The Meritorious Public Service Medal formerly the Outstanding Civilian Service Award is the third highest honor within the public service awards scheme of the

Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is org ...

that can be awarded to a

private citizen A private citizen is someone who does not have an official or professional role in a given situation. The same person may be a private citizen in one role, and an official in another. For example, a legislator is an official when voting in the leg ...

Eligibility

The Secretary of the Army or a major commander may award this medal to eligible recipients, including civilians not employed by the Army or Army contractors (who are eligible for Army honorary awards), military personnel, Federal Government officials at the policy development level, and technical personnel who serve the Army in an advisory capacity or as consultant, for "outstanding service that makes a substantial contribution or is of significance to the Major Command concerned."

Criteria

The

Secretary of the Army The secretary of the Army (SA or SECARMY) is a senior civilian official within the United States Department of Defense, with statutory responsibility for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, insta ...

or a major commander may award this medal for outstanding service that makes a substantial contribution or is of significance to the major Army command concerned. Commanders of Major Army commands may delegate approval authority for this award to any commander in the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

or above.

Appearance

The Meritorious Public Service Medal is a bronze disc in height and in width. On the

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

is an equilateral triangle symbolic of the civilian. Superimposed on the triangle is the eagle from the Great Seal of the United States. At the base of the medal is a wreath denoting nonmilitary service. The reverse of the medal is inscribed ''AWARDED TO'' and ''FOR MERITORIOUS PUBLIC SERVICE TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY''. The medal is suspended by a ribbon in width consisting of 13 alternating stripes equally spaced, seven white and six red. Centered on each white stripe is with an oriental blue stripe wide.

Notable recipients

* William Atwater - author and former Director of the

United States Army Ordnance Museum The United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility (formerly known as the U.S. Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center and U.S. Army Ordnance Museum) artifacts are used to train and educate logistic soldiers. It re-located to Fort Lee ( ...

* BG

Albert Bryant, Jr. Albert Bryant Jr. (born February 22, 1952) is a retired United States Army brigadier general, best known for service as the Chief of Western Hemisphere Operations during and in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and for his tenure as the As ...

, USA (Ret.) * E.N.J. Carter - creator of the "''

Be All You Can Be BE or be may refer to: Linguistics * ''To be'', the English copular verb * Be (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet * ''be'' (interjection), in several languages * Be language or Ong Be, a language of northern Hainan province, China *Bla ...

''" slogan *

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

- TV talk show host for his continued support of U.S. troops *

Paul Fiset Paul Fiset (English pronunciation: ''Fih-ZAY''; November 7, 1922 – February 27, 2001) was a Canadian-American microbiologist and virologist. His research helped to develop one of the first successful Q fever vaccines, noted by ''The New York ...

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

- Armed Forces Epidemiological Board 19651976 and consultant to the Surgeon General * SMA Richard A. Kidd, USA (Ret.) - former

Sergeant Major of the Army The Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) is a unique non-commissioned rank and position of office in the United States Army. The holder of this rank and position is the most senior enlisted soldier in the Army, unless an enlisted soldier is servin ...

* Captain

David Minard Captain David Minard, MC, USN (May 23, 1913 – October 9, 2005) was an American physiologist who was heat stress physiologist for Project Mercury, the United States' first human spaceflight. In the late 1950s, Minard as a captain in the U.S. Na ...

, M.P.H., MC USN -

Mercury Seven The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959; these seve ...

heat stress Hyperthermia, also known simply as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extreme ...

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

for

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from t ...

- most decorated US Army soldier in World War II *

Francis Joseph Murray Francis Joseph Murray (February 3, 1911 – March 15, 1996) was a mathematician, known for his foundational work (with John von Neumann) on functional analysis, and what subsequently became known as von Neumann algebras. He received his BA from C ...

Mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

known for his foundational work on

functional analysis Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. Inner product space#Definition, inner product, Norm (mathematics)#Defini ...

* Mark Pfeifle - former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Global Outreach under President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. * Elihu Rose - military historian *

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served as ...

- former Commissioner of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for MLB's support of veterans and their families. *

Gary Sinise Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, humanitarian, and musician. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a st ...

- Hon.

CPO CPO may refer to: Occupations * Certified Professional Organizer * Certified Protection Officer, a professional certification for security officers from the International Foundation for Protection Officers * Chief people officer, a corporate of ...

, USN - for substantial contributions to the U.S. Army community through his work with the Gary Sinise Foundation * Emil Skodon - former

United States Ambassador to Brunei The United States ambassador to Brunei is the official representative of the president of the United States and the American government to the monarch and government of Brunei. The position is held by Caryn McClelland, who presented her credentia ...

and a career

foreign service officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

* Jay Luvaas – military historian

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award Awards and decorations of the United States Department of Defense

Eligibility

Criteria

Appearance

Notable recipients

See also

References