Meritorious Service Medal +Ribbon +Lapel Pin in Deluxe Case -With Cluster

Description

PLEASE FOLLOW OUR E BAY STORE
SEE ALL PICS
SALE
SEE OUR STORE
PLEASE READ WHOLE ADD
SEE STORE !!!!
Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This article is about the medal awarded in the United States. For similarly named decorations, see
Meritorious Service Medal
.
Meritorious Service Medal
Type
Military medal (Decoration)
Awarded for
Outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States
Presented by
United States Department of the Army
[1]
United States Department of the Navy
[2]
United States Department of the Air Force
[3]
United States Department of Homeland Security
[4]
Eligibility
Military Personnel Only
Status
Currently Awarded
Established
1969
; 52 years ago
Meritorious Service ribbon
Precedence
Next (higher)
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Next (lower)
Air Medal
The
Meritorious Service Medal
(
MSM
) is a
military award
presented to members of the
United States Armed Forces
who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the
United States
subsequent to January 16, 1969.
The MSM was previously awarded as a decoration for achievement during peacetime, but effective September 11, 2001 this decoration may also be bestowed in lieu of the
Bronze Star Medal
for meritorious achievement in a designated combat theater.
[5]
Normally, the acts or services rendered must be comparable to that required for the
Legion of Merit
but in a duty of lesser, though considerable, responsibility. Within the U.S. Army, according to AR 600-8-22, Paragraph 3-16, the MSM may not be upgraded to or downgraded from a recommended Bronze Star Medal. In the Army, an MSM recommendation that is downgraded will be approved as an
Army Commendation Medal
(ARCOM).
A higher award and decoration, the
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
(DMSM), is intended for similar services performed under joint duty within the
United States Department of Defense
, to include the
Joint Staff
, the
Unified Combatant Commands
, and joint task forces under their cognizance.
Recipients
[
edit
]
The Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) is given to all ranks for meritorious service in the Army, Air Force, and Space Force. Award of the MSM may be for meritorious performance while serving in a staff position as a field grade officer, senior chief warrant officer, or senior non-commissioned officer, or, in the case of field grade officers, for successful completion of a command tour at the battalion (Army) or squadron (Army, Air Force, or Space Force) level. Award of the MSM to
company grade
officers in pay grades O-1 through O-3 (second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain), junior warrant officers and chief warrant officers in pay grades W-1 and W-2 (WO1 and CW2, Army only), and junior NCOs in pay grades E-6 and below is rare and typically by exception.
The
U.S. Navy
,
U.S. Marine Corps
, and
U.S. Coast Guard
subscribe to a slightly different philosophy from the Army, Air Force, and Space Force in awarding the MSM, typically reserving it for senior Navy and Coast Guard officers in pay grades O-5 to O-6 (commander and captain) and Marine Corps field grade officers in pay grades O-5 and O-6 (lieutenant colonel and colonel), with the first award of the MSM typically occurring after completion of a successful commanding officer assignment at the O-5 level. Award of the MSM to USN, USMC, and USCG officers in pay grade O-4 (USN & USCG lieutenant commander / USMC major) and below, to include chief warrant officers and below (other than as an award at retirement to CWO5 and CWO4) is typically by exception and normally limited to those who have held one of the service's handful of O-4–level commanding officer assignments (e.g.,
Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship
) or serving on a USN or USCG flag officer staff or USMC general officer staff.
[6]
[7]
Enlisted award of the MSM in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard is likewise typically limited to pay grades E-8 (e.g., USN/USCG senior chief petty officer and USMC master sergeant or first sergeant) and E-9 (e.g., USN/USCG master chief petty officer and USMC sergeant major or master gunnery sergeant), while award of the MSM to pay grade E-7 (e.g., USN/USCG chief petty officer and USMC gunnery sergeant) and below is very rare and by exception. In the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, the awarding authority for the MSM must be either a
flag officer
or
general officer
holding the pay grade of
O-7
or above. It is most common for Navy and Coast Guard
master chief petty officers
(typically
command master chief petty officers
) and Marine Corps
master gunnery sergeants
and
sergeants major
to receive the MSM as an end-of-tour award or upon retirement.
[6]
Foreign military personnel in the ranks of NATO OF-5 (US O-6 equivalent) and below and individuals who have displayed a level of service that warrants an award of such magnitude may also be eligible to be awarded the MSM, subject to approval by a U.S. flag officer or general officer. To receive this medal, the individual must exhibit exceptionally meritorious service at that level of responsibility.
[5]
Design and devices
[
edit
]
The Meritorious Service Medal is a
bronze
medal, 1.5 inches in diameter overall, consisting of six rays issuant from the upper three points of a five-pointed star with beveled edges and containing two smaller stars defined by incised outlines; in front of the lower part of the star an eagle with wings upraised standing upon two upward curving branches of laurel tied with a ribbon between the feet of the eagle. The reverse has the encircled inscriptions "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "MERITORIOUS SERVICE." The suspension ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 1/8 inch Crimson 67112; 1/4 inch White 67101; center 5/8 inch Crimson; 1/4 inch White; and 1/8 inch Crimson.
[8]
Additional awards of the Meritorious Service Medal are denoted by bronze
oak leaf clusters
in the Army, Air Force, and Space Force, with one silver oak leaf cluster denoting five additional awards. (1 silver OLC plus the medal itself represents six) and gold
5/16 inch stars
in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard (with a 5/16 inch silver star denoting five additional awards). These devices are also authorized for wear on the suspension and
service ribbon
of the medal. In certain instances, the
U.S. Coast Guard
also authorizes an
Operational Distinguishing Device
for the medal.
History
[
edit
]
At the Tri-Department Awards Conference (February 5, 1968), there was a discussion on the need for a third meritorious award to provide appropriate recognition for non-combat achievement or service comparable to that of the
Bronze Star Medal
for combat achievement or service. It was felt that the
Legion of Merit
's prestige was slipping because it was being used with increasing frequency to reward service below the Legion of Merit's intended standard, but higher than that required for the
Commendation Medals
of the various military services.
[9]
An
ad hoc
committee was formed by the
Secretary of Defense
(M&RA) to select a name. On November 8, 1968, the committee unanimously approved the name "Meritorious Service Medal".
President
Lyndon B. Johnson
established the Meritorious Service Medal per
Executive Order
11448
, dated January 16, 1969. The Executive Order was amended by President
Ronald Reagan
per
Executive Order
12312
, dated July 2, 1981, to authorize award to members of the armed forces of friendly foreign nations.
Prior to 2004, the MSM could only be awarded for peacetime service and could not be awarded in a combat zone, the MSM equivalent for those zones being the
Bronze Star Medal
(BSM). As in 1968 when the MSM was created, there were concerns that the prestige of the BSM was also slipping during combat operations in Southwest Asia that had essentially been continuous since 1990. In 2004, authority to award the MSM for combat zone service was authorized, retroactive to September 11, 2001.
The medal was designed by Mr. Jay Morris of the
Institute of Heraldry
, and the design was approved by the committee on March 20, 1969. The ribbon design purposely follows the colors used for the
Legion of Merit
to reflect the parallel between the two medals. The
eagle
, symbol of the United States, stands on
laurel
branches denoting achievement. The
star
is used to represent the military service and the rays emanating therefrom denote the constant efforts of individuals to achieve through excellent and meritorious service.