thedrifter
05-03-05, 01:51 PM
May 09, 2005
Medal confusion
New award rules leave some puzzled
By Laura Bailey
Times staff writer
While leathernecks are responding with enthusiasm to the recent debut of two separate campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan, some confusion still remains around who rates what.
The rules, announced in two April 11 Corpswide messages, do away with the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for Marines serving in Iraq or Afghanistan after April 30, 2005, and replace it with a country-specific campaign medal, provided the Marine meets eligibility requirements, such as time in country.
Leathernecks who served in Iraq or Afghanistan before April 30 can keep the expeditionary GWOT medal or swap it for the appropriate campaign medal.
The confusion centers on Marines who deployed to Kuwait in the months preceding the war and later crossed the border into Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The message announcing the rules did not address their situation, and now many of them wonder if they rate the expeditionary GWOT medal for their time in Kuwait plus the Iraq Campaign Medal for their Iraq service.
“The whole one deployment thing seems a little confusing to some people,” said Maj. Dave Greenlees, a Reserve artillery officer who served in Kuwait for five months before moving north into Iraq in March 2003.
“I’m very pleased that they came out with campaign-specific medals because that’s what they should have done,” but the Iraq Campaign Medal rules don’t appear to recognize the Operation Enduring Freedom mission in Kuwait as separate, he said.
According to officials at the Awards Branch, he’s right.
Although technically those Marines served in two separate operations — Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom — they were part of one single deployment in the war on terrorism, and thus rate only one medal, said retired Col. Charles Mugno, head of the Awards Branch at Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va.
“If that’s what the order is, I don’t have an issue with it, but it needs to be clarified,” Greenlees said.
He pointed out that many Marines have already spent money mounting their GWOT medal only to find out they may have to give it up if they want to wear the ICM.
Mugno confirmed that those Marines must chose between the campaign medal or the GWOT, but added that they are not losing the GWOT eligibility through service in Iraq, but rather are qualifying for the more senior medal.
“Both medals are in support of the war on terrorism; one is just more defined to a geographic area than the other,” he said.
The general rule is that if you only deployed once to the Iraq theater, you rate only one of the medals, Mugno said.
“Quite frankly, everyone would much prefer a campaign medal from Iraq,” said former Cpl. John R. Guardiano, a reservist who deployed to Kuwait in February 2003 and then entered Iraq as a field radio operator with the 4th Civil Affairs Group.
“Now when you look at someone, you know they’ve been in Iraq. You have a much better, precise sense of what they did,” he said.
Guardiano, now a naval reservist with Armed Forces Information Service, rates the expeditionary GWOT medal, but said he is going to hold on to it in case he does a second deployment to Iraq.
“If I have a choice between the two, it’s a no-brainer. It’s the Iraq Campaign Medal hands down. But if I trade it in, I’m giving up the GWOTEM for the rest of my life,” he said, referring to the fact that the medal will no longer be awarded for service after April 30, 2005.
“Who knows, maybe 20 years from now, it could be a rarity to have. Maybe few people will have it,” he said.
“This gives me all my options, but at some point I want an ICM, no question.”
Different combinations
Due to different deployments throughout the war on terrorism, there are many scenarios under which Marines could rate different combinations of the medals, Mugno said.
“There is no way that every scenario can be covered that explains everyone’s eligibility for the awards. There are so many variations to a deployment schedule that make the management of these two medals very difficult,” he said.
“We’ve never had this level of complexity in the past,” he said.
For Marines trying to determine if they rate both medals, some general rules apply:
• Marines who deploy after April 30, 2005, can no longer receive the expeditionary GWOT medal. Provided they meet all criteria, they will rate one of the campaign medals.
• Generally, one deployment to the Iraqi theater equals one medal, Mugno said.
“I don’t see any scenario that you could walk out of one deployment with a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and an Iraq Campaign Medal. I just don’t see it,” Mugno said.
So if you were in Kuwait doing one mission, then were unexpectedly ordered to Baghdad for another one, you still rate one medal or the other.
• Marines can rest assured that this single-deployment rule does not apply to receiving both the Iraq Campaign Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal by virtue of the fact that they are separate campaigns, Mugno said.
Marines can rate the ACM and the ICM on one deployment as long as they meet all requirements for both, set forth in the MarAdmins.
• Marines who served in other countries approved for the expeditionary GWOT medal like Middle Eastern or Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan or Qatar will continue to rate the expeditionary medal, and recently a dozen new countries have been added to the list (see the related story on the next page).
• Theoretically, a Marine could rate both campaign medals plus the expeditionary GWOT medal if he deployed to Iraq two separate times, then deployed a third time to Afghanistan, or if he deployed to Afghanistan and then on separate occasions to Iraq and another country on the expeditionary GWOT medal list, such as Yemen, Djibouti or Uzbekistan, for the minimum amount of time.
Mugno cautioned that these are general rules that do not apply in every case.
He added that Marines need to go through their admin shop for individual questions about awards. If their admin officer cannot determine the answer, he should contact Manpower Management Military Awards.
Marines should check further rules for eligibility for both campaign medals in MarAdmins 172/05 and 173/05.
