If I am writing a letter of appreciation for the performance of a front-line enlisted person, how high up in the chain of command is the most appropriate level to send the letter? I know LOAs are often very important for military members, and can potentially have a positive impact on promotion or awards. I would like to provide this person with the maximum benefit for doing a good job without being inappropriate about it. Obviously I'm not going to send the LOA to the Chief of Staff or anything, but I wouldn't want to send it to the lowest direct leadership if it should go higher.

The first O-5 in their chain of command. That's my vote anyway.

Second: First 0-5 in the chain of command.

Agree with addressing it to the O-5 level. That normally would be the battalion commander. But I would also CC his company CO and the battalion Command Sergeant Major as well.

Agree with all the responses. And I wrote a lot of LOA's back in the day. Kudos to Ryan for doing this.

Re-reading this brought up a memory from my days at Ft. Hood. My Group commander received a letter of from Texas World Speedway outside of College Station. It was a letter of appreciation for our Dust-Off crew taking someone from the race track to the hospital in Bryan. Problem was, we did not have a mission assigned to the speedway that day. The only mission we had had was to transfer a patient from Scott & White Hospital in Waco to a hospital in Houston and return to base ( a common mission for our Dust-Off crews under a civilian assistance program). Seems as if the aircraft commander saw all of the activity at the speedway on his return trip and decided to set the bird down and watch the race. Nobody questioned them being there and they had great seats right by the pits. Anyway, somebody had a heart attack and the EMTs rolled the guy out to the Dust-Off chopper thinking it was assigned to be there. Of course the aircraft commander accepted the mission and they took the guy to the hospital in Bryan, and then returned to Ft. Hood saying nothing about the detour or the extra mission. A week later the Group commander gets this glowing letter of appreciation. One of my buddies was the aircraft commander in question and he told me that "meeting" with the group commander was rather unpleasant. One does not just gallivant off with an Army helicopter and aircrew.

File your story under:

"No good deed goes unpunished."

quote:

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One does not just gallivant off with an Army helicopter and aircrew.

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Reading histories of WWII and even up until the 1960s, one could, and did, get away with it often. Stories of buzzing the old hometown during WWII are legion. Yeager's book details personal use of military aircraft as a normal thing.

A good friend was in a reserve unit while attending A&M after his Vietnam tour. I understood him to say they had Hueys at Easterwood. Said he would dress his wife in a flight suit, park well away from the office, and put her in the copilot's seat for a sightseeing trip. Was also known to fly to Hearn to the family farm, and give his parents a ride.

Great story, Devil. Thanks for sharing.