A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star3⁄16 inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period.[1] The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award the star is authorized for and the manner in which the device is used for the award.[2]
Service stars, campaign stars, and battle stars are worn with one point of the star pointing up on the suspension ribbon of a medal or service ribbon. A silver star is worn instead of five bronze stars.[1] A service star is sometimes mistaken for a Bronze Star (Bronze Star Medal) or Silver Star (Silver Star Medal). The service star is also similar to the gold and silver 5⁄16 -inch stars that may be authorized to be worn on specific individual decorations of certain services to denote additional decorations.
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOT-EM) effective February 9, 2015, retroactive to September 11, 2001.[3] Each star represents a deployment in support of an approved GWOT operation. Four bronze service stars are authorized for five approved deployment operations (only one GWOT-EM is awarded for each operation). The five GWOT-EM-approved operations by inclusive dates are:[3]
For the National Defense Service Medal, the addition of bronze service stars to denote participation in four of the designated wartime conflicts would be shown as (the time span from the end of the Korean War era in 1954 to the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism era in 2001 is 47 years, so it is highly improbable that any individual qualified for all four National Defense Service Medals in each of four eras):[4]
Service stars are authorized for certain unit awards (The service ribbon itself indicates the first award, with a bronze service star being added to indicate the second and subsequent awards. If ever applicable, a silver service star is worn instead of five bronze stars.) such as the:
Campaign stars are authorized for these United States campaign medals (bronze and silver campaign stars are worn to denote participation in a designated campaign or campaign phase or period):[2]
For each designated campaign participated in, one star is worn on the ribbon. For example, when a member is authorized to wear the Iraq Campaign Medal, the potential addition of bronze and silver service stars for the seven designated Iraq Campaign phases would be:[5][6][7]
Any one of the seven phases
Two of the seven phases
Three of the seven phases
Four of the seven phases
Five of the seven phases
Six of the seven phases
All seven campaign phases
For many of these awards, service stars are earned by participation in campaign phases and all eligible periods for the award fall within those defined phases. In these cases, the campaign medal cannot be earned alone, and is always to be worn with at least one campaign star.
Battle stars
Since February 26, 2004, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (GWOT-SM) are authorized to be awarded with bronze and silver battle stars for personnel who were engaged in specific battles in combat under circumstances involving grave danger of death or serious bodily injury from enemy action.[8][9] However, though authorized for wear, no battle stars have been approved for wear. Only a combatant commander can initiate a request for a battle star, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the approving authority,[9] which since January 2016 has been eliminated by the Department of Defense for the GWOT-SM.[10]
Only one award of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and one award of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal may be authorized for any individual. No service stars were authorized for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary or Service Medal[9] until February 9, 2015, when the Department of Defense authorized service stars for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal retroactive to September 11, 2001.[3]
Earlier service stars and battle stars
Service stars (were sometimes referred to as campaign stars or battle stars) were also authorized for the World War I Victory Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal. The specific manner of wear and symbolism of the stars varied from medal to medal. For example, an American Campaign Medal with a bronze service star indicated the service member had participated in an antisubmarine campaign. On other medals, bronze service stars were used on the medal's service ribbon for those recipients of medals in possession of authorized campaign clasps for those medals.
Navy warships
Historically, during World War II and the Korean War, commendations called "battle stars" were issued to United States Navy warships for meritorious participation in battle, or for having suffered damage during battle conditions. As an example, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) received 20 battle stars for her combat service in World War II, more than any other U.S. vessel during World War II. Similarly, during the Vietnam War and afterwards, the Battle Effectiveness Award ("Battle E") took the place of receiving "battle stars" for superior battle efficiency in place of combat operations.[citation needed]
^. Awards and Decorations Branch Article. Army Human Resource Command. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
^Additional Phases Identified for Iraq Campaign Medal
^"News Release: Additional Phases Identified for Iraq and Afghanistan Campaign Medals". Defense.gov. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
^(PDF). Department of Defense. Paragraph 15g (Page 68). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
^ abc"DoD Announces Criteria for Global War on Terrorism Medals". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 26 February 2004.
