The Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), as amended (38 U.S.C. § 4212), prohibits discrimination against protected veterans. Under VEVRAA, a veteran may be classified as a “disabled veteran,” “recently separated veteran,” “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran,” or “Armed Forces Service Medal veteran.” These classes of veterans are known as protected veteran status.
What qualifies as an Armed Forces Service Medal veteran?
Most recently in 2020, the Department of Defense announced the approval of the award of the Armed Forces Service Medal to eligible military personnel for qualifying coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) operations and activities. The period of the award is from Jan. 31, 2020 to a date to be determined.
Prior to those dates, the Armed Forces Service Medal had been issued several times dating back to 1992 for operations in Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Haiti, and other locations both overseas and domestically. Award of the medal granted veterans who earned it protected status. What qualifies as an Armed Forces Service Medal veteran?
An Armed Forces Service Medal veteran is defined as a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a U.S. military operation for which an Armed Forces Service Medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985, Establishing the Armed Forces Service Medal, Jan. 11, 1996.
Veterans unsure of their status as a protected veteran might ask what qualifies as an Armed Forces Service Medal veteran? The best place to start is with a veteran’s DD Form 214. Any awards that have been earned while on active service will be listed on the 214.
The Armed Forces Service Medal is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who participate as members of U.S. military units in a military operation that is deemed significant by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and encounter no foreign armed opposition or imminent threat of hostile actions, so that might answer the question what qualifies as an Armed Forces Service Medal veteran? But for the sake of granularity, the Armed Forces Service Medal is presented for participation in peacekeeping operations, prolonged humanitarian operations, and U.S. military operations in direct support of the United Nations or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and for operations of assistance to friendly foreign nations.
What qualifies as an Armed Forces Service Medal veteran? Active duty, reserve and National Guard personnel are eligible for the Armed Forces Service Medal as outlined in DoD Manual 1348.33, DoD Manual of Military Decorations and Awards — Campaign, Expeditionary, and Service Medals. The military department secretaries ordinarily determine eligibility for award to service members in his or her respective military department based on DoD award criteria. The chief of the National Guard Bureau determines eligibility for National Guard members who do not fall under the purview of a secretary of a military department. But what qualifies as an Armed Forces Service Medal veteran or a protected veteran is determined by first earning the award.
23 comments
I would like to know why we of the Cold War era have been left out of everything, just a forgotten bunch of soldiers. I was in Europe from 1963 to 1966, twice we were at the Fulda Gap to meet the Russians head on and with live ammo, the border was patrolled 24 hours a day with live ammo, and it was hot, also this did meet the requirement status for John F Kennedy’s Armed
Forces Expeditionary Medal, but no way. We never were able to receive the Overseas medal. That is only good for after 1981. We
were all setting ducks in case of action, but we get nothing. I sure
would like an answer. We are deserving of some recognition and
support. That may have been a long time ago, but a few of us are still alive and remember looking at the enemy as they watched us
across the line. We all would like an answer.
Shirley Hensley,
Hi. Thanks for posting. And thank you both for your brave service during the Vietnam War.
We’re not sure about whether or not you qualify. It might be easiest to find the Air Force Regulation/Instruction that governs awards and decorations (medals) and look up the AFSM to see if they have award criteria outlined in it.
If they do not, you can reach out to the Air Force Personnel Center and get their input about how to research this. It shoud be something you can find online. But if you run into brick walls, reach out to your local congressman and have them chase it down for you. They can be very helpful if you run into dead ends. Hope this helps. And thanks again for your service.
Steve
USAMM Communications
My husband and I were stationed at CCK Taiwan, from there we were at Saigon, Vietnam in1992. Our next permanent duty station was Little Rock AFB, AR. When the war was ending Gary, my husband and a loadmaster on C130’s, was part of the group to go back to Saigon to rescue the remaining US personnel and many local citizens. When they brought them back to Little Rock, I was on the Humanitarian team to receive and process them. Does this qualify us for the Armed Forces Service Medal?
Thank You
@Douglas Morsette, I was also at Torrejon AFB, Spain during this period. My DD-214 is similarly annotated with the NDSM. I’m trying to determine my “veteran status” as well. I typically do not declare I’m protected when filling out forms as I don’t know if I am protected and I don’t want to misrepresent myself. My online search has me going back and forth. Did you find a definitive source and answer to our common question?
What about the Cuban Missel crises? Oct 16 1962 thru Nov 20 1962. The un war: war that could have ended all of us; yet few shots were fired. The war where all B52’s and KC 135 that could get into the air (from SAC) were not just in the air but inside of Russia with targets in site, weapons armed and bomb-bay doors open. Meanwhile on the ground our orders were: “If you survive rebuild the runway so any returning aircraft can land”! Saboteurs were infiltrating our bases a few were discovered and delt with, but did you ever hear that? A/B, A3, A/2 were issued spring fields and put onto airplanes orbiting positions that were hoped would be safe yet positions they could defined. these were mostly in Europe as I understand it. The NCO’s with the A1C were left on the bases to fulfill the mission of rebuilding.
Thanks for a platform to sound off!
Brown Wayne A1c USAF March 1959-1963 active
Douglas Morsette, thanks for writing. If you were in the Air Force, my advice would be to reach out to the USAF personnel center, the awards and decs office, and get their feedback. Usually, online, you can find published guidance on who is eligible for what. You can also enlist the help of your congressional rep if you run into walls. The internet is very useful in determining award eligibility. All the award regulations, personnel messages and other useful docs are posted online. Good luck! If you’ve earned them, it should be no more than a little effort to get them sent to you.
I was in Spain at Torrejon AFB during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I helped support all incoming troops (Army, Marines, Airmen, and Navy personnel) during this time. Troops would fly into Torrejon during this time, refuel, and go to the middle east. I received a National Defense Service Medal on my DD Form 214 but no Armed Forces Service Medal. Shouldn’t I have received an Armed Forces Service Medal?