Rules spell out Iraq, Afghanistan Campaign Medal Eligibility

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By Laura Bailey
Times staff writer

While leathernecks are responding with enthusiasm to the Corps’ recent announcement of two separate campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan, some confusion still remains around who rates what.

The rules, announced in two April 11 Corpswide messages, do away with the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for Marines serving in Iraq or Afghanistan after April 30, 2005, and replace it with a country-specific campaign medal, provided the Marine meets eligibility requirements, such as time in country.

Leathernecks who served in Iraq or Afghanistan before April 30 can keep the GWOTEM or swap it for the appropriate campaign medal.

The confusion centers on Marines who deployed to Kuwait in the months preceding the war and later crossed the border into Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The MarAdmin announcing the rules did not address their situation and now many of them wonder if they rate the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for their time in Kuwait plus the Iraq Campaign Medal for their Iraq service.

According to officials at the Awards Branch, the answer is no.

While technically those Marines served in two separate operations — Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom — they were part of one single deployment in the war on terrorism and thus rate only one medal, said retired Col. Charles Mugno, head of the awards branch at Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va.

Mugno said those Marines can chose between the campaign medal or the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, adding that they are not losing the GWOTEM through service in Iraq, but rather are qualifying for the more senior medal.

“Both medals are in support of the war on terrorism; one is just more defined to a geographic area than the other,” he said.

But for Marines trying to determine if they rate both medals, some general rules apply:

• Marines who deploy after April 30, 2005, can no longer receive the GWOTEM. Provided they meet all criteria, they will rate one of the campaign medals.

• Generally, one deployment to the Iraqi theater equals one medal. So if you were in Kuwait doing one mission, then unexpectedly ordered to Baghdad for another one, you still rate one medal or the other.

However, Marines can rest assured that this single-deployment rule does not apply to receiving both the Iraq Campaign Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal by virtue of the fact that they are separate campaigns, Mugno said.

Marines can rate the ACM and the ICM on one deployment as long as they meet all requirements for both.

“I don’t see any scenario that you could walk out of one deployment with a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and an Iraq Campaign Medal. I just don’t see it,” Mugno said.

• Marines who served in other Middle Eastern or Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan or Qatar will continue to rate the expeditionary medal.

Mugno cautioned that these are general rules of thumb and not applicable in every case. He added that Marines need to go through their admin shop for individual questions about awards. If their admin officer can not determine the answer, he should contact Manpower Management Military Awards.

Marines should check the rules for eligibility in MarAdmins 172/05 and 173/05.