Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon
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The Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon (AFESR) is a military decoration of the United States Air Force which was first created in June of 2003. The decoration is awarded to any member of the Air Force who completes a standard contingency deployment.
The regulations of the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon define a deployment as either forty five consecutive days or ninety non-consecutive days in a deployed status. Temporary duty orders also qualify towards the ninety day time requirement. For deployments exceeding 45 -90 days, a single Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon will be awarded for the entire time frame rather than issuing multiple awards for the same period of deployed service.
For those service members who engage in combat operations while deployed, a gold frame may be attached to the AFESR basic ribbon. The gold frame is issued as a one time decoration only, regardless of the number of combat operations in which a service member is involved. The gold frame is also awarded for personnel who are deployed to a combat area, but perform support roles which entitle the service member to "hazardous duty pay." As a result, many Air Force personnel are eligible for the gold border without having been directly exposed to the dangers of combat engagements.
The Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border may also be awarded to certain "over-the horizon" combat assignments, such as unmanned aerial vehicle operators for employing a long range weapon into a combat zone. It is therefore possible to earn the gold border even when stationed at a secure military installations in the United States geographically separated from the battlefield by thousands of miles. Such personnel, however, must have first earned the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon before the ribbon can be upgraded with a gold frame.
Additional awards of the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon are denoted by oak leaf clusters and the award is retroactive to October 1, 1999. Those receiving the decoration may also qualify for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal or the Armed Forces Service Medal.