Air Force World

摘要

The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act changed the review process for awarding the nation's highest military honor for valor in combat. Specifically, it lifted a long-standing restriction preventing service members from earning multiple Medals of Honor, even if several awards are merited. All military services now have three years from the combat action to recommend an individual for the MOH and five years from the date of the action to present the honor, according to the NDAA. Time limits previously varied among the services, leading some in Congress to question the MOH review process for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill also approved a waiver to this rule, authorizing the MOH be awarded to Civil War-era 1 st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing, who as commander of Battery A, 4th United States Artillery, gallantly fought to his death at Cemetery Ridge on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3,1863.