[Chapter Six:  Awards]

Awards are a vital part of FoE. It is always gratifying to be noticed for hard work and excellence. To this extent, FoE leaders award members of all ranks based on their actions in and out of game. Awards are categorized in three tiers:

Tier 1 (Member Achievement Awards): Awards that are presented based on exemplarily performance in-game or excellence in a members action. These awards can be presented multiple times.

Tier 2 (MSC or Game Awards): Awards that are presented to members who specifically operate within a set game. An example would be SWG awards versus WoW awards. A member can collect both types of awards if they are actively playing in both MSCs.

Tier 3 (Guild Awards): Guild Awards are of the highest honor. These are awarded to members who have gone above and beyond the standard and aided in making FoE a better guild.

For a member to receive an award, their unit level NCO or chain of command can submit a request via the website. No member can volunteer themselves for an award. The submission for the reward will go through the chain of command and be signed off by the Guild Leader.

Awards are authorized based on which TIER level the award falls in (see figure 3.1). TIER’s III and II must be validated through Operational FoE level staff and approved by Strategic FoE level Staff. Once the Awards have been signed off on by STRAT-FoE leadership, it is passed back down to OP-FoE leaders to present to the awardees. TIER I awards are validated through the TAC-FoE leadership and approved by OP-FoE leaders.  Awards should be vented from the bottom up. This philosophy is largely due to the fact that TAC-FoE leaders who conduct guild events and operations with their assigned members would have greater exposure to make judgment on awards. However, OP-FoE leaders can directly nominate members to the awards committee. STRAT-FoE leaders can directly nominate members to the awards committee for all TIERs.

(Insert figure 3.1)
 
The Nomination:  Any level of leadership can nominate a member within their MSC, including FoE PR, for an award. The nomination must be submitted no later than two weeks prior to the posted date of the awards committee meeting. Meeting dates are posted on the guild calendar for reference.
 
The nomination must be entered through the awards database, filling out all fields as necessary. In the narrative portion, the nominator must be as descriptive as possible to capture the Awardees actions. If the nomination doesn’t meet the criteria of the board it may be downgraded.  
 
Awards Committee:  The awards committee is no less than one Staff officer, one officer from the chain of command, and Support Chain Leader. The committee can only be formed on OP-FoE and STRAT-FoE levels and should be comprised solely of the appropriate level leaders.
 
The awards committee should meet once a quarter to vent any nominations for awards. The meeting is held solely on TeamSpeak. The S1 of the appropriate level will publish the list of nominations no later than three days prior to the meeting, in order to allow members time to read the list.   
 
The committee will parse the nominations based on the TIER of the award. All nominations will be reviewed in their respective TIER prior to moving on to the next TIER.  A nomination can be down graded only one TIER or denied in its entirety. If a nomination is denied, the committee will supply a reason for denying the award.
 
Members of the committee should have full knowledge of the awards section of the Guild Handbook prior to holding the meeting. This is to ensure that committee members can speak intelligently on the awards and the awards process.

Awards:  Guild awards are broken down into tiers. These tiers represent the weight or value of the award. The tiers are:
 
TIER III: Guild Awards, these awards carry the highest value and are guild wide recognition for outstanding accomplishments and actions with in the guild or game played. TIER III awards count towards promotion points.
 
TIER II: Member Awards, these are awards that recognize a members stead vast devotion to the guild, or actions in game. These awards are usually awarded to members who excel in the guild or game and hold positions of responsibility. TIER II awards count towards promotion points.
 
TIER I: MSC Awards, also referred to as game dependant awards. These awards are game dependant and are usually unit position of responsibility dependant. Points are generally not awarded for these awards.
 
TIER III:  Guild Level Awards may be submitted by any NCO or Officer, but reviewed by STRAT-FoE level leadership for approval. These awards are the highest branch of awards, TIER III.

Guild Excellence Award:  Each quarter one member from the MSC is submitted to STRAT-FoE for their excellence.  

Superior Leadership Award:  Once a year STRAT-FoE offers the Superior Leadership Award to leaders actively serving in a PoR for their excellence in leadership and dedication to the guild.

TIER II: Member Level Awards may be submitted by any NCO or Officer, but reviewed by STRAT-FoE level leadership for approval. These awards are the second branch of awards, TIER II.

Time in Service Award:  This award is granted every year up to the five year point.

Member Excellence Award:  The award is granted to members who go above and beyond their peers in helping the Guild, MSC, and others.

Tier I:  MSC level awards are handled by the MSC leadership.  These awards are granted internally and do not require STRAT-FoE approval.

Campaign Award:  Each MSC has a campaign award that is granted for six months of active service to the MSC.