Quick question on medals

[AdirondackDog]

America's Finest,

I have a problem concerning a medal I think I rate. Ive been stationed in Oki for the past year and a half. 7 months of it was TAD out to the 31st MEU. I was under the impression that after one year of being stationed in an OCONUS station, you received the "Overseas Service Medal". Also, after being deployed with the MEU for 90 days you receive the "Sea Service Deployment Medal". Now, I have the Sea Service Deployment Medal. However, Im being told by my SSgt I dont rate the Overseas Service Medal, because he does not even have it yet. He was under the impression that the Sea Service Deployment Medal is what you get for being on Island for a year. How Is this possible? Am I missing something?

I appreciate the help Ladies and Gents.

[PGN63]

America's Finest,

I have a problem concerning a medal I think I rate. Ive been stationed in Oki for the past year and a half. 7 months of it was TAD out to the 31st MEU. I was under the impression that after one year of being stationed in an OCONUS station, you received the "Overseas Service Medal". Also, after being deployed with the MEU for 90 days you receive the "Sea Service Deployment Medal". Now, I have the Sea Service Deployment Medal. However, Im being told by my SSgt I dont rate the Overseas Service Medal, because he does not even have it yet. He was under the impression that the Sea Service Deployment Medal is what you get for being on Island for a year. How Is this possible? Am I missing something?

I appreciate the help Ladies and Gents.

I think that you may be talking about the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (SSDR), this ribbon is for FMF type units. You have to be with the unit for 12 months and deploy for at least 90 days during that time. My first SSDR, I received becasue of an OKI deployment but I couldn't wear it until I was with 1/6 for 12 months. We returned to CONUS in July, I couldn't wear it until November.

The Overseas Ribbon is for non FMF type units. This is awarded for accumulative time overseas. On Embassy duty I was on the program for 2 yrs, 10 months. I rated 2. When I was stationed in Rota; after two months I rated a third one.



My own example:

For the FMF victor unit deployments I received 9 SSDR (1 ribbon with a silver star and 3 bronze star attachments), for Embassy Duty and Security force Duty I received 5 Overseas ribbons (1 ribbon with 4 bronze star attachements). You can not get both for the same time overseas.

[brian0351]

You don't rate it until it's entered in your SRB.

If your really concerned about it, talk to your admin shop about it. They should be tracking all that.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Ohhhkay. This is a common problem and has been since the inception of the Overseas Service Ribbon.

What is boils down to is this: If you are assigned to a "Non" FMF unit, you rate the OSR. If you are assigned to an FMF unit, you get the SSDR. No matter how many times you leave Oki, all you get is the SSDR.

Also, you have to have 1 year in the FMF before you rate to wear the SSDR, even if you've earned it.

Admin shop will have the most up to date info but here is the MarAdmin they are likely to quote:

Here's the copy of a MarAdmin dated 2003, believe this one is the most current gouge:

http://www.marines.mil/news/messages...s03top102.aspx

Here are the parts you'll care about:

A. COMPLETION OF A 12 MONTHS TOUR (CONSECUTIVE OR ACCUMULATED)
AS A MEMBER OF A FMF COMMAND OUTSIDE CONUS. ONLY ONE AWARD MAY BE
AUTHORIZED FOR ANY 12 MONTHS PERIOD. ONE ADDITIONAL SSDR WILL BE
AWARDED UPON COMPLETION OF EACH ADDITIONAL 12 MONTHS PERIOD. THIS
CRITERIA APPLIES TO MARINES/SAILORS SERVING ON 36 MONTHS TOURS AS A
MEMBER OF A FMF COMMAND OUTSIDE CONUS.
B. DEPLOYMENTS ARE NOT A FACTOR AND DO NOT PROVIDE CREDIT FOR
ADDITIONAL SSDR; I.E. MARINE/SAILORS ASSIGNED TO 3RD MARDIV FOR ONE
YEAR AND WHO DEPLOYS TO KOREA FOR 91 DAYS OF THIS TOUR WOULD NOT BE
RECOGNIZED WITH ADDITIONAL SSDR BECAUSE OF HIS DEPLOYMENT.
7. A MARINE/SAILOR ASSIGNED TO MARINE CORPS COMMANDS MAY NOT
RECEIVE BOTH THE SSDR AND THE OVERSEAS SERVICE RIBBON (OSR) FOR THE
SAME PERIOD OF SERVICE. PERIODS OF TIME CREDITED TO QUALIFY FOR ONE
AWARD MAY NOT BE USED FOR QUALIFICATION FOR THE OTHER AWARD.