The end of military conscription in the 1970s and the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s effectively removed both the means and the necessity of a maintaining an extremely large standing Army. But while understandable, this reduction in the size of the Active Component of the Army placed more importance than ever before in maintaining a robust Army National Guard (ARNG) force that could be called upon along with the Army Reserve in the event of contingency operations that would inevitably arise at some point in the future.
Of course, that eventuality was unfortunately realized sooner rather than later, and National Guard units have played an essential role in providing the troops necessary to man the front lines of the Global War on Terror. By November, 2007, a little over six years after the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, nearly 255,000 National Guardsmen had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan; by 2011, that number had surpassed 300,000, with every Guard brigade being deployed at one point or another. (Note that these numbers include both ARNG and Air National Guard units.)
Ensuring that the Army National Guard maintains its appropriate strength levels is the task of ARNG Recruiting and Retention Noncommissioned Officers (RRNCOs). To recognize the achievement of RRNCOs at both the regional and state and territory levels in achieving superior accession levels and Recruit Sustainment Program ratings, as well as for promoting diversity in recruiting and maintaining high levels of support at ARNG Military Entrance Processing Stations, the Army National Guard created the Director’s Strength Maintenance Award Program (DMAP).
The DSMAP’s Director’s 54 Award is given annually to the top recruiter in each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The Expert 7 Award, on the other hand, is awarded to the top RRNCO in a supervisory position in each of the ARNG’s Recruiting and Retention Area Commands.
The National Guard Bureau, which comprises both the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard, gives awards on the same geographic basis; the Regional award is called the Master 7, while the state/territory award is known as the Chief’s 54.