R 131608Z MAR 14
UNCLASSIFIED/
MARADMIN 114/14
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC PA//
SUBJ/2014 AMERICAN LEGION SPIRIT OF SERVICE AWARD//
REF/A/MSGID:DOC/MCO P1070.12K/YMD:20000714//
REF/B/MSGID:MSG/MARADMIN 003-09/060930ZJAN2009//
NARR/REF A IS THE MARINE CORPS INDIVIDUAL RECORDS ADMINISTRATION MANUAL (IRAM).  REF B IS MARADMIN 003-09 TRANSMISSION AND FILING OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS TO THE OFFICIAL MILITARY PERSONNEL FILE (OMPF).//
POC/H.POWELL-RAY/CIV/UNIT:CMC WASHINGTON DC PA/NAME: HQMC PA/TEL:703-692-1528/EMAIL:HATTIE.POWELL-RAY(AT)USMC.MIL//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1.  THE PURPOSE OF THIS MARADMIN IS TO ANNOUNCE AND SOLICIT NOMINATIONS FOR THE 14TH ANNUAL AMERICAN LEGION SPIRIT OF SERVICE AWARD.  THIS AWARD IS PRESENTED ANNUALLY TO AN ENLISTED MEMBER (E5 AND BELOW) FROM EACH OF THE MILITARY SERVICES FOR OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER SERVICE PERFORMED OFF DUTY IN THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY.  THE AWARDS ARE PRESENTED DURING THE AMERICAN LEGION'S NATIONAL CONVENTION WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE IN CHARLOTTE, NC, 22-28 AUG 14.
2.  NOMINATION CRITERIA.  NOMINATIONS MUST BE FULLY SUBSTANTIATED AND REFLECT A CAREFUL AND CONSCIENTIOUS EVALUATION OF THE NOMINEE. EACH NOMINATION PACKAGE SHALL:
A.  INCLUDE ALL APPROPRIATE ENDORSEMENTS, TO INCLUDE, AT A MINIMUM, AN ENDORSEMENT FROM THE FIRST GENERAL OFFICER IN THE NOMINEE'S CHAIN OF COMMAND.
B.  BE ADDRESSED FROM THE NOMINATING UNIT TO THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS, OFFICE OF U.S. MARINE CORPS COMMUNICATION (OUSMCC) VIA THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.
C.  INCLUDE A STATEMENT THAT, IF SELECTED, THE NOMINEE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO RECEIVE THE AWARD AT THE AMERICAN LEGION'S NATIONAL CONVENTION.
D.  CITE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY SERVICE PERFORMED OFF DUTY AND SHOW HOW THE COMMUNITY BENEFITED FROM THAT SERVICE. WHILE VOLUNTEER SERVICE WITHIN CALENDAR YEAR (CY) 2013 SHOULD BE INCLUDED, NOMINATIONS CAN REFLECT CUMULATIVE VOLUNTEER SERVICE DURING AN ENTIRE MILITARY CAREER. NOMINATIONS MUST ALSO REFLECT OUTSTANDING MILITARY PERFORMANCE.
3.  NOMINATION FORMAT.  THE NOMINATION MUST BE IN STANDARD LETTER FORMAT AND INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
A.  NOMINEE'S FULL NAME, RANK, MOS, CURRENT DUTY STATION, UNIT ADDRESS, WORK PHONE NUMBER, HOME OF RECORD, AND A WORK EMAIL ADDRESS.
B.  A NOMINATION JUSTIFICATION SECTION IN PARAGRAPH OR BULLETIZED FORMAT.
C.  NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE UNIT IN WHICH NOMINEE WAS SERVING WHEN VOLUNTEER SERVICE WAS MADE.
D.  A BY-NAME UNIT OIC AND HIS/HER CONTACT PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS.
E.  ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION REQUESTED IS NEEDED BY THE AMERICAN LEGION FOR TRAVEL COORDINATION.
4.  ADDITIONAL ENCLOSURES.  IN ADDITION TO THE NOMINATION LETTER AND PHOTOGRAPH, EACH SUBMISSION MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING AS SEPARATE ENCLOSURES:
A.  NOMINEE'S BIOGRAPHY WITH PERTINENT MILITARY BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
B.  A PROPOSED CITATION IN STANDARD PARAGRAPH FORMAT TO BE READ AT AWARDS PRESENTATION IF SELECTED.
C.  A WRITTEN AND SIGNED STATEMENT OF EXPRESS CONSENT BY THE NOMINEE, AUTHORIZING RELEASE OF INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE NOMINATION, PER THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974.  THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS A SAMPLE OF WRITTEN CONSENT:  "I, RANK/FULL NAME, DO HEREBY AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF ALL INFORMATION ENCLOSED IN THIS NOMINATION PACKAGE TO THOSE PERSONS INVOLVED IN THE SELECTION PROCESS."
