By Alltimepost.com
United States Department of Defense announced on Monday that effective immediately, service members are authorized to wear Service Stars on their Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medals (GWOT-EM) to represent deployments in support of approved GWOT operations.
Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Jessica Wright signed a memorandum authorizing the new policy change retroactive to Sept. 11, 2001.
According to the Department of Defense, only one GWOT-EM is awarded for each approved operation.
For example, a service member who was awarded the medal for an Operation Enduring Freedom deployment, and is subsequently authorized a second award for an Operation Inherent Resolve deployment would wear a single Service Star on the GWOT-EM to denote both awards.
The five GWOT-EM approved operations are: Operation Enduring Freedom(OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Normandy Shadow (ONS),Operation New Dawn (OND) and Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), all included September 11, 2001- TBD; March 19, 2003 – August 31,2010;
November 5, 2007 – TBD; September 1, 2010 – December 31, 2011 and June 15, 2014 – TBD respectively.
This policy change does not adjust criteria for award of the Afghanistan Campaign Medal or the Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM).
According to the department, full eligibility criteria for the GWOT-EM are contained in Department of Defense Manual 1348.33, Volume 2, Manual of Military Decorations and Awards: DoD Service Awards – Campaign, Expeditionary, and Service Medals.
Additionally, each military department will prescribe procedures for service members’ requests for award of GWOT-EM Service Stars.
The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal is positioned above the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal in precedence, and directly follows the Kosovo Campaign Medal.
