The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the unit awards of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...

. It was established in 1954 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and was the first independent Air Force decoration created (to this point, Air Force personnel were routinely awarded Army decorations). The Air Force Longevity Service Award would follow in 1957 with most of the standard Air Force awards (including the Air Force Good Conduct Medal) established in the early to mid 1960s. The Outstanding Unit Award is awarded to any unit of the U.S. Air Force (including the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

and the

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

) which performs exceptionally meritorious service, accomplishes specific acts of outstanding achievement, excels in combat operations against an armed enemy of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, or conducts with distinct military operations involving conflict with, or exposure to, a hostile action by any opposing foreign force. Multiple awards of the Outstanding Unit Award are denoted by bronze

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

s, and silver

s, as applicable, on the ribbon. Until 2004, the Outstanding Unit Award was the senior most unit award in the U.S. Air Force. It now ranks directly below the Meritorious Unit Award, which was established in March 2004, and above the

Air Force Organizational Excellence Award The Air and Space Organizational Excellence Award (ASOEA) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force, unit award of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was created by the Secretary of the ...

in the precedence of Air Force awards and decorations. It is awarded to personnel who were assigned or attached to the unit receiving the award during the period it was awarded for. Non-

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

personnel (e.g., USN,

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

USCG The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, mi ...

) personnel assigned to USAF units awarded the Outstanding Unit Award are also eligible to wear the ribbon on their uniforms. However, the ribbon does not come in the larger size of unit awards common to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. On 16 November 2020, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award was renamed the Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award by the Secretary of the Air Force.

Notable recipients

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

: US President

References

{{USAF decorations Awards and decorations of the United States Air Force Awards and decorations of the United States Space Force Awards established in 1954