The lack of medallic recognition is becoming a major issue for a lot of guys. In the RN for instance there are people who have done 5,6 or more tours in Bahrain. The argument that 'oh but you get LSA' seems to ignore the fact that you are away from home, subject to pressures that are not necessarily hostile, but which do place restrictions on your life, and which do involve a lot of commitment.
I personally think beyond the 'Long Service', 'Campaign' and 'Gallantry' medals, that a 4th category is needed for what I'd call 'deployment' medals. Essentially a single gong which you can add clasps to for time deployed on an Operation that is not a Campaign. This would recognise repeat offenders in the Cyprus / Bahrain areas, but also allow for a SHADER campaign medal for those on the ground or in airspace to sublty differentiate the additional risk.
The days of people with the HERRICK/TELIC combo being commonplace are drawing to an end, with far fewer people having that now. Yet we remain busy and operationally deployed, even if not every deployment is a two way range. Recognising that our people do great work overseas in a small way seems reasonable to me.