D.  A FULL-LENGTH PHOTO OF THE NOMINEE AT LEAST 5X7 IN SIZE. PHOTO MUST BE OF HIGH RESOLUTION QUALITY, AT LEAST 300 DPI.  THE PRESCRIBED UNIFORM IS SERVICE 'C' FOR MALES AND SERVICE 'C' WITH SLACKS FOR FEMALES.  FOR DEPLOYED MARINES WHO DO NOT HAVE THE SERVICE 'C' UNIFORM, UNIFORM IS UTILITIES MINUS THE UTILITY BLOUSE, WITH LEFT SHOULDER FORWARD.  THIS IS AN OFFICIAL PHOTO, AND MUST ADHERE TO THE GUIDELINES ESTABLISHED IN REFERENCES A AND B.  ONLY AN ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE PHOTOGRAPH IS ACCEPTABLE.  DIGITAL PHOTOS MUST BE SENT AS SEPARATE FILES FROM THE NOMINATION PACKAGE, PREFERABLY AS A JOINT PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERTS GROUP (JPEG) FILE.  COMMANDS ARE ENCOURAGED TO UTILIZE LOCAL COMBAT CAMERA SERVICES FOR PHOTO PRODUCTION.
5.  A SAMPLE NOMINATION PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE VIA THE MARINE CORPS WEBSITE AT:  HTTP: COMMUNITY.MARINES.MIL/COMMUNITY.  CLICK ON "RESOURCES", THEN "LINKS".  SUBMISSIONS WHICH DO NOT FOLLOW THE ABOVE GUIDELINES OR ARE RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE (SEE PARA. 9) WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.
6.  UPON COMPLETION OF THE SELECTION PROCESS, THE COMMAND AND SELECTED AWARDEE WILL BE NOTIFIED BY THE AMERICAN LEGION.  ADDITIONALLY, A MARADMIN ANNOUNCING THE MARINE CORPS' AWARD RECIPIENT WILL BE RELEASED.  THE AWARD RECIPIENT SHOULD PLAN ON ARRIVING AT THE CONVENTION NLT 23 AUG AND DEPART NET 27 AUG.
7.  SUBMISSIONS.  ALL NOMINATIONS SHOULD BE SENT ELECTRONICALLY VIA EMAIL TO:  HQMC.COMREL(AT)USMC.MIL USING BOTH PDF AND JPEG FILES WITH THE FOLLOWING SUBJECT LINE:  "2014 AMERICAN LEGION SPIRIT OF SERVICE AWARDS PROGRAM; ICO OF RANK/NAME."  HARD COPY NOMINATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
8.  DEADLINE.  NOMINATION PACKAGES MUST BE RECEIVED NLT 13 MAY 14.
9.  LOGISTICS AND EXPENDITURES.  THE AMERICAN LEGION WILL PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM THE NATIONAL CONVENTION IN CHARLOTTE, NC, WITHIN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES, AS WELL AS ACCOMMODATIONS AND MEALS FOR AWARD RECIPIENT.  ANY ADDITIONAL ACCOMPANYING GUESTS WILL NOT BE COVERED BY THE AMERICAN LEGION.  USING THIS MESSAGE AS A REFERENCE, COMMANDS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ISSUE TAD ORDERS SO AWARD RECIPIENT MAY ATTEND THE CONVENTION.  SPECIFIC COORDINATING DETAILS, TO INCLUDE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS AND UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS, WILL BE SENT TO THE AWARD RECIPIENT BY THE AMERICAN LEGION FOLLOWING THE SELECTION PROCESS.  FOR ADDITIONAL LOGISTICS INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROGRAM, CONTACT MR. JOE MARCH OR MS. DEBRA MURRELL OF THE AMERICAN LEGION AT TEL: (317) 630-1253 OR VIA EMAIL: JMARCH(AT)LEGION.ORG, OR DMURRELL(AT)LEGION.ORG.
10.  AWARD RECIPIENTS ARE REMINDED THAT IF THE VALUE OF THE TRAVEL BENEFITS RECEIVED FROM THE AMERICAN LEGION EXCEEDS 250 DOLLARS, AWARD RECIPIENTS MUST REPORT ACCEPTANCE UPON COMPLETION OF THE TRAVEL TO THEIR LOCAL SJA.  THE LOCAL SJA MUST, IN TURN, REPORT THIS INFORMATION TO HQMC JUDGE ADVOCATE DIVISION'S CODE JAR FOR SEMI-ANNUAL DOD REPORTING PURPOSES.  SF 326 IS AUTHORIZED FOR USE FOR THIS REPORT.
11.  RELEASE AUTHORIZED BY BGEN (SEL) TERRY V. WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF U.S. MARINE CORPS COMMUNICATION.//