I created this point system so that people could more accurately determine how high one military person would rank against his peers in order of decorations earned. Often times, you hear that this person or that person was "the most highly decorated soldier" of World War II, or Vietnam, or whatever time period they are talking about. The only problem with this is that the way this is determined has never really been explained...at least not to my satisfaction. Most of the time, the person's total number of decorations is counted up and used as the basis for the title of "most decorated" or "most highly decorated", but that means that all of the lessor awards that have nothing to do with combat, valor, or leadership are included as well; decorations like training ribbons, campaign stars, service ribbons, and staff awards. By coming up with a point system that is based loosely on the military promotion point scale for decorations, I have created a reference that can be used to determine how high a person really ranks in terms of combat and command decorations earned. Only medals starting with the Purple Heart and higher are scored in this system. This system only counts medals that are either combat decorations or decorations for leadership or command, with combat decorations usually counting for more points. The obsolete Marine Corps Brevet Medal is included for historical reference.
The point system I have created is as follows:
Medal of Honor
100 Points
Marine Corps Brevet Medal
75 Points
Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross
50 Points
Defense Distinguished Service Medal
20 Points
Air Force DSM, Army DSM, Navy DSM, Coast Guard DSM
20 Points
Silver Star
25 Points
Legion of Merit
10 Points
Defense Superior Service Medal
10 Points
Distinguished Flying Cross
15 Points
Airman's Medal, Navy-Marine Corps Medal, Soldier's Medal
15 Points
Bronze Star Medal
10 Points
Purple Heart
5 Points
