...for as long as it takes
For Operation Joint Endeavor or Operation Joint Guard
Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen has approved the award of the
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) in addition to the Armed Forces
Service Medal (AFSM) to qualifying Service members participating in or providing
direct support to Operation Joint Endeavor (OJE) or Operation Joint
Guard (OJG).
For the purposes of the award, Operation Joint Endeavor began
Nov. 20, 1995, and ended Dec. 19, 1996. Operation Joint Guard began Dec. 20,
1996 and ended June 20, 1998. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Gen. Henry H. Shelton recommended to Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen
that he approve award of the AFEM as a one-time exception to Department of
Defense (DoD) and military Service policies.
By policy the AFEM is awarded to U.S. Service member participants in
major
operations that encounter foreign armed resistance. The AFSM is awarded
for
service in major operations that do not encounter armed resistance.
Military Service and DoD decorations and awards policies limit a Service
member to only one decoration for the same act, achievement, or period
of
service.
However, Section 572 of the fiscal 1998 National Defense Authorization
Act
specified: "For the purpose of determining the eligibility of members
and
former members of the Armed Forces for the Armed Forces Expeditionary
Medal,
the Secretary of Defense shall designate participation in Operation
Joint
Endeavor or Operation Joint Guard in the Republic of Bosnia and
Herzegovina,
and in such other areas in the region as the Secretary considers
appropriate, as service in an area that meets the general requirements
for
the award of that medal." Since all U.S. military participants in OJE
or
OJG have already received or are eligible to receive the AFSM for their
peacekeeping efforts in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia in furtherance
of
the Dayton Peace Accords, the award of the AFEM for OJE or OJG is
possible
only as an exception to policy.
Award of the AFEM in this case is limited to those U.S. Service members
participating in or providing direct support to OJE or OJG who were
deployed
in the designated area of eligibility: the countries of
Bosnia-Herzegovina
or Croatia, aboard U.S. naval vessels operating in the Adriatic Sea, and
those respective air spaces.
To qualify for the AFEM for OJE or OJG,
U.S.
Service members must be members of a unit participating for one or more
days
in OJE or OJG within the designated geographic area of eligibility, or meet at
least
one of the following criteria:
Be deployed in the area of eligibility as an individual
by
official orders to OJE or OJG for 30 consecutive days or 60
nonconsecutive
days; or
Participate as a regularly assigned crew member of an aircraft flying
into,
out of, or over the total land area of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia,
the
Adriatic Sea and those respective air spaces.
The AFEM and AFSM are campaign and theater awards. All previous
recipients
of the AFSM for OJE and OJG outside the area of eligibility or not
meeting
the criteria described above will retain their AFSM. For service in
either
or both OJE and OJG, Service members are authorized only one award of
the
AFEM or one award of the AFSM or both medals. Second awards (bronze
service
stars) are not authorized for OJE and OJG.
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VNIS is not a government agency and is a sole proprietorship,
own and operated by Christian L. Wilson USN/Ret
