Army Retirement Awards: AAM, ARCOM, and What to Expect

Retirement awards recognize a Soldier's culminating tour and career of service. In practice most retirement decorations are the Meritorious Service Medal or higher, but a short final tour or specific circumstances can result in an Army Commendation Medal — and occasionally an Army Achievement Medal. This page covers the AAM/ARCOM end of the retirement range.

The key principle for a retirement citation is to recognize the culminating tour, not re-decorate the entire career. Accomplishments already recognized by prior awards should not be double-counted.

Which award at retirement

The decoration scales with grade, scope, and the nature of the culminating assignment. Senior NCOs and officers typically receive an MSM or higher; a Soldier with a brief final tour or limited culminating responsibility may receive an ARCOM. AwardMe currently supports the AAM and ARCOM tiers; MSM support with the narrative field is planned.

Writing the culminating-tour citation

Open with a meritorious-service phrase that may include "culminating a career of dedicated service," name the final duty position and unit, and cover the final assignment's date range. Close with the dedicated-service sentence — AAM without the serial comma, ARCOM with it. Keep the focus on the last tour's measurable impact.

Submitting in IPPS-A

Retirement awards follow the same Buddy PAR Award Recommendation path. Initiate well ahead of the retirement ceremony date so the approved certificate is available in time.

Example Achievement block

Pastes into the IPPS-A Achievement field. All bullets pass EvalMe's award validator.

Directed operations for a 96-Soldier company through its final training cycle, achieving the highest gunnery qualification rate in the battalion.

Established a maintenance program that returned fleet readiness to 95 percent and sustained it through change of command.

Managed 22 million dollars in equipment and facilities with zero loss across the culminating tour.

Developed 12 noncommissioned officers, 8 of whom advanced to positions of greater responsibility.

Example citation

ARCOM citation — Retirement. Pastes into the IPPS-A Citation field (six-line limit).

For exceptionally meritorious service while assigned as First Sergeant, Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, from 1 June 2023 to 30 April 2026. First Sergeant Brooks led a 96-Soldier company to the highest gunnery rate in the battalion and managed 22 million dollars in equipment with zero loss. His dedicated service is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the Battalion, and the United States Army.

Generate this with AwardMe

AwardMe generates the Achievement block and citation from your plain-language notes, enforces the AR 600-8-22 rules automatically (including the AAM serial-comma convention), refuses generic placeholders, and produces output ready to paste into the IPPS-A Achievement and Citation fields.

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Related award pages

Meritorious Service Medal →What the Meritorious Service Medal recognizes under AR 600-8-22, how it differs from the ARCOM, and how it submits in IPPS-A. Full AwardMe MSM support is coming soon.ARCOM for ETS →Write an ARCOM for a Soldier separating at ETS: a sustained-impact Achievement block and date-range citation meeting AR 600-8-22, ready for IPPS-A.Citation Examples →Validated AAM and ARCOM citation examples for ETS, PCS, achievement, and retirement contexts — correct openings, mandatory closings, and the serial-comma rule.IPPS-A Award Submission →The IPPS-A award workflow: My Personnel Action Requests, My Buddy PARs, Award Recommendation, and exactly which text goes in the Achievement and Citation fields.

EvalMe is an independent private service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, or any U.S. Government agency. Award criteria and citation conventions are summarized from AR 600-8-22; consult the regulation and your servicing awards office for authoritative guidance.

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