{"id":46618,"date":"2024-03-19T16:15:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T16:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/03\/19\/navy-creates-navy-arctic-service-medal\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:50:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:50:33","slug":"navy-creates-navy-arctic-service-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/03\/19\/navy-creates-navy-arctic-service-medal\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy creates Arctic Service Medal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Navy is rolling out a Navy Arctic Service Medal this year<\/a>, serving as an extension of the existing Navy Arctic Service Ribbon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creation of the medal comes as the Navy has ramped up operations and exercises in the Arctic<\/a> in recent years, and as Navy leaders have called for a strong military presence in the region as global warming opens more waters to navigation in the frigid territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those eligible for the medal are enlisted sailors and officers in the Navy and Marine Corps who were assigned to a unit that conducted an ice-covered strait transit, such as the Bering Strait or Barrow Strait, or a unit that conducted a transit of the North Pole, the Navy said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those assigned to a submarine that \u201cconducted a vertical surfacing through ice, including through an arctic polynya, or ice picked against the ice canopy,\u201d or a submarine that \u201cconducted at least seven days of classified military operations while under the marginal ice zone or pack ice,\u201d are also eligible, the Navy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, those whose commanding officers determine they were assigned to an ice camp or an operations center set up on an ice floe are also eligible for the medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civilians serving in these units also qualify to receive the medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\t