DOT SECRETARY'S AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT

There is no more prestigious award the Department of Transportation can bestow upon a civilian employee than the Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. Also called the Gold Medal, the award is given at the sole discretion of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, who personally chooses a recipient (typically just one per year) from all of the nominations that have been submitted for the Secretary's Award for Meritorious Achievement, or Silver Medal. The Commandant of the Coast Guard is authorized to submit nominations for the Silver Medal, choosing from civilians and any members of the military who are assigned to Department of Transportation administration who have made contributions of noteworthy value to the DOT.
 
The qualifying service or accomplishments for the Gold Medal are similar to those of other high-ranking civilian service awards in other Armed Forces of the United States, but Coast Guard Regulations do list two areas—eminent authorship and contributions to the Department of Defense’s Equal Employment Opportunity program—that are not mentioned in other awards manuals.

In November, 1994, Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña awarded the Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement to the United States Coast Guard as a whole for its performance during a period of high activity between October 1, 1993 and September 30, 1994. (The award was issued as a ribbon bar only because it was a unit decoration.). Similarly, DOT Secretary Norman Mineta presented the award following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but in this case it was to specific units rather than the entire service.