The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service is the highest award that is presented by the

Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...

, to a private citizen, politician, non-career federal employee, or foreign national. It is presented for exceptionally distinguished service of significance to the Department of Defense as a whole, or a DoD Component or function, where recognition at the component level would not be sufficient for the service rendered.

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration the individual must have rendered exceptionally distinguished service of significance to the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

as a whole. Recognition may also be given for distinguished service of such exceptional significance to a Department of Defense Component or Function that recognition at the Component level would be insufficient. The service or assistance may have been rendered at considerable personal sacrifice and inconvenience and should be motivated by patriotism, good citizenship, and a sense of public responsibility. Normally, it is required that nominees have a direct working relationship with the most senior officials in the Federal government, e.g., Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State. An individual may receive this award more than once with subsequent awards consisting of a bronze, silver, or gold palm, respectively.

Description

The award consists of a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

, a miniature medal, a rosette, and a citation signed by the Secretary of Defense. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

of the medal depicts an eagle facing to the right clutching three arrows, below the eagle is a half laurel wreath. Above the eagle are thirteen stars with rays between the stars. This imagery is identical to the seal of the Department of Defense. The reverse contains the inscription "TO...FOR DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE". The edge of the medallion is surrounded by a laurel wreath on both the obverse and reverse. The medal is suspended from ribbon containing one central strip in

maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are vari ...

, with a white stripe on each side separating it from two blue stripes, with a thin white stripe at each edge.

Notable recipients

* Russell T. Vought * Madeleine Korbel Albright, 2016 *

Avi Berkowitz Avrahm "Avi" Berkowitz (born November 4, 1988) is an American attorney and political adviser who served as the Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations from 2019 to 2021. He was an advisor to Jared Kushn ...

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...

* George W. Bush *

Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secretary ...

Ash Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the B ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

Kristin Krohn Devold Kristin Krohn Devold (born 12 August 1961 in Ålesund) is a former Minister of Defence of Norway. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo in 1993, and was re-elected on two occasions as a representative for Conservative Party. F ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

Deborah Lee James Deborah Roche Lee James (born November 25, 1958) served as the 23rd Secretary of the Air Force. She is the second woman, after Sheila Widnall (1993–1997), to ever hold this position. James was confirmed as 23rd Secretary of the Air Force on De ...

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

Shigeru Kitamura Shigeru Kitamura (北村滋, ''Kitamura Shigeru'') is current Participate of Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Secretariat Secretary General in Japan under Shinzo Abe and a former head of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, a Jap ...

Michael Kratsios Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios (born November 7, 1986) is an American business executive and government official. He served as the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. I ...

Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a priv ...

Judith A. Miller Judith Ann Miller (born August 3, 1950) is an American attorney and government official who served as General Counsel of the United States Department of Defense from 1994 to 1999, and in the private sector as general counsel for Bechtel Group. ...

* Robert O'Brien *

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

Zohar Palti Zohar Palti (born 1964) was head of the Political-Military Bureau at Israel's Ministry of Defense. He previously served as the head of the Mossad's intelligence directorate, as well as deputy head of the Research Division in the IDF Intelligen ...

* Edward Angus Powell Jr. *

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the vice presidential nominee i ...

Dan Scavino Daniel Scavino Jr. is an American political adviser who served in the Trump administration as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications from 2019 to 2021 and Director of Social Media from 2017 to 2021. Scavino previously was the gener ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

Eric Schmidt Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and software engineer known for being the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, executive chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 2 ...

Manfred Woerner ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. ...

Albert Wohlstetter Albert James Wohlstetter (December 19, 1913 – January 10, 1997) was an American political scientist noted for his influence on U.S. nuclear strategy during the Cold War. He and his wife Roberta Wohlstetter, an accomplished historian and intell ...

File:William S. Cohen presents President Clinton the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.jpg, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen presents the medal to President Bill Clinton. File:US Navy 090106-F-6655M-124 Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates awards the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service to President George W. Bush.jpg, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates awards the medal to President George W. Bush. File:Rumsfeld - Vollebæk - Devold - DoD Medal for Distinguished Public Service 2006.jpg, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld presents Kristin Devold with the medal. File:Steven Spielberg 1999 4 crop.jpg, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen presents a framed citation accompanying the medal given to Steven Spielberg. File:Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and her husband, Frank Beatty, depart her farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 11, 2017.jpg, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James departs her farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews wearing the medal. File:Defense Secretary Ash Carter awards the Honorable Barack H. Obama, 44th President of the United States, with the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.jpg, Secretary Carter awards President Obama with the medal during an Armed Forces full honor review farewell ceremony.

References

{{reflist

External links

Department of Defense-Level Honorary Awards Guide
Awards and decorations of the United States Department of Defense Awards established in 1947 1947 establishments in the United States

Eligibility

Description

Notable recipients

See also

References

External links