The Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) is a military award presented to members of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

who distinguish themselves with outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the

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. Introduced in 1969, the MSM was long awarded as a decoration for peacetime achievement. Since 2004, it has also been bestowed in lieu of the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for meritorious achievement in a designated combat theater. Normally, the acts or services rendered must be comparable to that required for the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

but in a duty of lesser, though considerable, responsibility. A higher award and decoration, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM), is intended for similar services performed under joint duty within the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

, including the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense, ...

, the Unified Combatant Commands, and joint task forces under their cognizance.

Recipients

The Meritorious Service Medal is given to all ranks for meritorious service in the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force. It may be awarded for meritorious performance while serving in a staff position as a field grade officer, senior chief warrant officer, or senior non-commissioned officer, or, in the case of field grade officers, for successful completion of a command tour at the battalion (Army) or squadron (Army, Air Force, or Space Force) level. It is rarely awarded to officers in pay grades O-1 through O-3 (second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain), junior warrant officers and chief warrant officers in pay grades W-1 and W-2 (WO1 and CW2, Army only), and junior NCOs in pay grades E-6 and below. Within the U.S. Army, according to AR 600-8-22, Paragraph 3-17, the MSM may not be upgraded to or downgraded from a recommended Bronze Star Medal. In the Army, an MSM recommendation that is downgraded will be approved as an

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issu ...

(ARCOM). Awarding authority in the Army, Air Force, and Space Force is typically the first O-6 or above in the recipient's chain of command. The U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard subscribe to a slightly different philosophy from the Army, Air Force, and Space Force in awarding the MSM, typically reserving it for senior Navy and Coast Guard officers in pay grades O-5 to O-6 (commander and captain) and Marine Corps field grade officers in pay grades O-5 and O-6 (lieutenant colonel and colonel), with the first award of the MSM typically occurring after completion of a successful commanding officer assignment at the O-5 level. Award of the MSM to USN, USMC, and USCG officers in pay grade O-4 (USN & USCG lieutenant commander / USMC major) and below, including chief warrant officers and below (other than as an award at retirement to CWO5 and CWO4) is typically by exception and normally limited to those who have held a commanding officer assignment such as one of the U.S. Navy's handful of O-4 level commanding officer assignments (e.g., Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship). Other instances may be those serving on a USN or USCG flag officer staff or USMC general officer staff.

For enlisted ranks, the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard typically limit the award of the MSM to pay grades E-8 (e.g., USN/USCG senior chief petty officer and USMC master sergeant or first sergeant) and E-9 (e.g., USN/USCG master chief petty officer and USMC sergeant major or master gunnery sergeant). Awarding the MSM to pay grade E-7 (e.g., USN/USCG chief petty officer and USMC gunnery sergeant) and below is very rare and by exception. In the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, the awarding authority for the MSM must be either a

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

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 ...

holding the pay grade of O-7 or above. It is most common for Navy and Coast Guard

master chief petty officer A master chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards, usually above some grade of petty officer. United States Master chief petty officer (MCPO) is the ninth (just below the rank of MCPON) enliste ...

s (typically command master chief petty officers) and Marine Corps master gunnery sergeants and sergeants major to receive the MSM as an end-of-tour award and/or upon retirement. Foreign military personnel in the ranks of NATO OF-5 (US O-6 equivalent) and below and people who have displayed a level of service that warrants an award of such magnitude may also be eligible to be awarded the MSM, if approved by a U.S. flag officer or general officer. To receive this medal, the individual must exhibit exceptionally meritorious service at that level of responsibility.

Notable recipients

* Allison Black; U.S. Air Force officer *

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...

; 8th Director of National Intelligence

Design and devices

The Meritorious Service Medal is a

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 metalloid ...

medal, 1.5 inches in diameter overall, consisting of six rays issuant from the upper three points of a five-pointed star with beveled edges and containing two smaller stars defined by incised outlines; in front of the lower part of the star an eagle with wings upraised standing upon two upward curving branches of laurel tied with a ribbon between the feet of the eagle. The reverse has the encircled inscriptions "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "MERITORIOUS SERVICE". The suspension ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 1/8 inch Crimson 67112; 1/4 inch White 67101; center 5/8 inch Crimson; 1/4 inch White; and 1/8 inch Crimson. The medal was designed by Jay Morris of the Institute of Heraldry, and the design was approved on March 20, 1969, by the medal committee appointed by the defense secretary. The ribbon design follows the colors used for the

to reflect the parallel between the two medals. The

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, symbol of the United States, stands on laurel branches denoting achievement. The

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

is used to represent the military service and the rays emanating therefrom denote the constant efforts of individuals to achieve through excellent and meritorious service. Additional awards of the Meritorious Service Medal are denoted by bronze oak leaf clusters in the Army, Air Force, and Space Force, with one silver oak leaf cluster denoting five additional awards. (1 silver OLC plus the medal itself represents six) and gold 5/16 inch stars in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard (with a 5/16 inch silver star denoting five additional awards). These devices are also authorized for wear on the suspension and service ribbon of the medal. In certain instances, the U.S. Coast Guard also authorizes an

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 ...

for the medal.

History

At the Tri-Department Awards Conference (February 5, 1968), there was a discussion about the need for a third meritorious award to provide appropriate recognition for non-combat achievement or service comparable to that of the

for combat achievement or service. It was felt that the

's prestige was slipping because it was being used with increasing frequency to reward service below the Legion of Merit's intended standard, but higher than that required for the Commendation Medals of the various military services.Air Force Personnel Center Meritorious Service Medal
An ''ad hoc'' committee was formed by the Secretary of Defense (M&RA) to select a name. On November 8, 1968, the committee unanimously approved the name "Meritorious Service Medal".

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

established the MSM in , dated January 16, 1969. The Executive Order was amended by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

per , dated July 2, 1981, to authorize the award for members of the armed forces of friendly foreign nations. Until 2003, the MSM could only be awarded for peacetime service and could not be awarded in a combat zone; the MSM equivalent for those zones was the

(BSM). As in 1968 when the MSM was created, there were concerns that the prestige of the BSM was also slipping during combat operations in Southwest Asia that had essentially been continuous since 1990. In 2003, authority to award the MSM for combat zone service was authorized, retroactive to September 11, 2001.

References

External links