A "message" from Message - Changes to overseas recognition
Changes to overseas recognition:
Bars to be awarded for multiple rotations
by Major Laurie Kannegiesser
Canadian Forces personnel who have served multiple tours in Southwest Asia will soon be sporting rotation bars on their medals, one of several changes to the recognition system for overseas service announced March 17, 2010.
Personnel will earn a rotation bar emblazoned with a maple leaf for each period of 180 days of eligible service accumulated after the initial qualifying period of 30 days. On undress ribbons, silver, gold and red maple leaves will indicate the number of rotation bars awarded.
The federal government introduced the changes, which affect the General Campaign Star (GCS), the General Service Medal (GSM) and the South-West Asia Service Medal (SWASM), to address gaps in the recognition system for overseas service.
With the addition of rotation bars, mission bars will no longer be worn on the GCS and GSM. Instead, the medals will be displayed on ribbons that indicate the theatre or service for which the medal was awarded.
Unique ribbons are available for eligible service during Operation Allied Force (NATO’s 1999 air operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and in the Southwest Asia theatre of operations. The “expedition” ribbon has also been created for the GCS and the GSM to recognize smaller operations conducted in the presence of an armed enemy.
The change to theatre- or service-specific ribbons follows both the United Nations tradition and the trend set by some other Commonwealth countries. For example, the United Kingdom’s Operational Service Medal and New Zealand’s General Service Medal are issued with ribbons rather than bars.
André Levesque, Director Honours and Recognition, says this is a significant departure from the practice of recognizing service based on the mission. “Theatre-based recognition ensures that all service in a defined theatre of operations is accorded the same recognition, regardless of the mission,” he says.
Under the old system, two military personnel serving in Afghanistan at the same time, facing similar risks, but working under separate chains of command, received different recognition.
For example, a soldier serving with NATO’s provincial reconstruction team received the GCS with ISAF bar while a soldier who served at the same time with the embedded training team under the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom received the SWASM with Afghanistan bar.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the changes are the end result of a major review of recognition for overseas service.
“Acknowledgment of multiple rotations in the Southwest Asia theatre was particularly important in the review,” Mr. MacKay said. “We are grateful to Canadian Forces personnel for their bravery and dedication. With these changes, we are finding ways to better acknowledge the individual experience of men and women who deploy on operations.”
Before and after…
Scenario #1
Corporal Bloggins receives the GSM with Allied Force bar, and adds the ISAF bar after a tour at the Theatre Support Element in southwest Asia under Operation Athena. Two years later, he deploys to Afghanistan and is awarded the GCS with ISAF bar (gold). Although he can still wear the GSM with the Allied Force bar, he must remove the silver ISAF bar.
After Defence Minister Peter MacKay announces changes to recognition for overseas service March 17, Cpl Bloggins relinquishes his Allied Force and ISAF bars. Without the bars, the medal becomes the GSM-SWA. Cpl Bloggins also receives a GSM-AF. The GSM-AF’s ribbon has light blue stripes instead of green. The two GSMs and the GCS are remounted; where previously he had worn two medals, he now wears three.
Scenario #2
Sergeant Smith receives the GSM with ISAF bar for a tour at the Theatre Support Element under Operation Athena. Two years later, she completes a tour with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. Having qualified for the GCS, she relinquishes her GSM to receive a GCS with ISAF bar. She returns to Afghanistan for a third tour in the theatre of operations, this time working for the Coalition Joint Task Force. Although she has accumulated more than 400 days of operations in the Afghan theatre, she receives no additional recognition.
After the changes are announced, Sgt Smith reclaims her GSM-SWA. She also receives two rotation bars for wear on her GCS, which are represented on her undress ribbon by a gold maple leaf.
Scenario #3
Cpl Brown is a military policeman who deploys in May 2009 to the Canadian Embassy in Kabul to provide security. After 30 days in-theatre, he qualifies for the SWASM. His CO presents his medal before his tour ends in December and he is home by Christmas.
Because Cpl Brown has served more than 30 days at the embassy after July 31, 2009, when eligibility for the SWASM ends, Cpl Brown also receives a GCS-SWA.
Did you serve with ISAF?
If you have a GCS or GSM with ISAF bar, you must remove the bar and relinquish it to your unit for return to the Directorate of Honours and Recognition. Your medal is now known as the GCS-SWA or GSM-SWA.
If you served in direct support of the Canadian contribution to ISAF from outside the theatre of operations for between 30 and 89 days, you may now be eligible to receive the GSM-SWA. The threshold was previously 90 days.
If you relinquished a GSM to receive a GCS, you may be able to reclaim the GSM, provided you did not qualify for the awards during the same six-month period.
Are you eligible to receive rotation bars?
When you have accumulated 210 days of service creditable to the GCS-SWA, the GSM-SWA or the SWASM, you are eligible for one rotation bar bearing one maple leaf. Each additional 180 days of creditable service merits another rotation bar. If your accumulated service for a particular medal merits five rotation bars (930 days), you will wear one bar bearing five maple leaves. On the undress ribbon, the number of rotation bars awarded is indicated by silver, gold and red maple leaves, worn alone or in combination.
What are the changes to the SWASM?
Eligibility for the SWASM ended July 31, 2009. Most service in the Southwest Asia theatre of operations onward from August 1, 2009, including in ships at sea under Operations Altair and Saiph, is eligible for either the GCS-SWA or the GSM-SWA, regardless of the chain of command. There is one exception. Service that qualifies an individual for a medal from a foreign country or from the UN cannot be accumulated toward the GCS and GSM.
Did you serve on Operation Allied Force?
Operation Allied Force was NATO’s air operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from March 24 to June 10, 1999. If you have a GCS-AF or GSM-AF, you must relinquish the bar to your unit for return to the Directorate of Honours and Recognition and have the medal remounted with the new Allied Force ribbon, which features light blue stripes instead of green. Your medal is now known as the GCS-AF or the GSM-AF.
Aircrew and support personnel who participated in Operation Allied Force originally received the NATO Medal for Former Yugoslavia. When the NATO Medal for Kosovo was introduced, some aircrew were entitled to exchange their medals. The GCS and GSM were subsequently created and medals with the Allied Force bar were first awarded in 2004.
If you have a NATO medal for service during Operation Allied Force, you may exchange it for either the GCS or the GSM with the new designated theatre ribbon.
Where can you find more information?
Call the honours and recognition hotline at 1-877-741-8332 or consult the Directorate of Honours and Recognition website at www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr.
Abbreviations
GCS – General Campaign Star
GSM – General Service Medal
SWASM – South-West Asia Service Medal
ISAF – International Security Assistance Force
SWA – Southwest Asia
AF – Allied Force
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