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| lower = [[Coast Guard Unit Commendation]]<ref name=M1650.25D/> |
| lower = [[Coast Guard Unit Commendation]]<ref name=M1650.25D/> |
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| related = [[Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Achievement Medal]] |
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| Operational Distinguishing Device | |
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Service ribbon of the Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award
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| Type | Unit award |
| Country |  United States |
| Eligibility | Coast Guard and Department of Transportation personnel |
| Established | 3 November 1994 |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Joint Meritorious Unit Award[1] |
| Next (lower) | Coast Guard Unit Commendation[1] |
| Related | Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Achievement Medal |
The Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award was a U.S. government unit decoration which was established in 1994.
The Presidential Unit Citation and Joint Meritorious Unit Award are considered senior to the Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award. Additional awards of the decoration were denoted by gold award stars.
Prior to 2003, the award was a unit award of the United States Coast Guard.[2] During the time period issued, it was the highest Coast Guard unit award that could be awarded and was presented to those Coast Guard units which performed outstanding service to the Coast Guard as a whole. It was awarded for two periods of service. The first was to all Coast Guard Active Duty Personnel, Reservists, Civilians, and Auxiliarists for participation in an extended period of migrant interdiction and natural and environmental disasters from 1 October 1993 to 30 September 1994. The second period of service was for Coast Guard Activities New York–Guarding Liberty Task Force from 11 September 2001 to 22 October 2001. This period qualifies for the Operational Distinguishing Device.[1]
On November 3, 1994, Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena awarded the Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Achievement Medal to the Coast Guard as a whole. The award was mounted on a plaque and presented to Admiral Robert E. Kramek, then-Commandant of the Coast Guard. In order to provide members of the Coast Guard with a device denoting this award, the Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award was issued. This award consists of the ribbon-only to the Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Achievement Medal, mounted in a gold frame.[3] Additional, some US Navy commands were presented this award for outstanding service when "chopped" (e.g. Straits of Florida Cuban rescue ops in the fall of 1994) to the Coast Guard.
With the transfer of the Coast Guard from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security, the authority to award the Secretary of Transportation Outstanding Unit Award appears to have remained with the Secretary of Transportation. However, the decoration, of course, appears on some phased-out military precedence charts and is authorized for continued wear on the uniforms of Coast Guard members who have earned it.
The only post-2003 issuance of the award appears to be in 2006 when President George W. Bush awarded it to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, marking the first Presidential commencement in that academy's history.
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