The Army of Occupation Medal is a

military award Military awards and decorations are distinctions given as a mark of honor for military heroism, meritorious or outstanding service or achievement. DoD Manual 1348.33, 2010, Vol. 3 A decoration is often a medal consisting of a ribbon and a medal ...

of the

United States military 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 ...

which was established by the United States War Department on 5 April 1946. The medal was created in the aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

to recognize those who had performed occupation service in either

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, Italy,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

. The original Army of Occupation Medal was intended only for members of the

United States 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, ...

, but was expanded in 1948 to encompass the

United States 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 Si ...

shortly after that service's creation. The

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

equivalent of the Army of Occupation Medal is the

Navy Occupation Service Medal The Navy Occupation Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was "Awarded to commemorate the services of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel in the occupation of certain territories of the enemies of the U.S. durin ...

, which features the same ribbon with its own medallion and clasps.

History

Although authorized in 1946, it was not until 1947 that the first Army of Occupation Medals were distributed. The first medal was presented to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF ...

Commander during World War II. Because of the legal status of

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

as an occupied territory, the Army of Occupation Medal was issued for forty-five years until the unification of Germany in 1990, making it one of the longest active military awards of both the

and the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. In addition, some recipients of the award were born two generations after the end of the conflict which the medal was designed to represent. Much like the

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four ...

, the Army of Occupation Medal has come to be considered a "multi-generational" award. Although 30 days in West Berlin was a requirement for issuing the award, it was not unusual for supply sergeants to issue it along with other unit insignia and equipment. If the soldier questioned it, he would be told "You aren't going anywhere for 30 days! Just wait to put it on your uniform."

Criteria

To be awarded the Army of Occupation Medal, a service member was required to have performed at least thirty consecutive days of military duty within a designated geographical area of military occupation. The Army of Occupation Medal was presented with a

campaign clasp Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

, denoting either European or Asian service, depending on the region in which occupation service had been performed. Campaign clasps were worn on the full sized medal only with no corresponding device when wearing the Army of Occupation Medal as a ribbon on a military uniform. In addition to the Germany clasp, for those service members who performed 92 consecutive days of military duty during the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, ro ...

in 1948 and 1949, the

Berlin Airlift Device The Berlin Airlift Device is miniature gold airplane that was awarded for wear on occupation medals and ribbons issued to United States Armed Forces service personnel for participation in or in direct support of, the Berlin airlift during the Co ...

is authorized as a device to the Army of Occupation Medal. (If further eligible, persons could also be awarded the

Medal for Humane Action The Medal for Humane Action is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by an act (63 Stat. 477) of the United States Congress on July 20, 1949. The medal recognizes those military service members who performed extend ...

Germany clasp

* Germany (9 May 1945 to 5 May 1955) *

(9 May 1945 to 27 July 1955) * Italy (9 May 1945 to 15 September 1947) *

(9 May 1945 to 2 October 1990)

Japan clasp

* Japan (3 September 1945 to 27 April 1952) *

(3 September 1945 to 29 June 1949)

Appearance

The medal is

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

measuring 1.25 inches across. On the obverse, are the abutments of the

Remagen Bridge The Ludendorff Bridge (sometimes referred to as the Bridge at Remagen) was in early March 1945 a critical remaining bridge across the river Rhine in Germany when it was captured during the Battle of Remagen by United States Army forces du ...

with the words "ARMY OF OCCUPATION" inscribed above. On the reverse, is

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

with a low hanging cloud over two Japanese junks above a wave and the inscribed date "1945". A bronze clasp 0.125 inches wide and 1.5 inches in length with the word "GERMANY" or "JAPAN" is worn on the suspension ribbon of the medal to indicate service in Europe or the Far East. The ribbon is 1.375 inches wide with two thin white stripes at the edges and two thicker stripes in the middle, the first being black and the second in scarlet. A myth was that if a soldier served in Germany the ribbon's black band was worn to his right and if in Japan the red was to his right. The only approved display was for the black band to be to the wearer's right.

References

External links

US Army of Occupation medal with bar Germany
''Hoover Institution Library & Archives'' {{Authority control 1946 establishments in the United States 1990 disestablishments in the United States Aftermath of World War II Awards established in 1946 Awards disestablished in 1990 United States service medals