The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a

military decoration Military awards and decorations are distinctions given as a mark of honor for military heroism, meritorious or outstanding service or achievement. A decoration is often a medal consisting of a ribbon and a medallion. Civil decorations award ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...

and is presented to airmen and guardians to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorious service to the United States while serving in a duty or position of great responsibility. The Distinguished Service Medal was created by an act of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

on July 6, 1960 and was first awarded in 1965. Prior to the creation of the Distinguished Service Medal in 1960, United States Air Force airmen were awarded the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

.Air Force Personnel Center Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
The Distinguished Service Medal is equivalent to the Army's Distinguished Service Medal, Naval Service's

Navy Distinguished Service Medal The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919 and is presented to Sailors and Marines to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorio ...

, and the

Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal The Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal (CGDSM) is a military decoration of the United States Coast Guard that was established 4 August 1949 and is presented to coast guardsmen for "Exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty ...

. The interpretation of the phrase "great responsibility" means that this medal is generally awarded only to officers who hold at least the rank of major general. However, as is customary for most military decorations, the requirements for the Distinguished Service Medal are interpreted more liberally when awarded upon retirement. As a result, it is the typical decoration for a retiring brigadier general, and in recent years it has also been awarded to the

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force The chief master sergeant of the Air Force (acronym: CMSAF) is a unique non-commissioned rank in the United States Air Force. The holder of this rank and position of office represents the highest enlisted level of leadership in the Air Force, ...

upon retirement. Cases of the award of this decoration to an individual who was not a

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, or the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, are unusual. Two notable exceptions are astronauts Colonel

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin ( ; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three extravehicular activity, spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eag ...

and Colonel

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon, seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the NASA Astronaut ...

(who flew on Gemini 8, Apollo 9, and Apollo 15) who was awarded the medal twice. Recipients during the medal's first 6 years included General Emmett E. "Rosie" O'Donnell Jr. (a United States Air Force four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, Pacific Air Forces from 1959 to 1963). O'Donnell also led the first B-29 Superfortress attack upon Tokyo during World War II after the 1942 Doolittle Raid. Another early recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal was Major General Osmond J. Ritland, USAF, who received his medal on November 30, 1965, upon his retirement. Additional awards are denoted with

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 spec ...

s. This award is comparable to the Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service given to civilian employees of the

Department of the Air Force The United States Department of the Air Force (DAF) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Air Force was formed on Sep ...

Notable recipients

*General of the Army and General of the Air Force

Henry H. Arnold Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold (25 June 1886 – 15 January 1950) was an American General officers in the United States, general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army and later, General of the Ai ...

*General

Creighton Abrams Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (15 September 1914 – 4 September 1974) was a United States Army General (United States), general who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. He was then Chief of Staff of the United Sta ...

– US Army Chief of Staff *General Philip M. Breedlove – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe *General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. – First African-American general officer in the United States Air Force, Commander Of The

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of th ...

*General Ira C. Eaker – Eighth Air Force Commander *General John W. Foss – Commander US Army Training and Doctrine Command *General Andrew Goodpaster – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe *General

Lyman Lemnitzer Lyman Louis Lemnitzer (29 August 1899 – 12 November 1988) was a United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1960 to 1962. He then served as the Supreme Allied Commander ...

– NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe *General David C. Jones – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff *General

Richard Myers Richard Bowman Myers (born 1 March 1942) is a retired United States Air Force General (United States), general who served as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As chairman, Myers was the highest ranking uniformed officer of the Unit ...

– Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff *General

Peter Pace Peter Pace (born November 5, 1945) is a retired United States Marine Corps General (United States), general who served as the 16th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace was the first Marine officer appointed as chairman and the first Marine ...

– Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff *General

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

– Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff *General Joseph Ralston – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe *General Bernard W. Rogers – NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe *General H. Norman Schwarzkopf – Commander US Central Command *General Eric Shinseki – US Army Chief of Staff *Admiral Jonathan Greenert – Chief of Naval Operations *Admiral Carlisle Trost – Chief of Naval Operations *Lieutenant General

Brent Scowcroft Brent Scowcroft (; March 19, 1925August 6, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, and a two-time National Security Advisor (United States), United States National Security Advisor, first under U.S. President Gerald Ford and then under Georg ...

– National Security Advisor *Major General

William Anders William Alison Anders (17 October 1933 – 7 June 2024) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) major general, electrical engineer, nuclear engineer, NASA astronaut, and businessman. In December 1968, he was a member of the crew of ...

– Lunar Module Pilot for

Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), Earth's gravitational sphere of influence, and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times ...

and Chairman/CEO of

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

*Major General Michael Collins – Command Module Pilot for

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

and Director of the

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

*Major General Susan Pamerleau (

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

) (Ret.) –

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

for the Western District of Texas *Brigadier General Jimmy Stewart – Actor and Air Force Reserve officer *Brigadier General Bud Day – Medal of Honor – Air Force Cross – Silver Star *Brigadier General

Chuck Yeager Brigadier general (United States), Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in his ...

– Test pilot *Colonel

– Second man on the Moon *Colonel

Frank Borman Frank Frederick Borman II (March 14, 1928 – November 7, 2023) was an American United States Air Force (USAF) colonel (United States), colonel, aeronautical engineer, NASA astronaut, test pilot, and businessman. He was the commander of Apollo ...

– Astronaut and Chairman of

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

*Colonel

– Seventh man on the Moon *Colonel John A. Warden III – Architect of First Gulf War air campaign

References

{{USAF decorations Distinguished Service Medal Awards and decorations of the United States Space Force Awards established in 1960 *

Notable recipients

See also

References