Establishing the Global War on Terrorism Medals

2003-03-14Executive Order 13289
Signed by: George W. Bush
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Headline: Establishes Global War on Terrorism Medals for United States Military

What it does: Military department leaders and the Secretary of Homeland Security must issue rules and award two new medals to qualifying service members for terrorism-related service since September 11, 2001.

Real World Impact:
  • Creates two new military medals for terrorism service since September 11, 2001.
  • Allows service members to swap previous expeditionary/service medals for the new medals upon request.
  • Limits recipients to one medal per operation and allows posthumous awards.
Topics: military awards, veterans and service members, counterterrorism, government operations

Summary

This order creates two new medals—the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal—and sets rules for awarding them.

They apply to members of the United States Armed Forces who serve or served in military expeditions or operations to combat terrorism on or after September 11, 2001, until a terminal date set by the Secretary of Defense.

The order allows those who already qualified for related medals to request the new medals instead, limits each person to a single medal for the same operation, and permits posthumous awards.

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