§ 578.59 - Meritorious Unit Commendation.

(a) Criteria. (1) The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) (Army) (previously called the Meritorious Service Unit Plaque) is awarded to units for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services for at least 6 continuous months during the period of military operations against an armed enemy occurring on or after January 1, 1944. Service in a combat zone is not required, but must be directly related to the combat effort. Units based in the continental United States are excluded from this award, as are other units outside the area of operation. The unit must display such outstanding devotion and superior performance of exceptionally difficult tasks as to set it apart and above other units with similar missions. The degree of achievement required is the same as that which would warrant award of the Legion of Merit to an individual. Recommendations for units larger than brigade will not be submitted. For services performed during World War II, awards will be made only to service units and only for services performed between January 1, 1944 and September 15, 1946.

(2) Effective March 1, 1961, the MUC was authorized for units and/or detachments of the Armed Forces of the United States for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding services for at least 6 continuous months in support of military operations. Service(s), as used in this paragraph, is interpreted to relate to combat service support type activities and not to the type of activities performed by senior headquarters, combat, or combat support units.

(b) Awarding authorities. Approval authority for the MUC is the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCS), G-1. Recommendations for award of the MUC will be forwarded to Commander, USA HRC, ATTN: AHRC-PDO-PA, Alexandria, VA 22332-0471, for processing to the DCS, G-1 for final action.

(c) Award elements. The award elements for the MUC are as follows:

(1) MUC Streamer;

(2) MUC Emblem;

(3) MUC Certificate and Citation; and

(4) DAGO.

(d) Description. The MUC emblem is 17/16 inches wide and 9/16 inch in height. The emblem consists of a 1/16 inch ide gold frame with laurel leaves which encloses a scarlet 67111 ribbon. The previously authorized emblem was a gold color embroidered laurel wreath, 15/8 inches in diameter on a 2 inch square of olive drab cloth.