Promotions and Challenge Coins
Military challenge coins catalog a soldier’s career from basic training all the way to retirement. In the Air Force, it all starts with the Airman’s Coin ceremony where each trainee is addressed as an Airman for the first time and awarded an Airman’s Coin. It symbolizes how a soldier has earned that title of respect. Another challenge coin tradition practiced throughout the military is the “first salute coin” (or the silver dollar salute) where a newly commissioned officer hands out a custom coin to the first person to give them a salute. The saying goes that a first salute is bought and every salute thereafter is earned.
Challenge coins are custom designed to commemorate promotions and to honor the personal merit of soldiers in every branch of service. But the entire promotion system of the armed forces is heading towards serious reform. The system for promoting officers has operated without hindrance for the past four decades, but as America continues into the 21st Century, the need for reform has become more evident as the struggle to retain skilled officers in high-demand positions continues.
Changing Things Up
So, what is changing, and how does it affect the use of challenge coins throughout every branch of service? The major focus of the reform strategy is the military’s up-or-out approach to promotions. This system requires officers achieve a certain rank within an allocated period of time. If they fail to achieve that rank, they must leave the service.
Time served plays a huge role in the traditional promotion system. The hope is to move away from this approach and mimic the private sector which bases promotions on performance and qualification rather than just seniority. Brad Carson, the Pentagon’s top personnel official during the Obama administration, spoke to Military Times and said, “I used to say if (Facebook CEO) Mark Zuckerberg woke up one day and decided to join the Army, the best I could do was make him an O-2. There was no way to have him come in with the stature his professional abilities demand.”
The inner workings of the officer promotion system have been ingrained in military tradition since the 1980 Defense Officer Personnel Management Act. These changes will shake things up considerably and may even affect the uses for challenge coins, which have evolved from this long-standing promotion system. The traditional 20-year career path of military officers is rife with opportunities to use custom coins. Superior officers commission coins for promotion ceremonies, military balls and to hand out to the soldiers in their command.
But this 20-year path is the focus of the change. Some officers will now find opportunities to stay in one place for extended periods of time. For high-demand positions, it seems counterproductive to force retirement on skillful officers who do not seek promotions. On the flip side, some officers will be promoted at a much faster rate. Moving away from the established timetable for promotions means that continuing challenge coin traditions may require more frequent orders with less notice to have coins created.
Adjusting to the Changes
The purpose of these types of reforms is to increase the retention rate of skilled officers, compete with the private sector in recruiting for in-demand positions and provide officers with more opportunities to develop specialized skills. By eliminating some of the up-or-out rules to the promotion game, officers have less fear of being forced out of the service if they pursue specialized careers.
All of these changes and new authorities stem from the 2019 Defense Authorization bill passed by the Senate earlier this summer. On October 1, 2018, all changes went into effect, however, none of the changes are mandatory. The general consensus is that they will gradually take effect as each branch of service finds opportunities to promote skilled officers to fill high-demand positions. While the promotion system is seeing new changes, the traditional uses for challenge coins will likely remain consistent. They may even help during the transitionary period.
Challenge coins are a central part of a soldier’s career in the military. They are earned through dedication and symbolize individual achievements. Understanding military culture is something officers learn as they work their way up the promotion ladder. When these changes take effect and officers enter the service at an elevated rank, each is missing years of experience that the traditional system has offered.
Challenge coins are a perfect tool for acclimating new officers to life in the military because they are such a central tradition. In the midst of change, they serve as a familiar anchor to the established culture of the military. Signature Coins has enjoyed working with every branch of the United States Military since the year 2000. Our coins are used in basic training, for crews of Navy vessels, to commemorate military balls, to celebrate officer promotions and for countless other reasons. Even as these changes start taking effect in the officer promotion system, you can count on Signature Coins to continue supplying traditional challenge coins for all of the military’s needs.
