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Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal |
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The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United
States military which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President
John Kennedy. The decoration is awarded for participation in "any military
campaign of the United States for which no other service medal is authorized".
Additional awards of the medal are denoted by service stars with the arrowhead
device also authorized for United States Army personnel who are awarded the
decoration through participation in an airborne or amphibious assault.
Since its original conception over forty years ago, the Armed Forces Expeditionary
Medal has been awarded for United States participation in over forty five
designated military campaigns. The first campaign of the AFEM was the Cuban
Missile Crisis and the award was issued for military service between October
1962 and June 1963. Following this original issuance, the AFEM was made
retroactive to 1958 and issued for actions in Lebanon, Taiwan, the Congo,
Quemoy and Matsu, and for duty in Berlin between 1961 and 1963.
During the early years of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
was issued for initial operations in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. In 1965,
with the creation of the Vietnam Service Medal, the AFEM was discontinued for
Vietnam War service. As the Vietnam Service Medal was retroactively authorized,
those personnel who had previously received the AFEM were granted the option to
exchange the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for the Vietnam Service Medal.
This option remains current to the present day, with the National Personnel
Records Center the contact agency for the updating of military records and the
exchange of the actual medals.
After the close of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was
issued for various military operations in Panama, Grenada, and Libya. The AFEM
has been issued for numerous operations in the Persian Gulf, most notably
Operation Ernest Will which began in 1987 and lasted until the eve of the Gulf
War. Following the close of the first Gulf War, and the engagement in
peacekeeping and sanction missions against Iraq, the Armed Forces
Expeditionary Medal was issued again for several operations such as Operation
Northern Watch, Southern Watch, and Vigilant Sentinel. The medal is also
authorized for several United Nations actions such as peacekeeping efforts in
Bosnia and Somalia.
A complete listing of approved operations for the Armed Forces Expeditionary
Medal is as follows:
Quemoy and Matsu Islands 23 Aug 1956 - 1 Jun 1963
Lebanon 1 Jul 58 - 1 Nov 1958
Taiwan Straits 23 Aug 1958 - 1 Jan 1959
Vietnam (General Service) 1 Jul 1958 - 3 Jul 1965
Congo 14 Jul 1960 - 1 Sep 1962
Laos 19 Apr 1961 - 7 Oct 1962
Berlin 14 Aug 1961 - 1 Jun 1963
Cuba 24 Oct 1962 - 1 Jun 1963
Congo 23 to 27 Nov 1964
Dominican Republic 28 Apr 65 - 21 Sep 66
Korea 1 Oct 66 - 30 Jun 74
Cambodia 29 Mar 1973 - 15 Aug 1973 (Vietnam Support Operations)
Cambodia (Evacuation-Operation Eagle Pull) 11 - 13 Apr 1975
Thailand (Cambodia Support Operations) 29 Mar 1973 - 15 Aug 1973
Vietnam (Evacuation-Operation Frequent Wind) 29 - 30 Apr 1975
Mayaguez Operation 15 May 1975
El Salvador 1 Jan 1981 - 1 Feb 1992
Lebanon 1 Jun 1983 - 1 Dec 1987
Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury) 23 Oct 1983 - 21 Nov 1983
Libya (Operation El Dorado Canyon) 12 Apr 1986 - 17 Apr 1986
Persian Gulf (Operation Earnest Will) 24 Jul 1987 - 1 Aug 1990
Panama (Operation Just Cause) 20 Dec 1989 - 31 Jan 1990
Somalia 5 Dec 1992 - 31 Mar 1995
Haiti (Operation Uphold Democracy) 16 Sep 1994 - 31 Mar 1995
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia 1 Jun 1992 - 20 Jun 1998
Southwest Asia (Operation Southern Watch) 1 Dec 1995 - TBD
Southwest Asia (Maritime Intercept Operation) 1 Dec 1995 - TBD
Southwest Asia (Vigilant Sentinel) 1 Dec 1995 - 15 Feb 1997
Southwest Asia (Operation Northern Watch) 1 Jan 1997 - TBD
Southwest Asia (Operation Desert Thunder) 11 Nov 1998 - 22 Dec 1998
Southwest Asia (Operation Desert Fox) 16 - 22 Dec 1998
Southwest Asia (Operation Desert Spring) 31 Dec 1998 - TBD
Yugoslavia (Operation Joint Forge) 21 Jun 1998 - TBD
Beginning in 1992 an effort was begun to phase out the AFEM in favor of
campaign specific medals and the newly created Armed Forces Service Medal. To
date, however, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is still listed on official
precedence charts and the decoration is still considered an active service medal.
The United States Navy and Marine Corps issue two similar decorations, those
being the Navy Expeditionary Medal and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal. In the
modern age, service members authorized one of the aforementioned decorations
are occasionally permitted to choose between receipt of the Armed Forces
Expeditionary Medal or the service specific expeditionary medal. The AFEM and
the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Medal cannot be bestowed simultaneously for the
same action.
The United States Air Force also maintains a decoration known as the Air Force
Expeditionary Service Ribbon. Despite the similarity in names, however, this
award is unrelated to the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and is rather
presented for duty performed on Air Force deployments.
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