Ellie
Medal confusion
New award rules leave some puzzled
By Laura Bailey
Times staff writer
While leathernecks are responding with enthusiasm to the recent debut of two separate campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan, some confusion still remains around who rates what.
The rules, announced in two April 11 Corpswide messages, do away with the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for Marines serving in Iraq or Afghanistan after April 30, 2005, and replace it with a country-specific campaign medal, provided the Marine meets eligibility requirements, such as time in country.
Leathernecks who served in Iraq or Afghanistan before April 30 can keep the expeditionary GWOT medal or swap it for the appropriate campaign medal.
The confusion centers on Marines who deployed to Kuwait in the months preceding the war and later crossed the border into Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The message announcing the rules did not address their situation, and now many of them wonder if they rate the expeditionary GWOT medal for their time in Kuwait plus the Iraq Campaign Medal for their Iraq service.
“The whole one deployment thing seems a little confusing to some people,” said Maj. Dave Greenlees, a Reserve artillery officer who served in Kuwait for five months before moving north into Iraq in March 2003.
“I’m very pleased that they came out with campaign-specific medals because that’s what they should have done,” but the Iraq Campaign Medal rules don’t appear to recognize the Operation Enduring Freedom mission in Kuwait as separate, he said.
According to officials at the Awards Branch, he’s right.
Although technically those Marines served in two separate operations — Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom — they were part of one single deployment in the war on terrorism, and thus rate only one medal, said retired Col. Charles Mugno, head of the Awards Branch at Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va.
“If that’s what the order is, I don’t have an issue with it, but it needs to be clarified,” Greenlees said.
He pointed out that many Marines have already spent money mounting their GWOT medal only to find out they may have to give it up if they want to wear the ICM.
Mugno confirmed that those Marines must chose between the campaign medal or the GWOT, but added that they are not losing the GWOT eligibility through service in Iraq, but rather are qualifying for the more senior medal.
“Both medals are in support of the war on terrorism; one is just more defined to a geographic area than the other,” he said.
The general rule is that if you only deployed once to the Iraq theater, you rate only one of the medals, Mugno said.
“Quite frankly, everyone would much prefer a campaign medal from Iraq,” said former Cpl. John R. Guardiano, a reservist who deployed to Kuwait in February 2003 and then entered Iraq as a field radio operator with the 4th Civil Affairs Group.
“Now when you look at someone, you know they’ve been in Iraq. You have a much better, precise sense of what they did,” he said.
Guardiano, now a naval reservist with Armed Forces Information Service, rates the expeditionary GWOT medal, but said he is going to hold on to it in case he does a second deployment to Iraq.
“If I have a choice between the two, it’s a no-brainer. It’s the Iraq Campaign Medal hands down. But if I trade it in, I’m giving up the GWOTEM for the rest of my life,” he said, referring to the fact that the medal will no longer be awarded for service after April 30, 2005.
“Who knows, maybe 20 years from now, it could be a rarity to have. Maybe few people will have it,” he said.
“This gives me all my options, but at some point I want an ICM, no question.”
Different combinations
Due to different deployments throughout the war on terrorism, there are many scenarios under which Marines could rate different combinations of the medals, Mugno said.
“There is no way that every scenario can be covered that explains everyone’s eligibility for the awards. There are so many variations to a deployment schedule that make the management of these two medals very difficult,” he said.
“We’ve never had this level of complexity in the past,” he said.
For Marines trying to determine if they rate both medals, some general rules apply:
• Marines who deploy after April 30, 2005, can no longer receive the expeditionary GWOT medal. Provided they meet all criteria, they will rate one of the campaign medals.
• Generally, one deployment to the Iraqi theater equals one medal, Mugno said.
“I don’t see any scenario that you could walk out of one deployment with a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and an Iraq Campaign Medal. I just don’t see it,” Mugno said.
So if you were in Kuwait doing one mission, then were unexpectedly ordered to Baghdad for another one, you still rate one medal or the other.
• Marines can rest assured that this single-deployment rule does not apply to receiving both the Iraq Campaign Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal by virtue of the fact that they are separate campaigns, Mugno said.
Marines can rate the ACM and the ICM on one deployment as long as they meet all requirements for both, set forth in the MarAdmins.
• Marines who served in other countries approved for the expeditionary GWOT medal like Middle Eastern or Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan or Qatar will continue to rate the expeditionary medal, and recently a dozen new countries have been added to the list (see the related story on the next page).
• Theoretically, a Marine could rate both campaign medals plus the expeditionary GWOT medal if he deployed to Iraq two separate times, then deployed a third time to Afghanistan, or if he deployed to Afghanistan and then on separate occasions to Iraq and another country on the expeditionary GWOT medal list, such as Yemen, Djibouti or Uzbekistan, for the minimum amount of time.
Mugno cautioned that these are general rules that do not apply in every case.
He added that Marines need to go through their admin shop for individual questions about awards. If their admin officer cannot determine the answer, he should contact Manpower Management Military Awards.
Marines should check further rules for eligibility for both campaign medals in MarAdmins 172/05 and 173/05.
Ellie