Dallas,
Like it or not, it's going to happen. It was specifically noted in the Holmes medal review that direct entry officers were the only people not eligible for some form of long service award, an anomaly when you note that Reservist officers without time in the ranks before commissioning qualify.
It's all 'one force' now, I don't see how they will be able to ignore it especially with the issue of the NDM being kicked into the long grass. This would mean that as long as you met the criteria, everybody should leave service with at least one gong.