Just which medals are "needed" then? :ooh:

OAP

Ones for operational deployments perhaps?

LS - goes with the leadership thing. Jubilees - dodgy ground.

We could always go back to the pre-1951 Good Conduct Stripes.



Hat, coat...........

Gijoe, like swimming in the pool, happy hour, wandering round the bazaars and other delights. A threat maybe, but running around with cabbage kit, tin hats etc, no way. Running at all was a no no, and the most rigorous events were a jungle walk in Singapore and R2I training in Boogie Street.

What's this then??

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/q...-medal-reduced

I see that the term 'Bars' is used, not 'Clasps'.

TTN Any comment?

I have no idea how that links to my points or what you are on about.

The AcSM - removing the need for another medal to be approved before it counts towards the new AcSM would be a partial victory...but still a cop out.

Bars are for repeat awards (eg DFC and Bar). Clasps are to designate theatres of operations (OSM Afghanistan with Clasp, GSM with Northern Ireland Clasp).

Am I missing the point with the AcSM? Are some campaigns (with their own awards) TOTALLY without merit if an individual did not reach the Medal qualifying period? Surely, such unrecognised service should count towards the AcSM? :confused:

OAP

If it's any help, I was awarded mine today by a very nice 1*.

I was assuming that additional time would be in different theatres.

But time in several theatres can count towards each award.

So different to the old GSM

Hello Ian. Well Orgasmic is correct, but I have to confess that I, like most people in the medal world, would tend to say "bar" where I should say "clasp", eg "I have the 1962 GSM with the 'South Arabia' bar"

Yes, indeed. It accounts for time on operations in general. Several RLC mates of mine have ACSMs for the multiple Bosnia tours they did in the mid-90s - one campaign medal (with a brass numeral on the ribbon to indicated the number of tours completed, a NATO thing) then an ACSM to denote 6+ tours, assuming 6 months each. I know one unlucky sod who has his ACSM for multiple tours of NI during the Troubles alongside his GSM62 with Clasp Northern Ireland.

I stand ready to be corrected, but I don't believe time served on NATO or UN medal qualifying operations counts towards either ACSM.

I take it that all time in different theatres is now equal?

Unlike the old GSM's, where one had to serve 30 days in the Canal Zone but 90 days in Cyprus for the local clasp/medal.

'Am I missing the point with the AcSM? Are some campaigns (with their own awards) TOTALLY without merit if an individual did not reach the Medal qualifying period? Surely, such unrecognised service should count towards the AcSM?'

Nope - I think you have it. Some campaigns with their own awards will also qualify towards the award of the AcSM.

Some op time will not - ie UN.

So those like SHADER, KIPION etc do not qualify towards the AcSM because they have not been deemed worthy by Senior Leadership of their own campaign medal.

The AcSM was all about keeping the Royal Irish in NI happy as they thought they were being short changed by doing multiple tours of NI....which was where most of them lived and drank tea in Sandy's for the majority of their career so the the hardship wasn't that hard. The risk and rigour in NI really wasn't that bad.

G

Assume you mean if you only do 25 days rather than the 30 needed for the medal, does the 25 days still count towards the ACSM or in every case do you have to meet the qualification criteria in order for the time to also count to the ACSM?

I hope not as I've got a couple of short last minute dets where I was covering gaps that weren't in themselves long enough for a gong, but were in medal earning appointments. That I'd already got the gongs was probably in part why I was asked to do them as I wasn't losing out on anything. The way I read the criteria in the earlier link is that as long as you have the qualifying medals, how you accumulate the time shouldn't matter. Otherwise it would not the Accumulated Campaign Sevice (subject to Ts&Cs) Medal.

That time should count as you it would have been in a medal-qualifying theatre.

Nope - it's time after the medal qualifying time.

As put forward by the MoD Medals Office.

ARRSE has thread on this - it seems someone in the Medal Office is reading the rules in a very odd manner...

It depends - as an example, the UN medal for DR Congo counts towards an ACSM.