The changed nature of war — not command indifference or bureaucratic inertia, as some critics allege — is likely the reason only two Medals of Honor have been awarded to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, a senior Marine Corps officer told lawmakers Wednesday.

With remotely detonated bombs the enemy's weapon of choice, opportunities for U.S. service members to earn awards for heroism have fallen compared with past wars, said Brig. Gen Richard Mills, director of the personnel management division at Marine Corps headquarters.

Also affecting the number of valor awards, Mills suggested, is reliance by U.S. forces on their own stand-off weapons of smart bombs and missiles to destroy the enemy with less risk of American casualties.

"That improves the force protection and safety of our troops during the attacking process," Mills said. "But it limits the opportunities to be close with and engage the enemy face to face ... (and) perhaps limits the opportunity for individual recognition and awards."

Mills spoke before the House armed services personnel subcommittee, along with personnel chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, to answer complaints that the services are too rigid in bestowing the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest valor award, and may be inconsistent in recognizing extraordinary acts of bravery.

Joseph A. Kinney, a former Marine who was seriously wounded in Vietnam, was researching a book on the making of U.S. war heroes when he noticed a disparity in the number of valor awards going to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kinney said 240 Medals of Honor were awarded for actions in Vietnam, 179 of them posthumously. That represented one for every 324 Americans killed in that war.

Through Nov. 30, he said, 3,231 U.S. service members had died in Iraq and Afghanistan, but only two were awarded Medals of Honor — Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith and Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham.

"This equates to one posthumous Medal of Honor for each 1,616 dead. A member of the military killed in Vietnam was five times more likely to receive a Medal of Honor than one in the war on terror," Kinney said.

Kinney also blasted the slowness with which valor medals are awarded. During the battle for Iwo Jima in World War II, 22 Marines and five sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor, he said, "most within a month."

By contrast, Smith's family waited two years to receive his Medal of Honor, and the Marine Corps took almost 2 1/2 years to approve Dunham's medal. Kinney said 30 to 90 days would have been more appropriate.

One Marine who should have received the Medal of Honor in 2003, Kinney said, is Capt. Brian R. Chontosh, for his actions during the initial invasion of Iraq. While attacking an entrenched enemy position, Chontosh alone killed more than 20 enemy soldiers. He was awarded the Navy Cross.