UK — Hundreds more to receive campaign medals with changes to criteria

Hun­dreds more British ser­vice­men and women will receive oper­a­tional cam­paign medals under new plans announced by the MOD today, Wednes­day 4 August 2010.

The Oper­a­tional Ser­vice Medal for Afghanistan Source: Andy Cargill ABIPP, Min­istry of Defence, UK Click to enlarge

At present, mem­bers of the Armed Forces who serve for 30 con­tin­u­ous days qual­i­fy for Iraq and Afghanistan cam­paign medals. Fol­low­ing a review, those who have served for an aggre­gate peri­od of 45 days will also now be eli­gi­ble. These changes will be back­dat­ed to the start of both operations. 

The Min­is­ter for Defence Per­son­nel, Wel­fare and Vet­er­ans, Andrew Robathan, said: 

“I am pleased to be able to announce these changes, which will mean that hun­dreds of brave per­son­nel who have served in the most dan­ger­ous of cir­cum­stances will now receive the recog­ni­tion they deserve.” 

Exam­ples of Ser­vice per­son­nel who could now be eli­gi­ble include mem­bers of the aeromed­ical evac­u­a­tion teams who accom­pa­ny injured patients back to the UK. 

Under the new plans, per­son­nel who deploy for short peri­ods of time will be allowed to build up accrued days to achieve an aggre­gate qual­i­fy­ing peri­od of 45 days’ service. 

These changes have been approved by Her Majesty The Queen fol­low­ing rec­om­men­da­tions by mil­i­tary Chiefs of Staff. 

Serv­ing per­son­nel who believe they may now be eli­gi­ble should apply through their unit admin staff. 

Ex-Ser­vice per­son­nel should con­tact the the MOD Medal Office — see Relat­ed Links. 

Press release
Min­istry of Defence, UK 

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