Humanitarian Service Medal
| Humanitarian Service Medal | |
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| Founder: | Gerald Ford |
| Foundation year: | 1977 |
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The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM: medal for service during humanitarian missions ) is a military award of the armed forces of the United States . Created in 1977 by decree of US President Gerald Ford , the HSM has since been awarded to all members of the armed forces (including the Reserve and the National Guard ) for special services during humanitarian missions classified as such .
Award criteria
The HSM was introduced on January 19, 1977 with Executive Order 11965 , but was also awarded retrospectively for assignments from April 1, 1975. It is at the discretion of the US Department of Defense which missions qualify for the award; usually earthquake or refugee aid or the evacuation of civilians from war zones are included. The HSM can in principle be awarded multiple times, multiple awards are identified in the form of service stars . A variant of the medal can also be awarded to civilian members of the armed forces.
Sometimes the HSM "competes" with two other awards from mission to mission: It is only awarded if the Armed Forces Service Medal or the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal has not already been awarded for the same mission .
Appearance
The medal is a bronze-colored metal disc 3.175 cm in diameter. The front shows an open hand, the back shows an oak branch with the writing FOR HUMANITARIAN SERVICE (above) and UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES (following the edge below). The medal is worn on a 3.5 cm wide ribbon with purple , white, light blue and black stripes.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Code of Federal Regulations § 578.35 - Humanitarian Service Medal. Retrieved December 7, 2014 .
- ^ The Institute of Heraldry - Humanitarian Service Medal. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 29, 2016 ; Retrieved December 7, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
