Updated: 12 November, 2001

Britain

The United Nations Special Service Medal

The United Nations Special Service Medal has been authorized for acceptance and wear by U.K. servicemen. The applicable details can be found in Defence Council Instruction (DCI) No. 119 of 1997.

  1. Her Majesty The Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the unrestricted acceptance and wearing by U.N. Service personnel of the United Nations Special Service Medal for services in the co-ordination of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan (UNOCHA) in 1989 and 1990.
  2. The medal, with clasp denoting the theatre of operation, will be awarded to personnel who served for a total of 90 days in the theatre of operation.
  3. The United Nations Special Service Medal, which is of bronze and is suspended from a ribbon of United nations blue with a white stripe at each edge, will take precedence in order of date of award, equal to that of the General Service Medal 1962 and medals denoting service in specific theatres.

NOTES: It is thought that this particular U.N. issue will be quite scarce. Present indications are that the entitled personnel will be 16 Royal Engineers. It should be noted that this medal is designed to bear different clasps for each operation. To date, the only issues seen do not bear any clasp. It is also thought that the U.N. Special Service Medal has also been approved by The Queen for award to those participating in the Sarajevo Airlift, but no DCI has yet been issued. It will probably also be used to reward those serving in Iraq with UNSCOM.

updated.gif (168 bytes)Reference: Defence Council Instruction (DCI) 15 of 1997

  1. Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the unrestricted acceptance and wearing by UK Service personnel of the United Nations Special Service medal for services in, or in direct support of, the airlift to Sarajevo from 3 Jul 92 until 12 Jan 96.

     

  2. The medal, with clasp denoting the theatre of operation, will be awarded to:
  1. The United Nations Special Service Medal, which is of bronze and is suspended from a ribbon of United Nations blue with a white stripe at each edge, will take precedence, in order of award, equal to that of the General Service Medal, 1962 and medals denoting service in specific theatres (eg, the Gulf Medal).

     

  2. UK Service personnel will not be eligible for the UNPROFOR Medal (see DCI Gen of 1993), the United Nations Special Service Medal, the NATO Medal (see DCI Gen of 1995) or the WEU Mission Service Medal (DCI 280/96) in respect of the same period of operational service. Permission to accept and wear more than one of these medals will only be granted when each period of qualifying service can be clearly differentiated. Concurrent qualification is not admissible.

The Wearing of Numerals or Bars Denoting Multiple Tours with U.N., N.AT.O., W.E.U.

The wearing of numerals or bars denoting multiple tours with UN, NATO or WEU forces for U.K. servicemen is described in Defence Council Instruction (DCI) No. 200 of 1997.

  1. Rules for the wearing of numerals are derived solely from the instructions issued by the secretaries of the U.N., N.A.T.O., or W.E.U. as amended by any bilateral agreement between the U.K. and the organisation. Practice or custom in other nations also in receipt of the same medals is not to be adopted by U.K. service personnel unless explicitly authorised in DCIs. The U.N. makes official provision for numerals, N.A.T.O. and W.E.U. do not. The rules, together with the reference of the international source document should this ever need to be quoted are:
  1. U.N. (Reference: Regulations for the U.N. Medal ST/SGB/119/Rev 1 dated 16 Feb 66.)
  1. Personnel must be under the operational or tactical control of the U.N.
  2. The qualifying service for numerals shall be 180 days from the date of qualification for the medal or the previous numeral. Only service of at least 90 consecutive days can be counted towards the total qualifying period.
  3. A period of qualifying service shall not be required for posthumous awards to personnel killed on U.N. service.
  4. Exceptional acts of bravery may be considered (for an award of a numeral for less than the normal qualifying time.)
  1. N.A.T.O. (Reference ACE directive 40-8 dated 22 Aug 96). There is no provision for numerals, bars or numbers engraved on the medal face to denote multiple tours. There is not intention by N.A.T.O., at this time, to introduce them. It has been reported that there are N.A.T.O. medals in circulation, with other nations, that are so adorned. In addition it has been noted that multiple tours by some other nations are rewarded by the wearing of a medal for each tour. Neither of these practices are to be adopted by U.K. Service personnel.
  2. W.E.U. (Reference W.E.U..CWG/S(95) dated 7 Jul 95). There is no provision for denoting multiple tours, although it might be that a specific operations may attract different date bars.

 

NOTE: Numerals are currently authorised to be worn by British Service Personnel for the U.N. Cyprus Medal only.

The Wearing of U.K. Fourth Level Awards on UN, NATO, and WEU Medal Ribbons - MID, QCVS, QCB, QCB(Air)

The wearing of U.K. Fourth Level Awards on UN, NATO or WEU Medal Ribbons - MID, QCVX, QCB, QCB (Air) by U.K. servicemen is described in Defence Council Instruction (DCI) No. 201 of 1997.

  1. Following agreement by the UN, NATION and WEU authorities, The Queen has approved a measure (HD 7658) which recommends the wearing of the emblems of the British Fourth Level Awards on the appropriate ribbons of the UN, NATO and WEU. This may be enacted by those qualified with immediate effect.

NOTE: The effect is to authorize British personnel who have been mentioned or won a commendation in an operational list for service in a theatre recognised by a UN, NATO or WEU service medal. It is intended to have retrospective effect back to the UN Cyprus Medal. This somewhat overdue measure will have the effect of shifting quite a large number of emblems off the uniform jacket and on to a ribbon.

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