Amending Executive Order 11016 To Update Eligibility Criteria for Award of the Purple Heart

2017-01-17Executive Order 13758
Signed by: Barack Obama
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Headline: Directs Military Leaders to Apply New Purple Heart Rules

What it does: Military department leaders and the Coast Guard official must award the Purple Heart under updated eligibility rules and deny it for wounds or deaths from willful misconduct.

Real World Impact:
  • Expands listed battlefield and non-battle situations that qualify service members.
  • Sets specific historic date cutoffs for posthumous award eligibility.
  • Prohibits awarding the Purple Heart when wound or death was willful misconduct.
Topics: military awards, service member eligibility, veterans, Coast Guard

Summary

This order changes who can receive the Purple Heart and when it may be awarded. It updates the list of battlefield and non-battle circumstances that qualify a member or former member of the armed forces, adds rules for posthumous awards tied to specific dates, and adds a rule barring the award when a wound or death resulted from willful misconduct.

It applies to leaders of each military service and the official who runs the Coast Guard when it is not part of the Navy. The order clarifies and limits eligibility for this military honor.

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