Outstanding Unit Award
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The Outstanding Unit Award is a decoration of the United States Air Force which was first created in 1954. The decoration is awarded as a ribbon to any command of the U.S. Air Force (including Reserve and Air National Guard) which performs exceptionally meritorious service, accomplishes specific acts of outstanding achievement, excels in combat operations against an armed enemy of the United States, or conducts with distinction 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 oak leaf clusters on the award ribbon. In 1961, the Air Force also began issuing the Valor device for units which had engaged in combat, or provided direct combat support, in the particular operations which had qualified the unit for the Outstanding Unit Award.
Until 2001, the Outstanding Unit Award ranked directly below the Presidential Unit Citation on the precedence of Air Force unit awards. With the creation of the Air Force Gallant Unit Citation and the Air Force Meritorious Unit Award, the Outstanding Unit Award is now the fourth highest Air Force unit decoration.
See also: Awards and decorations of the United States military