Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
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The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States military which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy. The decoration is awarded for participation in "any military campaign of the United States for which no other service medal is authorized". Additional awards of the medal are denoted by service stars with the arrowhead device also authorized for United States Army personnel who are awarded the decoration through participation in an airborne or amphibious assault.
Since its original conception over forty years ago, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal has been awarded for United States participation in over forty five designated military campaigns. The first campaign of the AFEM was the Cuban Missile Crisis and the award was issued for military service between October 1962 and June 1963. Following this original issuance, the AFEM was made retroactive to 1958 and issued for actions in Lebanon, Taiwan, the Congo, Quemoy and Matsu, and for duty in Berlin between 1961 and 1963.
During the early years of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was issued for initial operations in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. In 1965, with the creation of the Vietnam Service Medal, the AFEM was discontinued for Vietnam War service. As the Vietnam Service Medal was retroactively authorized, those personnel who had previously received the AFEM were granted the option to exchange the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for the Vietnam Service Medal.
This option remains current to the present day, with the National Personnel Records Center the contact agency for the updating of military records and the exchange of the actual medals.
After the close of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was issued for various military operations in Panama, Grenada, and Libya. The AFEM has been issued for numerous operations in the Persian Gulf, most notably Operation Ernest Will which began in 1987 and lasted until the eve of the Gulf War. Following the close of the first Gulf War, and the engagement in peacekeeping and sanction missions against Iraq, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was issued again for several operations such as Operation Northern Watch, Southern Watch, and Vigilant Sentinel. The medal is also authorized for several United Nations actions such as peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia and Somalia.
A complete listing of approved operations for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is as follows:
- Quemoy and Matsu Islands 23 Aug 1956 - 1 Jun 1963
- Lebanon 1 Jul 58 - 1 Nov 1958
- Taiwan Straits 23 Aug 1958 - 1 Jan 1959
- Vietnam (General Service) 1 Jul 1958 - 3 Jul 1965
- Congo 14 Jul 1960 - 1 Sep 1962
- Laos 19 Apr 1961 - 7 Oct 1962
- Berlin 14 Aug 1961 - 1 Jun 1963
- Cuba 24 Oct 1962 - 1 Jun 1963
- Congo 23 to 27 Nov 1964
- Dominican Republic 28 Apr 65 - 21 Sep 66
- Korea 1 Oct 66 - 30 Jun 74
- Cambodia 29 Mar 1973 - 15 Aug 1973 (Vietnam Support Operations)
- Cambodia (Evacuation-Operation Eagle Pull) 11 - 13 Apr 1975
- Thailand (Cambodia Support Operations) 29 Mar 1973 - 15 Aug 1973
- Vietnam (Evacuation-Operation Frequent Wind) 29 - 30 Apr 1975
- Mayaguez Operation 15 May 1975
- El Salvador 1 Jan 1981 - 1 Feb 1992
- Lebanon 1 Jun 1983 - 1 Dec 1987
- Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury) 23 Oct 1983 - 21 Nov 1983
- Libya (Operation El Dorado Canyon) 12 Apr 1986 - 17 Apr 1986
- Persian Gulf (Operation Earnest Will) 24 Jul 1987 - 1 Aug 1990
- Panama (Operation Just Cause) 20 Dec 1989 - 31 Jan 1990
- Somalia 5 Dec 1992 - 31 Mar 1995
- Haiti (Operation Uphold Democracy) 16 Sep 1994 - 31 Mar 1995
- Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia 1 Jun 1992 - 20 Jun 1998
- Southwest Asia (Operation Southern Watch) 1 Dec 1995 - TBD
- Southwest Asia (Maritime Intercept Operation) 1 Dec 1995 - TBD
- Southwest Asia (Vigilant Sentinel) 1 Dec 1995 - 15 Feb 1997
- Southwest Asia (Operation Northern Watch) 1 Jan 1997 - TBD
- Southwest Asia (Operation Desert Thunder) 11 Nov 1998 - 22 Dec 1998
- Southwest Asia (Operation Desert Fox) 16 - 22 Dec 1998
- Southwest Asia (Operation Desert Spring) 31 Dec 1998 - TBD
- Yugoslavia (Operation Joint Forge) 21 Jun 1998 - TBD
Beginning in 1992 an effort was begun to phase out the AFEM in favor of campaign specific medals and the newly created Armed Forces Service Medal. To date, however, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is still listed on official precedence charts and the decoration is still considered an active service medal.
The United States Navy and Marine Corps issue two similar decorations, those being the Navy Expeditionary Medal and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal. In the modern age, service members authorized one of the aforementioned decorations are occassionaly permitted to choose between receipt of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal or the service specific exepeditionary medal. The AFEM and the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Medal cannot be bestowed simultanously for the same action.
The United States Air Force also maintains a decoration known as the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon. Despite the similarity in names, however, this award is unrelated to the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and is rather presented for duty performed on Air Force deployments.