There are hard clocks on both ends. An Army award recommendation normally has to enter military channels within 2 years of the act, and the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal must be formally submitted within 3 years and awarded within 5. If an award was disapproved or downgraded you have 1 year from the awarding authority's date to seek reconsideration — that reconsideration is one-time and conclusive, and only happens if you bring new, substantive and material information. Past the deadline, the route is a congressional submission under 10 USC 1130.
| Branch | Controlling publication | Dated | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | AR 600-8-22 Current Time limits, reconsideration and the 1130 route | 2026-05-11 | Official link |
| Air Force | DAFMAN 36-2806 Current The equivalent Air and Space Force awards manual | 2025-08-13 | Official link |
For the top valor and service decorations the clock is explicit — a Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross or Distinguished Service Medal recommendation must enter official channels within 3 years of the act and be awarded within 5.
“g. MOH, DSC, and DSM recommendations must be entered formally into official channels within 3 years of the act warranting the recommendation and awarded within 5 years, except as provided in 10 USC 7274. h. Preparing an award recommendation years after an action has occurred can be a challenge. Pro- posals for decorations not previously submitted in a timely fashion are submitted through a Member of Congress to the CG, HRC. In the event an incomplete award recommendation is submitted, the Chief, ADB, HRC will contact the requesting Member of Congress and provide specific guidance regarding the additional information required for the case to be considered. Appendix J prescribes mandatory proce- dures for Army compliance with 10 USC 1130.”
Check the date the act occurred before anything else: the first question asked of a packet is whether it entered military channels within 2 years, and if not, whether it was submitted under 10 USC 1130 instead.
“a. Was the award entered into military channels within 2 years of the act, achievement, or service? If not, was the award recommendation submitted in accordance with 10 USC 1130? b. Was the request for reconsideration of a previously disapproved or downgraded award submitted within 1 year of the awarding authority’s date? If not, was the request submitted in accordance with 10 USC 1130? c. Is reconsideration or appeal entertained only when new, substantive, and material information is pre- sented?”
This is the paragraph that decides most appeals: a disapproved, downgraded or upgrade request must be in official channels within 1 year of the awarding authority's date, the reconsideration is one-time and conclusive, and it is only entertained if new, substantive and material information is furnished — so resubmitting the same packet is wasted effort.
“1–16. Reconsideration or appeal of previous award recommendations a. A request for reconsideration or the appeal of a disapproved or downgraded award or a request for an upgrade of a previously approved recommendation must be placed in official channels within 1 year from the date of the awarding authority’s decision. A one-time reconsideration by the award approval au- thority will be conclusive. b. Recommendations are submitted for reconsideration or appeal only if new, substantive, and material information is furnished, and the time limits specified in paragraph 1 – 14 do not prevent such action.”
If what you are chasing is acceptance and wear of a foreign badge or decoration, the time limitations simply do not apply.
“e. Time limitations do not apply to acceptance and wear of foreign badges and decorations awarded to U.S. Soldiers. f. In cases where it can be conclusively proven that formal submission of a recommendation for award was not made within the time limitations indicated in paragraph 1 – 14 because either the person recom- mending or the person being recommended was in a prisoner of war (POW), missing in action, or in medi- cally incapacitated status, award of the Silver Star (SS) or lesser decorations may be approved without regard to elapsed time since the act, achievement, or service occurred that is to be honored.”
Need this narrowed to your branch or a specific paragraph? Ask it here — free, and the answer quotes the regulation text where we have it indexed.
Updated 2026-08-03. CheckMyRegs is an unofficial index — always cite the official publication.