The
Meritorious Service Medal is a
military decorationAwards and decorations of the United States Military are military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces...
presented to members of the
United States Armed ForcesThe United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
subsequent to January 16, 1969. Effective 11 September 2001, this award also may be bestowed for meritorious achievement in a designated combat theatre.
Normally, the acts or services rendered must be comparable to that required for the
Legion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
but in a duty of lesser, though considerable, responsibility. A higher decoration, known as the
Defense Meritorious Service MedalThe Defense Meritorious Service Medal is the third-highest award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense...
, is intended for similar services performed under joint service with the
United States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. Today, most MSM recipients are field grade officers (
pay gradePay grades are used by the uniformed services of the United States to determine wages and benefits based on the corresponding military rank of a member of the services...
s O-4 to O-6), senior warrant officers (W-3 to W-5), senior noncommissioned officers (E-7 to E-9), foreign military personnel in the ranks of O-6 and below, and individuals who have displayed a level of service that warrants an award of such magnitude. To receive this award the individual must exhibit exceptionally meritorious service at that level of responsibility.
History
At the Tri-Department Awards Conference (February 5, 1968), there was a discussion on the need for a third meritorious award to provide appropriate recognition for non-combat achievement or service comparable to the
Bronze StarThe Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
for combat achievement or service. It was felt that the
Legion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
'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 MedalThe Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. For valorous actions in direct contact with an enemy force, but of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Bronze Star, the Valor device may...
.
An ad hoc committee was formed by the
Secretary of DefenseThe Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
(M&RA) to select a name. On November 8, 1968, the committee unanimously approved the name "Meritorious Service Medal".
PresidentThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
established the Meritorious Service Medal per , dated January 16, 1969. The Executive Order was amended by President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
per , dated July 2, 1981, to authorize award to members of the armed forces of friendly foreign nations.
The decoration was designed by Mr. Jay Morris of the Institute of Heraldry, and the design was approved by the committee on March 20, 1969. The ribbon design purposely follows the colors used for the
Legion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
to reflect the parallel between the two medals. The
eagleEagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
, symbol of the United States, stands on
laurelThe bay laurel , also known as sweet bay, bay tree, true laurel, Grecian laurel, laurel tree, or simply laurel, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glossy leaves, native to the Mediterranean region. It is the source of the bay leaf used in cooking...
branches denoting achievement. The
starA star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
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.
The Meritorious Service Medal is a
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
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 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.
Subsequent awards in the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are denoted by the attachment of bronze oak leaf clusters to the ribbon and medal; susbequent awards in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard are denoted by the attachment of gold stars to the ribbon and medal.
Notable Recipients
- Dennis C. Blair
- Jeremy Boorda
- Patrick Henry Brady
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- Russell Adam Burnham
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- Francis X. Castellano
- Wesley Clark
Wesley Kanne Clark, Sr., is a retired general of the United States Army. Graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and later graduated from the...
- Vincent Desportes
Vincent Desportes is a retired French Army general and military theorist.Desportes graduated from the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, specialising in armour warfare. He also holds an engineer's degree, a diplôme d'études approfondies in sociology, a MBA, and graduated from the U.S...
- Terry Gabreski
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- Chuck DeVore
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- Iceal Hambleton
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- Robert L. Howard
Robert Lewis Howard was a highly decorated United States Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War. He was wounded 14 times over 54 months of combat, was awarded 8 Purple Hearts, 4 Bronze Stars, and was nominated for the Medal of Honor three separate times...
- Zuhdi Jasser
Zuhdi Jasser, also known as M. Zuhdi Jasser, and Mohamed Zuhdi Jasser, is a medical doctor specializing internal medicine and nuclear cardiology in Phoenix, AZ. Jasser is a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy where he served as staff internist in the Office of the Attending...
- John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
- Norman Marous
Norman Marous at the time of his retirement, was the oldest, longest serving noncommissioned officer in the United States Air Force, with 41 and 1/2 years of service...
- Wendy M. Masiello
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- Richard J. Meadows
Major Richard J. Meadows was a U.S. Army Special Forces officer who saw combat in U.S. wars from Korea to the Iran Hostage Rescue mission in 1980. He was a pivotal player in the creation of the modern U.S. Army Special Forces....
- Nicholas Ralph "Nick" Parker
- John Poindexter
John Marlan Poindexter is a retired United States naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor for the Reagan administration. He was convicted in April 1990 of multiple felonies as a result of his actions in the Iran-Contra...
- L. Scott Rice
Leon Scott Rice is a major general in the United States Air Force, currently serving as commander of the Massachusetts Air National Guard and as an assistant to Mark A. Welsh III, Commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe. Rice has also served as Commander, Air Force Forces for United...
- John Ripley
John Ripley VC was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
- Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf KCB , also known as "Stormin' Norman" and "The Bear", is a retired United States Army General who, while he served as Commander of U.S. Central Command, was commander of the Coalition Forces in the Gulf War of 1991.-Early life:Schwarzkopf was born in Trenton, New...
- Patrick M. Stillman
Patrick M. Stillman was a Rear Admiral of the United States Coast Guard.Stillman graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1972 where he received a Bachelor of Science degree. Stillman was assistant commandant for governmental and public affairs and has held several sea commands...
- Edward D. Thalmann
Capt. Edward Deforest Thalmann, USN was an American hyperbaric medicine specialist who was principally responsible for developing the current United States Navy dive tables for mixed-gas diving, which are based on his eponymous Thalmann Algorithm...
- James Voss
- Patrick M. Walsh
Admiral Patrick M. Walsh, USN is the 59th Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He served as the 35th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from April 2007 to August 13, 2009, and as Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet from October 2005 to February 27, 2007...
- Doug Wheelock
- Frances C. Wilson
Frances C. Wilson is a retired lieutenant general of the United States Marine Corps, and is the immediate past president of the National Defense University.-Personal life and education:...
- Janet C. Wolfenbarger
Lieutenant General Janet Carol Wolfenbarger is vice commander of the United States Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.Wolfenbarger was confirmed by the United States Senate and immediately promoted on 2009 December 3....
- Thomas Andrews Drake
Thomas Andrews Drake is a former senior official of the U.S. National Security Agency , decorated United States Air Force and United States Navy veteran, computer software expert, linguist, management and leadership specialist, and whistleblower. In 2010 the government alleged that he 'mishandled'...
External links