need to be spelled out.
Giving the unit the credit. "The section accomplished its mission" credits everyone. Say what this person did.
Getting names and dates wrong. Check the grade, name spelling and period against the orders before you submit.
Copying last year's citation. Reused language is easy to spot.

Get a first draft faster

Most people stuck on a citation already know what the member did. The slow part is fitting it into the right opening, the right closing and the length limit. The RapidEPR award citation tool takes your facts, duty title, unit and dates and returns a draft for your service. You check it against the regulation, make it yours and send it up the chain.

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Achievement Medal Citation Examples for Army and Air Force