Service medal

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A service medal is a military award generally of the lowest degree. A service medal is awarded to a member of the military 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 medals 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.

Examples of service medals currently issued by the United States armed forces are the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, both of which are presently automatically awarded to a service member upon joining the military usually after completion of boot camp.