The Combat Readiness Medal is an

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army Si ...

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 ...

created in 1964. The original Combat Readiness Medal was an award senior to the Air Force Commendation Medal, and it was awarded for superior and meritorious duty to the United States Air Force. The award criteria for the medal were revised in 1967 and the Combat Readiness Medal adopted the designation as a service medal. The Combat Readiness Medal is awarded to any member of U.S. Air Force or U.S. Space Force, who have accomplished sustained individual combat mission readiness in an Air Force or Space Force weapon system or who have undertaken the preparedness for direct weapon-system employment. A service member must have completed 24 cumulative months of sustained duty performance for the medal to be received. The Combat Readiness Medal is given as a service award by an Air Force Major Command or Space Force Field Command. In many cases, those receiving the award have also qualified for the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

, the

Aerial Achievement Medal The Aerial Achievement Medal (AAM) is a decoration of the United States Air Force which was established in 1988. The decoration is intended to recognize the contributions of aircrew members who would, otherwise, not be qualified for the award of ...

or the

Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal The Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal is a service medal of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force established on 27 May 2014. The medal recognizes service by personnel in various career fields who have served in units ...

. For aeronautically rated Air Force officers and enlisted aircrew personnel, it is not unusual to receive one or both of the flight crew medals simultaneously with the Combat Readiness Medal. The medal was designed by the Institute of Heraldry. On the obverse, it has an inverted triangle on top of a delta-swept winglike object, both representing supersonic aircraft. This design is enclosed by a stylized compass rose, with triangles at the points, indicating the worldwide nature of the mission of the Air Force. The reverse of the medal has the inscription, "For Combat Readiness--Air Force" in a circle, near the outer edge of the medal. The ribbon has a wide center stripe of red, flanked on either side by a narrow stripe of light blue, thin stripe of dark blue, narrow stripe of light blue with a stripe of red at the edge. Multiple presentations of the Combat Readiness Medal are authorized, with additional awards denoted by oak leaf clusters. The

Combat crew badge The Combat Crew Badge was established by the United States Air Force on September 1, 1964. It was worn by those USAF personnel serving in positions where they were accruing creditable service towards the Combat Readiness Medal as outlined in U.S. ...

, a qualification accoutrement worn by crew members collecting time towards the medal, is no longer awarded. If an Air Force or Space Force member has the Combat Readiness Medal and does the Blue to Green program (Air Force/Space Force to Army transition) they are still authorized to wear the medal, but unlike in the Air Force and Space Force, it will be worn as the last medal/ribbon, but before any foreign awards.

References

{{USAF decorations Awards and decorations of the United States Air Force Awards and decorations of the United States Space Force Awards established in 1964 1964 establishments in the United States