The Special Operations Service Ribbon is a service award of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

which was first created 1 July 1987 by order of Commandant of the Coast Guard,

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Paul A. Yost Jr. The award is authorized for certain acts of non-combat meritorious service, for which no other service medal or ribbon is authorized. The four main areas of eligibility, for the presentation of the Special Operations Service Ribbon, are listed as follows: * Coast Guard operations of a special nature involving multiple agency involvement pertaining to national security or law enforcement. * Coast Guard operations of a special nature in support of special events drawing large media interest and public attention. * Coast Guard operations or involvement with foreign government in all areas of saving life and property at sea. * Coast Guard operations of assistance for friendly and/or developing nations. Initially a one-time award precluded from the use of

service stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

, multiple awards of the Special Operations Service Ribbon are now denoted by

. The

Commandant of the Coast Guard Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

has also periodically authorized award of the Special Operations Service Ribbon to certain warships, aviation squadrons and other selected units of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, primarily for support of USCG-led counter-narcotics (CN) and drug interdiction operations and to

and

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the 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 origins to 1 ...

units assisting in search-and-rescue and/or natural disaster operations in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard.

References

Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard Awards established in 1987 US Coast Guard ribbon symbolism {{USCG-stub

See also

References