Awards branch releases criteria for Afghanistan, Iraq
campaign medals
7/27/2008 By Lance Cpl. Bryan G. Carfrey , Division of Public
Affairs, WASHINGTON
Marines who have served in Afghanistan or Iraq might need to
update their record of personal decorations following newly
published criteria for Long War campaign awards.
As published in the Marine Administrative Message 299/08,
which was released in May, U.S. Forces Central Command has
broken down operations in Afghanistan and Iraq into phases,
and depending on the dates Marines were deployed there, they
may rate more campaign stars for correlating medals.
"It's a good thing to come out with something that can show
multiple deployments," said Master Sgt. Damian Moreno, a
veteran of two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and
senior advisor to the sergeant major of the Marine Corps. "It
matches up with what has been done in the past."
There is currently no deadline for Marines to update their
campaign stars as it is ongoing, said Sgt. Jonah Aycox, unit
diary chief for Headquarters Battalion, Headquarters Marine
Corps, Arlington, Va. However, awards must be entered in a
Marine's service record before the recipient can wear new
medals or devices.
Active duty and selected Marine Corps reserve unit commanders
are authorized to issue campaign stars to Marines who meet the
criteria.
"The majority of our Marines have deployed to either
Afghanistan or Iraq, so the commanding officers and
(administrative offices) have a large task ahead of them to
ensure all Marines' records are properly updated," said Lee
Freund, Headquarters Marine Corps military awards branch head
in Quantico, Va.
Freund also said Marines who deployed in support of the Long
War need to pay special attention to their time in country
because they rate a campaign star for just spending 24 hours
in one of the Afghanistan or Iraq phases.
"Marines should understand that the campaign stars weren't
intended to reflect the number of deployments a Marine has
made or the total amount of time the Marine spent in Iraq or
Afghanistan," said Freund.
Military officials recognized that service members with
multiple deployments wanted to have some visible recognition
of each operation beyond the basic award of the Afghanistan
Campaign Medal or the Iraq Campaign Medal, said Freund.
Therefore, the war in Afghanistan has been broken down into
three phases and Iraq operations have been separated into
four.
"This follows the same model as the engagement stars on the
Korean Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the
Southwest Asia Service Medal," said Freund.
The Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals were approved by
Congress in 2005. Marines who earned the Global War on
Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for deployments prior to May 1,
2005, may still elect to receive the Afghanistan or Iraq
Campaign Medal in lieu of the expeditionary medal.
However, if a Marine decides to retain the expeditionary medal
from their deployment, that time will not be counted toward
determining the number of campaign stars for either campaign
medal.
Receiving the campaign and expeditionary medal for the same
deployment period in Afghanistan or Iraq would be duplicating
the intended use of these awards and is prohibited under
Department of Defense policy, said Freund.
Individuals can check Marine Online to see if their campaign
stars have already been updated.
Afghanistan Phases:
Liberation of Afghanistan: Sept. 11, 2001 - Nov. 30, 2001
Consolidation I: Dec. 1, 2001- Sept. 30, 2006
Consolidation II: Oct. 1, 2006 - Present
Iraq Phases:
Liberation of Iraq: March 19, 2003 - May 1, 2003
Transition of Iraq: May 2, 2003 - June 28, 2004
Iraqi Governance: June 29, 2004 - Dec. 15, 2005
National Resolution: Dec. 16, 2005 - Present
(Source: US Marine Corps - Released) |
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