The award system at work resembles the military way too closely. I realize, with an organization that supports the military and with the vast majority of the employees (and more importantly, the management) being veterans, such things are inevitable. This is absurd.
My Boss (B1) works for B2. B1 recently (under duress) recommended everyone on his team for awards, which have to be sent through B2. B2 now feels that it is imperative that B1 get a comparable award when we peons get ours. So, every award that I get is another award for my boss, as well as each award that he gets personally.
This is like Amway. He gets an award for any work he does, and anyone he can recruit under him as well. I thought Ponzi schemes were illegal.