The Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon (AFESR) is a military award of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

and

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...

which was first created in June 2003 as the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon. The ribbon is awarded to any member of the Air Force or Space Force who completes a standard contingency deployment. On 16 November 2020, the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon was renamed to the Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon by the Secretary of the Air Force. The regulations of the Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon define a deployment as either forty-five consecutive days or ninety non-consecutive days in a deployed status. Temporary duty orders also qualify towards the ninety-day time requirement. For deployments exceeding 45–90 days, a single Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon will be awarded for the entire time frame rather than issuing multiple awards for the same period of deployed service.

Gold frame

Similar to the US Army's Combat Service Identification Badge (CSIB), for those service members who serve in designated combat zones and participate in combat operations, a gold frame, which the Air Force and Space Force refers to as a gold border, may be attached to the ASESR basic ribbon. However, it can also be awarded to those who serve in areas where the service member receives hostile fire pay and supports combat operations. The gold border is issued as a one-time award only, regardless of the number of combat operations in which a service member serves. The Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border may also be awarded to certain "over-the horizon" combat assignments, such as remotely piloted vehicle operators for employing a long-range weapon into a combat zone. It is therefore possible to earn the gold border even when stationed at a secure military installation in the United States geographically separated from the battlefield by thousands of miles. Such personnel, however, must have first earned the Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon before the ribbon can be upgraded with a gold border. Additional awards of the Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon are denoted by

oak leaf clusters An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

and the award is retroactive to October 1, 1999.

Symbolism

The center stripe is light blue and stands for Air Force and Space Force capability. From this center stripe outward on each side, the narrow white stripe stands for integrity; ultramarine blue represents worldwide deployment; Department of the Air Force yellow stands for excellence, and the last two stripes (scarlet and blue) stand for the United States.

References

External links

Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon
Air Force Personnel Center
New ribbon recognizes deployed airmen
Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs, 9/26/2003 {{USAF decorations Expeditionary Service Ribbon Awards and decorations of the United States Space Force Awards established in 2003 Military ribbons of the United States