Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Award

The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOTE) is a decoration of the United States Armed Forces presented to members of the U.S. military who have served in the War on Terror while on foreign shores from September 11, 2001 to a yet to be determined date. As of May 2005 the Iraq Campaign Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal replace the GWOTE Medal for service members who are deployed in either of these two locations. Personnel who received the GWOTE Medal for service in Iraq or Afghanistan may choose to exchange their it for one of the new models. For all other approved anti-terrorism locations the GWOTE Medal is still utilized. As of February 9th, 2015 service members are authorized to wear Service Stars on their Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medals (GWOT-EM) to represent deployments in support of approved GWOT operations.

The five GWOT-EM approved operations are:

Operation Inclusive Dates
ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) Sep 11, 2001 – TBD
IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) Mar 19, 2003 – Aug 31, 2010
NOMAD SHADOW (ONS) Nov 5, 2007 – TBD
NEW DAWN (OND) Sep 1, 2010 – Dec 31, 2011
INHERENT RESOLVE (OIR) June 15, 2014 – TBD

Only one GWOT-EM is awarded for each approved operation. For example, a service member who was awarded the medal for an Operation Enduring Freedom deployment, and is subsequently authorized a second award for an Operation Inherent Resolve deployment would wear a single Service Star on the GWOT-EM to denote both awards.

To be eligible, service members must have served in deployed status for at least 30 consecutive or 60 cumulative days within an authorized anti-terrorism operations. Service time may be waived when a service member participated in active combat, required medical evacuation after having been wounded or posthumously for any service member who dies from combat or non-combat wounds while in the line of duty. The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal is a similar award, with the primary difference being that it is awarded for service within the United States, while the GWOTE Medal is generally awarded for service on foreign shores.