# Plain Language Summary: Preserve Military Recognition Act of 2023

This bill is about how the military writes official citations when awarding medals and decorations to soldiers. In August 2023, the Department of Defense updated its official manual to allow the use of gender-neutral language in these citations—specifically, using "themself" instead of "he" or "she" when describing a service member's accomplishments. This bill would reverse that change and prevent the military from using gender-neutral pronouns in these official award documents.

To understand what this means in practice: when a soldier receives a medal for bravery or service, the military writes up an official citation explaining why they earned it. That citation is a formal document that becomes part of the service member's permanent military record. The 2023 update allowed these citations to use "themself" as a gender-neutral option, which would be particularly relevant for service members who identify as non-binary or transgender. This bill would block that change and require the military to go back to using only gendered pronouns like "he" or "she" in these citations.

The practical effect would be limited to the language used in official military decoration citations. It wouldn't change who gets medals, how they're awarded, or any actual military operations or policies. Instead, it's specifically about the wording in these formal recognition documents. For most service members, this would have little to no impact on their daily lives or military service. However, for transgender and non-binary service members, it would mean their official military citations would be required to use pronouns that may not match their identity.