Awards Criteria

AFRAS Vice Admiral Thomas Sargent III Gold Medal:

The Gold Medal is awarded to an enlisted member of the USCG who made a heroic rescue during the previous calendar year and was nominated by his command and through the USCG chain of command for the award.  The recipient must still be on active duty with the Coast Guard at the time of the award presentation and the criteria generally include taking any prudent risks in a situation where the lives both the person(s) rescued as well as the rescuer were in peril.

AFRAS Silver Medal:

The Silver Medal is awarded to a member of the USCG Auxiliary who made a heroic rescue during the previous calendar year and was nominated by his command and through the USCG chain of command for the award.  The recipient must have been a member of the Auxiliary during the rescue and still be a member at the time of the award presentation. The criteria generally include taking any prudent risks in a situation where the lives both the person(s) rescued as well as the rescuer were in peril. The rescue must have been made while the Auxiliary member was underway.

Chairman’s Award:

The Chairman’s Award established in 2014 and is awarded to a Coast Guard Auxiliarist (or a team of Coast Guard Auxiliarists) from among the nominations received for the AFRAS Silver Medal, when and only when, all nominations for the Silver Medal do not meet the criteria for the award of the AFRAS Silver Medal (which are the same criteria as the VADM Thomas Sargent III Gold Medal awarded to a Coast Guard enlisted member).  A life must be in peril of being lost, whether at sea, on a river, or a lake, and a Coast Guard Auxiliarist (or team of Coast Guard Auxiliarists) must have had a direct impact on saving the life or attempting to save the life in peril — from a watercraft, from land, or a pier, wharf or jetty connected to dry land.

The AFRAS Chairman’s Award will then be selected from votes as tabulated by the AFRAS President from among the AFRAS Board of Directors. The first award was made for the year ended 2013.

Other Criteria:

If the AFRAS Awards Committee members feel that the nominations for a particular year do not meet the criteria, then a winner will not be selected that year.  Every effort will be made to gather nominations worthy of the award.  If there are two nominations for an award which in the eyes of the Committee members are equivalent, then two winners will be named.