^item #29, Military Decorations and Awards Review Results, Department of Defense, January 2016
External links
United States award regulations for World War II (Navy)
April 28, 2023
service, star, battle, star, redirects, here, other, uses, battlestar, campaign, star, redirects, here, canadian, military, award, general, campaign, star, this, article, about, military, award, belgian, star, awarded, service, congo, service, star, congo, iri. Battle star redirects here For other uses see Battlestar Campaign star redirects here For the Canadian military award see General Campaign Star This article is about the U S military award For the Belgian star awarded for service in the Congo see Service Star Congo For the Irish military award see Military Star For the U S CIA award see Intelligence Star and CIA Memorial Wall A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five pointed star 3 16 inch 4 8 mm in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period 1 The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award the star is authorized for and the manner in which the device is used for the award 2 Service StarBronze and silver 3 16 inch starsTypeRibbon deviceAwarded forWorn to denote subsequent awards or periods of service 1 Presented bythe United StatesStatusCurrently in use Stars on service ribbons Service stars campaign stars and battle stars are worn with one point of the star pointing up on the suspension ribbon of a medal or service ribbon A silver star is worn instead of five bronze stars 1 A service star is sometimes mistaken for a Bronze Star Bronze Star Medal or Silver Star Silver Star Medal The service star is also similar to the gold and silver 5 16 inch stars that may be authorized to be worn on specific individual decorations of certain services to denote additional decorations Contents 1 Service stars 1 1 Expeditionary medals 1 2 Service medals 1 3 Unit awards 2 Campaign stars 3 Battle stars 4 Earlier service stars and battle stars 4 1 Navy warships 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksService stars EditExpeditionary medals Edit Service stars are authorized for these United States expeditionary medals Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Navy Expeditionary Medal Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal GWOT EM effective February 9 2015 retroactive to September 11 2001 3 Each star represents a deployment in support of an approved GWOT operation Four bronze service stars are authorized for five approved deployment operations only one GWOT EM is awarded for each operation The five GWOT EM approved operations by inclusive dates are 3 Enduring Freedom Sep 11 2001 to be determined TBD Iraqi Freedom Mar 19 2003 Aug 31 2010 Nomad Shadow Nov 05 2007 TBD New Dawn Sep 01 2010 Dec 31 2011 Inherent Resolve Jun 15 2014 TBDService medals Edit Service stars are authorized to denoted additional awards for these United States service medals Prisoner of War Medal National Defense Service Medal Humanitarian Service Medal Air and Space Campaign Medal Armed Forces Service Medal Army Sea Duty Ribbon Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal 1 For the National Defense Service Medal the addition of bronze service stars to denote participation in four of the designated wartime conflicts would be shown as the time span from the end of the Korean War era in 1954 to the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism era in 2001 is 47 years so it is highly improbable that any individual qualified for all four National Defense Service Medals in each of four eras 4 Korean War Vietnam War Gulf War War on Terrorism First award any one of four conflicts Second award two of the four conflicts Third award three of the four conflicts Fourth award all four conflictsUnit awards Edit Service stars are authorized for certain unit awards The service ribbon itself indicates the first award with a bronze service star being added to indicate the second and subsequent awards If ever applicable a silver service star is worn instead of five bronze stars such as the Presidential Unit Citation Navy and Marine Corps Navy Unit Commendation Navy and Marine Corps Campaign stars EditCampaign stars are authorized for these United States campaign medals bronze and silver campaign stars are worn to denote participation in a designated campaign or campaign phase or period 2 World War I Victory Medal American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal Korean Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal Southwest Asia Service Medal Kosovo Campaign Medal Afghanistan Campaign Medal Iraq Campaign Medal Inherent Resolve Campaign MedalFor each designated campaign participated in one star is worn on the ribbon For example when a member is authorized to wear the Iraq Campaign Medal the potential addition of bronze and silver service stars for the seven designated Iraq Campaign phases would be 5 6 7 Any one of the seven phases Two of the seven phases Three of the seven phases Four of the seven phases Five of the seven phases Six of the seven phases All seven campaign phasesFor many of these awards service stars are earned by participation in campaign phases and all eligible periods for the award fall within those defined phases In these cases the campaign medal cannot be earned alone and is always to be worn with at least one campaign star Battle stars EditSince February 26 2004 the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal GWOT SM are authorized to be awarded with bronze and silver battle stars for personnel who were engaged in specific battles in combat under circumstances involving grave danger of death or serious bodily injury from enemy action 8 9 However though authorized for wear no battle stars have been approved for wear Only a combatant commander can initiate a request for a battle star and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the approving authority 9 which since January 2016 has been eliminated by the Department of Defense for the GWOT SM 10 Only one award of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and one award of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal may be authorized for any individual No service stars were authorized for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary or Service Medal 9 until February 9 2015 when the Department of Defense authorized service stars for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal retroactive to September 11 2001 3 Earlier service stars and battle stars EditService stars were sometimes referred to as campaign stars or battle stars were also authorized for the World War I Victory Medal American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal The specific manner of wear and symbolism of the stars varied from medal to medal For example an American Campaign Medal with a bronze service star indicated the service member had participated in an antisubmarine campaign On other medals bronze service stars were used on the medal s service ribbon for those recipients of medals in possession of authorized campaign clasps for those medals Navy warships Edit Historically during World War II and the Korean War commendations called battle stars were issued to United States Navy warships for meritorious participation in battle or for having suffered damage during battle conditions As an example the USS Enterprise CV 6 received 20 battle stars for her combat service in World War II more than any other U S vessel during World War II Similarly during the Vietnam War and afterwards the Battle Effectiveness Award Battle E took the place of receiving battle stars for superior battle efficiency in place of combat operations citation needed See also Edit5 16 inch star Awards and decorations of the United States military United States military award devices Oak leaf clusterReferences Edit a b c d Manual of Military Decorations and Awards Volume 3 PDF Department of Defense Paragraph 15e Page 67 Archived from the original PDF on March 22 2011 Retrieved March 13 2015 a b Manual of Military Decorations and Awards Volume 3 PDF Department of Defense Paragraph 15f g Page 67 68 Archived from the original PDF on March 22 2011 Retrieved March 13 2015 a b c DoD Authorizes Service Stars on Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal U S Department of Defense Retrieved 9 February 2015 Air Force Personnel Center National Defense ServicePresidential Unit Citation Navy Marine Corps and Coast Guard Medal Archived 2014 07 19 at the Wayback Machine Afghanistan Campaign Medal or Iraq Campaign Medal Awards and Decorations Branch Article Army Human Resource Command Archived from the original on 11 September 2015 Retrieved 3 December 2012 Additional Phases Identified for Iraq Campaign Medal News Release Additional Phases Identified for Iraq and Afghanistan Campaign Medals Defense gov Retrieved 2012 05 31 Manual of Military Decorations and Awards Volume 3 PDF Department of Defense Paragraph 15g Page 68 Archived from the original PDF on March 22 2011 Retrieved March 13 2015 a b c DoD Announces Criteria for Global War on Terrorism Medals U S Department of Defense Retrieved 26 February 2004 item 29 Military Decorations and Awards Review Results Department of Defense January 2016External links EditUnited States award regulations for World War II Navy Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Service star amp oldid 1149120817, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
