Afghanistan Campaign Medal and Ribbon

Afghanistan Campaign Ribbon
Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Ribbon


Afghanistan Campaign Medal

History - Established 2004

Established on November 29, 2004, by then-President George W. Bush, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal honors United States military personnel who carried out service in the country of Afghanistan or its airspace. It may also be awarded to personnel who lost their life while serving in Afghanistan. In order to be eligible, recipients must have served in Afghanistan for a term of thirty days consecutively or a total of sixty days non-consecutively. Additionally, service members who engaged in combat or were wounded in combat against hostile forces in Afghanistan may be eligible without regard to the required service interval.

Below are the Afghanistan Campaign Medal’s designated operations:

Phase One: The Liberation of Afghanistan, between the dates of September 11, 2001 and November 30, 2001
Phase Two: Consolidation, Stage One, between the dates of December 1, 2001 and September 30, 2006
Phase Three: Consolidation, Stage Two, between the dates of October 1, 2006 and November 30, 2009
Phase Four: Consolidation, Stage Three, between the dates of December 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011
Phase Five: Transition, between the dates of July 1, 2001 and a date as yet to be designated

Details

The medal features a mountain range beneath a geographical outline of the country. The upper portion of the medal reads “AFGHANISTAN CAMPAIGN.” The ribbon is bisected by five thin vertical stripes: blue in the center flanked by white and red proceeding outward. To their exterior follows a thicker white vertical stripe followed by black, red, and a thin edging of green on each side of the ribbon.

Marine Corps awardees may be presented the medal with the fleet marine device; qualified soldiers with the arrowhead device.

Bronze Star
Silver Star
Fleet Marine
Bronze Arrowhead

Precedence

Next Higher: Kosovo Campaign
Next Lower: Iraq Campaign