The Naval Reserve Medal is a decoration of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

which was created by order of Secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson on 12 September 1938. The medal was first issued in 1938 and was an active award until 1958. On 12 September 1958, the Naval Reserve Medal was declared discontinued and was replaced by the

Armed Forces Reserve Medal The Armed Forces Reserve Medal (AFRM) is a service medal of the United States Armed Forces that has existed since 1950. The medal recognizes service performed by members of the reserve components and is awarded to both officers and enlisted per ...

. It is not to be confused with the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal which is a different award that was discontinued on 1 January 2014. The Naval Reserve Medal was awarded to any commissioned officer or enlisted member of

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...

(USNR), the associated National Naval Volunteers, and local

naval militia A naval militia is a reserve military organization administered under the authority of a state government in the United States. It is often composed of reservists of the Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve, retirees ...

units of the period. To be awarded the decoration, a service member was required to perform ten years of continuous service in one of the aforementioned components in either an active duty, drilling reservist, or inactive status. An additional award of the NRM is denoted by a

service star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or se ...

. The

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

equivalent to the award is the

Marine Corps Reserve Ribbon The Marine Corps Reserve Ribbon was a service ribbon of the United States Marine Corps which was issued between the dates of the December 17, 1945, and December 17, 1965. The ribbon was first created by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and ...

. The Naval Reserve Medal originally held precedence just below that of the

Navy Good Conduct Medal The Good Conduct Medal is one of the oldest military awards of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Navy's variant of the Good Conduct Medal was established in 1869, the Marine Corps version in 1896, the Coast Guard version in 1923, the Arm ...

which, in turn, held precedence just below unit awards. Sometime after 1958, the precedence of the Naval Reserve Medal was moved to rank just below the Armed Forces Reserve Medal making it the lowest ranking medal awarded by the United States Armed Forces aside from the Navy and Coast Guard expert marksmanship medals. As the NRM was only available for exactly 20 years and 0 days, and required 10 years and 0 days USNR service, no sailor could possibly receive more than two. Additionally, with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(WW II) pulling the vast majority of Naval Reservists into active duty the Regular Navy, the number of sailors to receive two NRMs is fantastically low, with all two-time recipients having had to serve a total of 20 years in the Naval Reserve between September 1938 and September 1958, e.g., before, during and after WW II. Therefore, most one-time recipients served in the USNR after WW II in the 1946-1958 window.

References

{{US navy department decorations Awards and decorations of the United States Navy Awards established in 1938 1938 establishments in the United States United States Navy Reserve