Selection for promotion has very little to do with the awards you have earned. They don't hurt but the boards look at efficiency reports and potential. Besides, LTC ain't bad when you consider he was a Captain in 65 and there were brutal RIFs in 73 and 75.
"Selection for promotion has very little to do with the awards you have earned. They don't hurt but the boards look at efficiency reports and potential."
See, that statement contains a contradiction. The most significant indicator of potential *should be* performance in combat, of which personal awards for valor are an important indicator.
No one who has performed well, even heroically, in combat, should *ever* be passed over for someone who hasn't.