The first recognized medals of the US Army appeared during the American Civil War and were generally issued by local commanders on an unofficial basis. The Medal of Honor was the first award to be established in regulations as a permanent Army decoration, complete with benefits. The Medal of Honor is the only Civil War era award which has survived as a decoration into the modern age.

Furthermore, the US Army mandates that all unit awards will be worn separate from individual awards on the opposite side of a military uniform. The Army is the only service to require this separation between unit and individual decorations. All Army unit awards are worn enclosed in a gold frame.

The Spanish-American War was the first widespread award of campaign medals, both for service in the actual conflict and for participation in subsequent garrison and occupation duty. After the Spanish-American War, however, medals in the US Army fell into disuse and, apart from a few peacetime Medal of Honor decorations, there were no further Army medals created until the First World War. World War I saw the first widespread distribution of medals for combat, as the Medal of Honor returned awarded for bravery in battle against an enemy force. The Distinguished Service Cross was also created for those soldiers who had performed feats of bravery but not to the level required of the Medal of Honor. The only other medal of World War I was the World War I Victory Medal, accompanied by a confusing array of battle clasps to denote combat participation.

In the 1920s and 30s, the US Army issued very few decorations and it was often common for a service member to spend an entire career without receiving a single medal. With the outbreak of World War II, however, the Army began the largest expansion of medals since the Spanish-American War as well as the first wide scale issuance of inter-service awards. In addition, several World War II campaign medals were created for various theaters and a World War II Victory Medal was established at the end of the conflict as well as an occupation medal.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Army expanded both its number of medals and ribbons, as well as having its service members eligible for several new inter-service campaign and service medals (such as the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the National Defense Service Medal).

In the modern age, members of other military branches serving under an Army command are also eligible to receive Army decorations. All Army service members may receive inter-service awards, international decorations, and authorized foreign medals. The Department of the Army also awards a limited number of civilian awards.

Only time and fate knows the future of peace, wars and the new missions that the subordinate units of the 1st Cavalry Division may be called on to perform. In any situation, they stand ready and can look to its combat record with justifiable pride and hard earned satisfaction. All of the tasks have been tough and they have been done well.

115th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) Decorations

The following decorations have been earned by the 115th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) in service for their country. Presidential Unit Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered PLEIKU PROVINCE (as 15th Supply and Transport Battalion, cited 23 Oct to 26 Nov 1965; DA GO 53, 1967, amended DA GO 40, 1976) Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered QUANG TIN PROVINCE (as "C" Co, 15th Supply and Service Battalion, cited for the period 01 to 31 Oct 1967; DA GO 39, 1970) Valorous Unit Award, Streamer embroidered FISH HOOK (as 15th Supply and Transport Battalion, cited fopr the period 01 May to 29 Jun 1970; DA GO 43, 1972) Valorous Unit Award, Streamer ("D" Co., 115th Support Battalion, cited for the period 01 Feb to 31 May, 2007; PO 148-17, 28 May, 2009) Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered PACIFIC THEATER FEB - JUN 1944 (16th Quartermaster Squadron, cited for the period 25 Feb to 25 Jun 1944; DA GO 9, 1945) Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered PACIFIC THEATER JUN DEC 1944 (16th Quartermaster Squadron, cited for the period 26 Jun to 25 Dec 1944; DA GO 19, 1945) Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered KOREA (15th Quartermaster Company, cited for the period 22 Jul 1950 to 31 May 1951; DA GO 103, 1951) Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1967 - 1968 (as 15th Supply and Transport Battalion, cited for the period 01 Jun 1967 to 31 May 1968; DA GO 28, 1969) Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1968 - 1969 (as 15th Supply and Transport Battalion, cited for the period 01 Jun 1968 to 30 Nov 1969; DA GO 02, 1971) Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1970 (as 15th Supply and Transport Battalion, cited01 Jan to 31 Dec 1970; DA GO 43, 1972) Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army), Streamer embroidered SOUTHWEST ASIA (115th Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division Support Command, cited for the period 08 Oct 1990 to 21 Apr 1991; DA GO 27, 1994) Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Streamer embroidered 17 OCTOBER 1944 - 4 JULY 1945 (16th Cavalry Quartermaster Squadron, cited; DA GO 47, 1950) Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, Streamer embroidered WAEGWAN-TAEGU (15th Quartermaster Company, cited for the period 16 Aug to 26 Sep 1959; DA GO 35, 1951) Chryssoun Aristion Andrias (Bravery Gold Medal of Greece), Streamer embroidered KOREA (15th Quartermaster Company, cited; DA GO 02, 1956) Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm, Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1969 - 1970 (as 15th Supply and Service Battalion, cited for the period May 1969 to Feb 1970; DA GO 11. 1973, amended DA GO 42, 1972) Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm, Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1970 - 1971 (as 15th Supply and Service Battalion, cited for the period 21 Feb 1970 to 28 Feb 1971; DA GO 42, 1972) Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class, Streamer embroidered VIETNAM 1969 - 1970 (as 15th Supply and Service Battalion, cited for the period 01 Jan 1969 to 01 Feb 1970; DA GO 42, 1972)