The Operational Service Medal Iraq and Syria or Operation Shader Medal is a

British armed forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

campaign medal A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of an armed force who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater. Campaign medals are very similar to service medals but carry a high ...

, awarded mostly to military personnel who served in the operational area of, or in support of

Operation Shader Operation Shader is the operational code name given to the contribution of the United Kingdom in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The operation involves the British Army providing ground s ...

. The medal was first announced by former

Defence Secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

, Sir Michael Fallon on 19 September 2017. It was first awarded, to service personnel, on 18 July 2018 in London by Defence Secretary

Gavin Williamson Sir Gavin Alexander Williamson (born 25 June 1976) is a British politician who most recently served as Minister of State without Portfolio from 25 October to 8 November 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Staffordshire s ...

. This Operational Service Medal is the first medal of the contemporary era to be awarded to individuals who served outside of the operational area, reflecting the changing nature of warfare.

Operational Service Medal

The Operational Service Medal (OSM) was established in 1999 to replace the

General Service Medal (1962) __NOTOC__ The General Service Medal (1962 GSM, also sometimes referred to as the Campaign Service Medal), is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom introduced in 1962 to replace both the General Service Medal (1918), as awarded to the Army and ...

for all new operations. A separate medal of the same design is awarded for each campaign, differentiated by a distinct ribbon. Prior to its most recent version, the medal has been awarded for three separate campaigns: * Afghanistan (from 11 September 2001) * Sierra Leone (May 2000 – July 2002) * Democratic Republic of Congo (June – September 2003)

Medal

The Operational Service Medal for Iraq and Syria is silver and circular in shape. * Obverse: the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID. DEF. * Reverse: the

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

, surrounded by the inscription FOR OPERATIONAL SERVICE and the four major points of the compass with, between the points, four Coronets: Royal (top left),

Naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

(top right), Mural-

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

(bottom left), and Astral-

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(bottom right). * Ribbon: a broad central red stripe, flanked each side by a stripe of navy blue and one of light blue, to represent the three services, with an outer stripe of grey. *Clasp: ''Iraq & Syria'' clasp awarded to those recipients who served in the operational area. A silver rosette denotes the clasp when worn on the

ribbon bar A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

Criteria

The Queen approved eligibility criteria for the medal to include those personnel who have made a significant contribution to efforts in Iraq and Syria, including civilians, even if those efforts were outside the operational area. Those personnel awarded the medal who served outside the operational area will receive the medal without the clasp. With a clasp The medal is awarded with the clasp ‘Iraq and Syria’ to British service and attached personnel who: * 30 days continuous or 45 days cumulative operational service in the international boundaries of Iraq and Syria * 10 operational sorties over Iraq and/or 6 operational sorties over Syria with the RAF Without a clasp The criteria for the award of the medal without clasp is: * 50 hours on Operation SHADER missions as an RPAS pilot, sensor operator or mission intelligence coordinator; * 45 days continuous or 60 days cumulative service with significant support or direct contribution to Op SHADER with specific units and specified locations, which include Al Udeid, Crete, Cyprus, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Operational Service Medal Iraq and Syria British campaign medals 2018 establishments in the United Kingdom