Accumulated Campaign Service Medal
Qualifying time amended
It has recently been announced that the qualifying time for the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal has been reduced from 36 months, to 24 months by kind approval of HM The Queen.
Service personnel will now be eligible for an Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (ACSM) after two years of operational service instead of the three years previously required. The change to the qualifying time criteria for the medal for members of the Armed Forces, MOD civil servants (this includes RFA) and contractors on Deployed Operations came into force on the 1st July 2011, following approval from Her Majesty the Queen. The medal itself will remain unchanged, but a new ribbon will be awarded.
The ACSM was instituted to recognise individual repeat operational service in those theatres where the General Service Medal (GSM 1962) with clasp was awarded since the 14th August 1969. In May 2000, the Operational Service Medal replaced the General Service Medal (GSM), 1962 as the United Kingdom’s campaign service medal. Consequently, the ACSM ribbon and qualifying period have been amended to recognise this change and range of qualifying service amended to reflect the contemporary operational and Medal environments.
To be eligible for this medal, an individual must hold a qualifying operational medal from the list below, or other specifically designated multinational campaign medals, and have completed more than 24 months (720 days) campaign service. Bars are to be awarded for each additional period of 720 days approved operational service. A month is defined as 30 days, and part-months may be accumulated.
The following campaign service counts towards the new ACSM:
General Service Medal Northern Ireland 14th August 1969 to 31st July 2007
General Service Medal for Dhofar 1st October 1969 to 30th September 1976
General Service Medal for the Lebanon 7th February 1983 to 9th March 1984
General Service Medal for Mine Clearance in the Gulf of Suez 15th August 1984 to 15th October 1984
General Service Medal for the Gulf 17th November 1986 to 28th February 1989
General Service Medal for Kuwait 8th March 1991 to 30th September 1991
General Service medal for Iraq and Southern Turkey 6th April 1991 to 17th July 1991
General Service Medal for Air Operations (South) 16th July 1991 to 18th March 2003 and Iraq (North) 16th July 1991 to 30th April 2003
Operational Service Medal for Sierra Leone 5th May 2000 to 31st July 2002
Operational Service medal for Afghanistan 11th September 2001 to date to be announced
Operational Service Medal for Republic of Congo 14th June 2003 to 10th September 2003
The Iraq Medal 20th January 2003 to 22nd May 2011
The Multinational campaign medals – approved since the 1st April 2000.
The following areas DO NOT count towards the new ACSM:
Service before the 14th August 1969
Kuwait before Operation Telic after the 10th August 2003
Service in the Balkans
Service in the British Embassy in Iraq
Service in Operation Bandog with the exception of Afghanistan
The Gulf War, where the individual was awarded the Gulf Medal 1990-91
The Falklands where the individual was awarded the South Atlantic Medal.
If you think you qualify for the new medal, please calculate your entitlement carefully and E-mail for an application form.