The Bronze Star Medal is a United States decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.
The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military award of the United States Army that is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States military, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility. The performance must be such as to merit recognition for service that is clearly exceptional. Exceptional performance of normal duty will not alone justify an award of this decoration.
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments.
The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth version existing for acts of joint military service performed under the Department of Defense.
The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal. The medal is awarded in the name of the Secretary of Defense to members of the Armed Forces who, while serving in a joint activity, distinguish themselves by non-combat outstanding achievement or meritorious service, but not of a degree to warrant award of the Defense Superior Service Medal.
The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize the contributions of junior officers and enlisted personnel who were not eligible to receive the higher Commendation Medal or the Meritorious Service Medal.
A "V" device is a metal 1⁄4-inch (6.4 mm) capital letter "V" with serifs which, when worn on certain decorations awarded by the United States Armed Forces, distinguishes an award for heroism or valor in combat instead of for meritorious service or achievement.
The Air Force Organizational Excellence Award is a unit award of the United States Air Force created by the Secretary of the Air Force on 26 August 1969. The award is presented to Air Force internal organizations that are entities within larger organizations. Examples of eligible organizations are MAJCOM headquarters, Field Operating Agencies, Direct Reporting Units, and other unique unnumbered organizations.
The Meritorious Team Commendation (MTC) is a unit award of the United States Coast Guard. Created on 22 December 1993, the Meritorious Team Commendation is awarded for performance of exceptional actions that would normally warrant a Commandant's Letter of Commendation if recognizing an individual. Recognized groups must also display cohesion and teamwork noticeable to upper echelon commanders. The MTC is awarded to groups or teams that are not identifiable by OPFAC as a United States Coast Guard unit. The MTC may be awarded to military personnel, Coast Guard Auxiliarists, and civilians.
The Southwest Asia Service Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service members who performed duty as part of the Persian Gulf War and for a time thereafter. The medal was designed by Nadine Russell of the Army's Institute of Heraldry. The colors of the ribbon are tan, representing sand, with the black, white, red, blue, and green colors symbolizing the colors of coalition countries' national flags.
The Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) is a military award presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States subsequent to January 16, 1969.
The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium.
Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force are military decorations which are issued by the Department of the Air Force to United States Air Force and United States Space Force service members and members of other military branches serving under Air Force and Space Force commands.
Awards and decorations of the United States government are civilian awards of the U.S. federal government which are typically issued for sustained meritorious service, in a civilian capacity, while serving in the U.S. federal government. Certain U.S. government awards may also be issued to military personnel of the United States Armed Forces and be worn in conjunction with awards and decorations of the United States military. In order of precedence, those U.S. non-military awards and decorations authorized for wear are worn after U.S. military personal decorations and unit awards and before U.S. military campaign and service awards.
The Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service is the highest award granted by the Secretary of the Air Force to civilian employees of the U.S. Department of the Air Force. It consists of a medal, lapel button, and citation certificate. With the exception of nominations for bravery, nominees must have established a demonstrable pattern of excellence and achievement which normally have been recognized by previous awards up to and including the Meritorious Civilian Service Award.
The Meritorious Civilian Service Award is commonly the second highest award and medal provided to civilian employees within agencies of the federal government of the United States. However, the various agencies' awards are not directly comparable. For example, the US Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award is equivalent to the US military Legion of Merit, while the US Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award is equivalent to the lower US military Meritorious Service Medal.
The Meritorious Civilian Service Award is the third highest award granted by the Commanders. It consists of a medal, lapel button, and citation certificate. Nominees must have established a pattern of excellence, normally demonstrated by the receipt of lower level awards. The award is comparable to the military Meritorious Service Medal. On 13 April 1987, the Army Chief of Staff approved this award as the Superior Civilian Service. In November 2014, the Department of the Army Civilian Service Medals were renamed by the Secretary of the Army to align award names closer to their military equivalents. At that time the award was renamed the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal and the design of the medal was modified to reflect that change.
The Office of the Secretary of the Defense Medal for Valor is the highest civilian award for valor presented by the United States Department of Defense. Created in 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the medal recognizes government employees and private citizens who perform an act of heroism or sacrifice, with voluntary risk to their personal safety in the face of danger.
The National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation (NIMUC) is an award of the National Intelligence Awards Program, for contributions to the United States Intelligence Community. It may be "...awarded for the collective performance of a unit or group that has resulted in accomplishments of a clearly superior nature and of significant benefit to the Intelligence Community".
The National Intelligence Cross is a decoration of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) awarded under the National Intelligence Awards (NIA) Program by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). It is the highest award presented by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It is equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency's Distinguished Intelligence Cross.
