Air and Space Overseas Ribbon Short Tour

Air and Space Overseas Ribbon Short Tour

Formerly the Air Force Overseas Service Ribbon Short Tour (AFOST)

Criteria: The Air and Space Overseas Service Ribbon is issued in two grades, a Long Tour and Short Tour version. First created in 1980 both the Short Tour and Long Tour ribbons may be worn simultaneously.

The Short Tour ribbon is normally awarded for a permanent duty station assignment of at least 300 days within an 18 month period. An example of this is the tours that many Airmen complete in South Korea, the most common short tour assignment. However, there are exceptions for the 300 day period typically involving deployment to hostile environments. Many Airmen had the requirement lowered to 181 days from 2003 to 2011 for such hazardous tours.

The Long Tour ribbon is awarded after the completion of a standard overseas service assignment, usually longer than two years in length. It can also be awarded for any service member that is assigned overseas duty (including combat tours) that are over 365 days multiple times during a 3 year period.

Subsequent awards of the ribbons are denoted by wearing a Oak Leaf Cluster device on the service ribbon. The Short Tour ribbon also has a "A" device that is approved for airmen who are served their tours in an Arctic based facility.