The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to receive the higher Commendation Medal or the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: * Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Me ...

. Each military service issues its own version of the Achievement Medal, with a fifth version authorized by the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

for joint military activity. The Achievement Medal is awarded for outstanding achievement or meritorious service not of a nature that would otherwise warrant awarding the Commendation Medal. Award authority rests with local commanders, granting a broad discretion of when and for what action the Achievement Medal may be awarded.

History

U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps

The Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (NAM), is the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and U.S. Marine Corps' version of the Achievement Medal. The U.S. Navy was the first branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to award such a medal, doing so in 1961, when it was dubbed the "Secretary of the Navy Commendation for Achievement Medal." This title was shortened in 1967 to simply, the "Navy Achievement Medal." On August 19, 1994, to recognize those of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

who had received the Navy Achievement Medal, the name of the decoration was officially changed to the "Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal". The award is still often referred to in shorthand speech as the "Navy Achievement Medal" or "NAM" for short.

Chain of Command approval

From its inception in the early 1960s to 2002, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal could not be approved by the commanding officers of ships, submarines, aviation squadron, or shore activities who held the rank of Commander (O-5). Awards for crewmembers had to be submitted to the Commodore or Air Wing Commander or the first appropriate O-6 in the

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

for approval, who then signed the award and returned it. This led to a dramatically lower awarding rate when compared to similar size units in the Army or Air Force awarding their own achievement medals, especially considering that those services did not establish their respective achievement medals until the 1980s. Since 2002 the commanding officers of aviation squadrons and ships have had the authority to award NAMs without submission to higher authority. This is in contrast to the Army, where battalion commanders or the first O-5 in a soldier's chain of command are the authorizing official.

U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, and U.S. Coast Guard

The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

created its own Coast Guard Achievement Medal in 1967; the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

and

U.S. Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...

issued their own versions of the award with the Army Achievement Medal (AAM) in 1981 and Air Force Achievement Medal (AFAM) in 1980. Effective 11 September 2001, the Army Achievement Medal may be awarded in a combat area. Since this change over sixty thousand Army Achievement Medals have been awarded in theaters of operations such as Iraq and Afghanistan. On 16 November 2020, the Air Force Achievement Medal was renamed to the Air and Space Achievement Medal (ASAM) by the Secretary of the Air Force.

Joint Service Achievement Medal

The Joint Service Achievement Medal (JSAM) was created in 1983. This award was considered a Department of Defense decoration senior to the service department Achievement Medals.

Ribbon devices

The following devices may be authorized to be worn on the following achievement medals suspension ribbon and

service ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

: * All Achievement Medals "C" device, which signifies meritorious performance "under combat conditions" after January 2016
* Joint Service Achievement Medal (all service branches) for additional awards, oak leaf clusters * Army Achievement Medal for additional awards,

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

s * Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for additional awards,

5/16 inch star A inch star (9.7mm) is a miniature gold or silver five-pointed star that is authorized by the United States Armed Forces as a ribbon device to denote subsequent awards for specific decorations of the Department of the Navy, Coast Guard, Public He ...

s * Air Force Achievement Medal for additional awards, oak leaf clusters * Coast Guard Achievement Medal for additional awards, 5/16 inch stars * Coast Guard Achievement Medal

Operational Distinguishing Device The Operational Distinguishing Device ("O" device) is a miniature silver inch letter "O" that is authorized by the United States Coast Guard as a ribbon device which may be authorized for wear on certain awards and decorations of the United Stat ...

("O" device) * Coast Guard Achievement Medal Combat Distinguishing Device (Combat "V")

Former ribbon devices

The following ribbon devices were authorized in the past but have now been discontinued: * Air Force Achievement Medal

"V" Device A "V" device is a metal capital letter "V" with serifs which, when worn on certain decorations awarded by the United States Armed Forces, distinguishes an award for heroism or valor in combat instead of for meritorious service or achievement. ...

until December 2016 * Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal Combat Distinguishing Device (Combat "V") until December 2016

References

External links

Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal Citation Examples

{{USCG decorations Awards and decorations of the United States Air Force Awards and decorations of the United States Army Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard Awards and decorations of the United States Marine Corps Awards and decorations of the United States Navy Awards established in 1961 Awards established in 1967 Awards established in 1981 Awards established in 1983 Awards established in 1994 1961 establishments in the United States 1967 establishments in the United States 1981 establishments in the United States 1983 establishments in the United States 1994 establishments in the United States