- Service medal
A service medal is a
military award generally of the lowest degree. A service medal is awarded to a member of themilitary who joins the military, or is already serving, during a designated time period. No other requirement is needed to obtain the service medal other than a person must simply be a member of the armed forces.Campaign medal s are similar to service medals (and are sometimes even referred to as service medals), however the main difference is that a campaign medal is awarded to a military member who participates in a military operation whereas a service medal is blanket awarded to everyone in the military regardless of campaign credit.An example of a service medal currently issued by the
United States armed forces is theNational Defense Service Medal which is presently automatically awarded to a service member upon joining the military usually after completion ofbasic training .The
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal is not a "blanket" service medal because it requires actual service rendered in support of the Global War on Terrorism.ee also
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Service Medal of the Order of St John
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