{"id":65106,"date":"2022-07-29T18:10:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T18:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/07\/29\/no-more-automatic-gwot-service-medals-dod-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:39:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:39:49","slug":"no-more-automatic-gwot-service-medals-dod-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2022\/07\/29\/no-more-automatic-gwot-service-medals-dod-says\/","title":{"rendered":"No more automatic GWOT service medals, DoD says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Signaling the end of a 21-year era, the Department of Defense has told the military services to sharply restrict the award of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal beginning Sept. 11, according to a memo obtained by Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The June 24 memo, signed by the DoD\u2019s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, Gilbert Cisneros, also limits award of the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal to just troops who serve on the ground in Syria or operate within 12 nautical miles of its coast or airspace. The policy went into effect July 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GWOT-SM has been a virtually automatic award for troops since its introduction in 2003. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army, for example, determined in March 2004 that all active duty troops who served after Sept. 11, 2001, merited the award because they\u2019d all \u201cserved in some way in support of GWOT,\u201d according to the Human Resources Command website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while blanket eligibility was later amended to require that members serve 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days \u201cin support of\u201d a GWOT operation, units have loosely interpreted the \u201csupport\u201d criteria and awarded the medal regardless of actual connection to the ongoing conflict. Units have argued that even 30 days in garrison counted as part of the broader GWOT-focused deployment readiness cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after Sept. 11, \u201cthe service member must have directly served in a designated military [counter-terrorism] operation\u201d for at least 30 days, the memo says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It clarifies that direct service doesn\u2019t include the previous \u201csupport\u201d loophole as well. The memo describes direct service as someone who \u201cdeployed on orders for a designated CT operation [or] directly supported a [designated] CT operation on a full-time basis while assigned to an organization conducting a CT operation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a DoD list<\/a> last updated in March, ongoing CT operations eligible for the award include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n