Volunteer Reserves Service Medal
Encyclopedia
The Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VRSM) is a medal awarded to all members of the reserves of all of the branches of the British Armed Forces
- the Royal Naval Reserve
, the Royal Marines Reserve
, the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force
. It replaced the separate medals awarded to officers and other ranks in each of the services - the Royal Navy
's Reserve Decoration and Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, the British Army
's Territorial Decoration
and Efficiency Medal (Territorial)
, and the Royal Air Force
's Air Efficiency Award
- from 1 April 1999.
oval, 38mm high and 32mm wide, with an image of the monarch on the obverse and the words "For Service in the Volunteer Reserves" on the reverse, above a sprig of oak leaves and acorns. The medal is suspended from a ribbon that represents each of the services (narrow stripes of navy blue, red and sky blue, for the Navy, Army and Air Force, respectively) separated by a thin strip of yellow from dark green bands (representing the Reserves) on either side. Members of the Honourable Artillery Company
receive the same medal but with their own ribbon.
. See also Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal
(QVRM).
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
- the Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
, the Royal Marines Reserve
Royal Marines Reserve
The role of the Royal Marines Reserve of the United Kingdom is to support the regular Royal Marines in times of war or national crisis. The RMR consists of some 600-1000 trained ranks distributed among the five RMR Centres within the UK...
, the Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force
Royal Auxiliary Air Force
The Royal Auxiliary Air Force , originally the Auxiliary Air Force , is the voluntary active duty reserve element of the Royal Air Force, providing a primary reinforcement capability for the regular service...
. It replaced the separate medals awarded to officers and other ranks in each of the services - the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's Reserve Decoration and Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's Territorial Decoration
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
and Efficiency Medal (Territorial)
Efficiency Medal
The Efficiency Medal was a medal of Britain and the Commonwealth awarded for long service in the Territorial Army of the UK, the Indian Volunteer Forces and Colonial Auxiliary Forces....
, and the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
's Air Efficiency Award
Air Efficiency Award
The Air Efficiency award, abbreviated to AE when placed after a holder's name, was a United Kingdom honour given for ten years' efficient service in the Reserve Air Forces of the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and Empire. Unlike other long service and meritorious conduct awards, both officers and...
- from 1 April 1999.
Description
The medal is a silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
oval, 38mm high and 32mm wide, with an image of the monarch on the obverse and the words "For Service in the Volunteer Reserves" on the reverse, above a sprig of oak leaves and acorns. The medal is suspended from a ribbon that represents each of the services (narrow stripes of navy blue, red and sky blue, for the Navy, Army and Air Force, respectively) separated by a thin strip of yellow from dark green bands (representing the Reserves) on either side. Members of the Honourable Artillery Company
Honourable Artillery Company
The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...
receive the same medal but with their own ribbon.
Criteria
The VRSM is awarded after 10 years service in the reserves, although service in the regular forces before joining the reserves may count towards the qualifying period. It should be noted however that a maximum of five years regular service can be counted and this service is counted as half qualifying time IE five years regular service counts as two and a half years service towards this medal. A clasp is awarded for each additional 5 years of service. Unlike earlier decorations, a recipient is not entitled to post-nominal lettersPost-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles or designatory letters, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour. An individual may use several different sets of...
. See also Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal
Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal
The Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal was instituted by Her Majesty The Queen by Royal Warrant on 29 March 1999 and it was announced in Parliament on 1 April 1999. There are only 13 QVRM awards made in any one year, and they are presented only to members of the Volunteer Reserves of all 3 Armed...
(QVRM).