Armed Forces Reserve Medal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Armed Forces Reserve Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces which has existed since 1953. The decoration recognizes service performed by the Reserve and National Guard forces of the United States of America.

To be awarded the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, a service member must complete a total of ten years service as a member of a Reserve or National Guard component of the United States military. This service may be cumulative, provided that the combined ten years of service was performed over a period of twelve consecutive years. Voluntary recalls to active duty are not counted within the ten years of service nor is service within the inactive reserves (IRR). In addition, unlike the Reserve Good Conduct Medal, a service member’s disciplinary history is not a factor when awarding the Armed Forces Reserve Medal.

Prior to 1995, the initial award of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal was presented without a device with the second and subsequent awards denoted by hourglass emblems. The modern Armed Forces Reserve Medal is presented with a bronze hourglass device upon its initial issuance for ten years of reserve service. Subsequent awards of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal are annotated by upgrading the hourglass device to silver and gold. A fourth award of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal is denoted by a bronze and gold hourglass device worn simultaneously.

The Armed Forces Reserve Medal is also awarded to any member of the Reserve of National Guard who is mobilized to an active duty status. In such cases, the ten year period criterion is waived and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal is presented regardless of time in service. The Mobilization device, or "M" device, is awarded as an attachment to the Armed Forces Reserve Medal in all such cases of mobilization to active duty. Subsequent mobilizations result in the award of an award numeral device ("2", "3", etc.) worn in connection with the "M" device.

The Armed Forces Reserve Medal is a service wide decoration for all branches of the military and is presented to both officers and enlisted personnel. On the reverse of every Armed Forces Reserve Medal is a crest denoting the branch of service in which Reserve or National Guard duty was performed.

The Armed Forces Reserve Medal is considered a successor decoration to the Naval Reserve Medal and the Marine Corps Reserve Ribbon.