Defense Superior Service Medal
The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility.
| Defense Superior Service Medal | |
|---|---|
| Type | Superior service medal |
| Awarded for | Superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility |
| Presented by | United States Department of Defense[1] |
| Eligibility | United States Armed Forces servicemembers |
| Status | Currently awarded |
| Established | 6 February 1976 |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Silver Star Medal[2] |
| Next (lower) | Legion of Merit[2] |
The decoration is most often presented to general and flag officers, followed by a lesser number of Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force colonels and Navy and Coast Guard captains. The medal is presented in the name of the United States Secretary of Defense and was established by President Gerald R. Ford on February 6, 1976, in Executive Order 11904. It is analogous and senior to the Legion of Merit, albeit awarded for service in a joint duty capacity.
Criteria
The Defense Superior Service Medal is the United States Department of Defense's second-highest non-combat related military award and it is the second-highest joint service decoration. The Defense Superior Service Medal is awarded by the Secretary of Defense to members of the United States Armed Forces who have rendered superior meritorious service while serving in a position of great responsibility. This service must be as part of a joint activity. The award is generally for a period of time exceeding 12 months and encompassing an entire joint assignment. Service members assigned to or attached to a Joint Task Force as individuals, not members of a specific military service's unit, can be eligible for the DSSM. The DSSM has also been awarded to a small cohort of U.S. military officers serving as astronauts for service leading up to and during Space Shuttle missions carrying classified and unclassified Department of Defense payloads. In these cases, the 12 month time period was considered to include the training period prior to that actual space flight, said training which typically exceeded a year in duration.
Members of service-specific units are eligible for awards of personal decorations from their parent service. The Defense Superior Service Medal is specifically intended to recognize exceptionally superior service, and to honor an individual's accomplishments over a sustained period. Joint or Department of Defense awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, may be awarded posthumously.[2]
Appearance
At the time of creation of the Defense Superior Service Medal it was decided that it would be obtained at the lowest possible cost and with as little involvement as possible. For these reasons, and because it would rank just below the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for similar service, it was decided to use the same design as the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. The difference is that it is finished in silver rather than gold and the inscriptions on the reverse of the medal are appropriately modified.[3]
The medal is made of a silver-colored metal with blue enamel, 1 7/8 inches (4.76 cm) in height overall. The obverse depicts a silver American eagle superimposed over a medium blue pentagon. The eagle has outstretched wings, charged on its breast is the shield of the United States. In its talons are three crossed arrows in silver. The tips of the wings cover a surrounding arc of silver five-pointed stars encircling the top and sides of the pentagon, while the bottom is surrounded by a silver wreath encircling the base composed of a laurel branch on the left and an olive branch on the right.[4]
The reverse is plain except for the inscription at the top, For Superior Service. Below in the pentagon is the inscription From The Secretary of Defense To.[4]
The medal is suspended from a ribbon 1 3/8 inch (3.49 cm) in width composed of the following vertical stripes: Golden Yellow 3/16 inch (.48 cm), Bluebird 1/4 inch (.64 cm), White 3/16 inch (.48 cm), Scarlet 1/8 inch (.32 cm), White 3/16 inch (.48 cm), Bluebird 1/4 inch (.64 cm) Golden Yellow 3/16 inch (.48 cm).[4]
Subsequent awards of the Defense Superior Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters worn on the suspension and service ribbons of the medal.[2]
Notable recipients
- Brigadier General Rafael O’Ferrall, U.S. Army
- Vice Admiral David Architzel, Navy
- Colonel Casey M. Beard, Space Force
- General David H. Berger, 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps
- Command Master Chief Petty Officer Rudy Boesch, Navy
- Colonel Curtis Brown, Air Force
- Captain Daniel Christopher Burbank, Coast Guard
- Vice Admiral Nancy Elizabeth Brown, Navy
- General Michael P.C. Carns, Air Force
- Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond F. Chandler, Army
- Lieutenant Colonel Michael R. Clifford, Army
- Colonel Eileen Collins, Air Force, NASA astronaut
- Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramon Colon-Lopez, Air Force
- Brigadier General Jesse Cross, Army
- Stephen E. Cross, Air Force
- Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief National Guard Mitchell O. Brush, National Guard
- Brigadier General Susan Y. Desjardins, Air Force
- Major General Sharon K.G. Dunbar, Air Force
- Major General Charles J. Dunlap Jr. USAF
- Colonel Patrick G. Forrester, Army
- Lieutenant General Walter E. Gaskin, Marine Corps
- Sergeant Major of the Army Julius W. Gates, Army
- Lieutenant General John F. Goodman, Marine Corps
- General Frank Gorenc, Air Force
- Major General Wendell L. Griffin, Air Force
- Rear Admiral Vincent L. Griffith, U.S. Navy
- Sergeant Major of the Army Robert E. Hall, Army
- Brigadier General Rebecca S. Halstead, Army
- General Carter Ham, Army
- Admiral Harry Harris, Navy
- Lieutenant General Robert C. Hinson, Air Force
- General Donald J. Hoffman, Air Force
- Admiral Jonathan Howe, Navy
- Lieutenant General Kenneth W. Hunzeker, Army
- General Charles H. Jacoby Jr., Army
- Major General Rodney P. Kelly, Air Force
- Lieutenant General Frank Klotz, Air Force
- Colonel W. Patrick Lang
- Colonel Mark C. Lee, Air Force, NASA astronaut
- Captain Rick Miller, Navy
- Admiral Michael Mullen, Navy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- General Peter Pace, Marine Corps, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Major General Susan Pamerleau, Air Force
- General David Petraeus, Army
- General Colin Powell, Army
- Brigadier General Chad Raduege, Air Force
- Brigadier General John W. Raymond, Air Force
- Vice Admiral Ann E. Rondeau, Navy
- Colonel Jack Warren Russell, Army
- Vice Admiral Joe Sestak, Navy
- General John J. Sheehan, Marine Corps
- Rear Admiral Jacob L. Shuford, Navy
- Brigadier General Donald B. Smith, Army
- Commander Guy Snodgrass, Navy
- Rear Admiral Joseph C. Strasser, Navy
- Colonel Maurice H. Stewart, Army
- Brigadier General John Tree, Air Force
- Lieutenant General David P. Valcourt, Army
- Colonel James Voss, Army, NASA astronaut
- Rear Admiral Edward F. Welch, Jr., Navy
- Vice Admiral Frank D. Whitworth, Navy
- Lieutenant General Frances C. Wilson, Marine Corps
- Admiral James A. Winnefeld, Jr., Navy
- Vice Admiral James P. Wisecup, U.S. Navy
- Colonel Fred H Wisely, U.S. Air Force
- Major General Walter H. Yates, Jr., Army
- General Anthony Zinni, Marine Corps
References
- ^ (PDF). www.esd.whs.mil. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-12. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
- ^ a b c d (PDF). Department of Defense. Defense Technical Information Center. 12 October 2011. pp. 40–41. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ^ . US Air Force. Air Force Personnel Center. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ^ a b c . The Institute of Heraldry. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2012.