Armed Forces Reserve Medal

The Armed Forces Reserve Medal 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 personnel. The medal is considered a successor award to the Naval Reserve Medal and the Marine Corps Reserve Ribbon, which were discontinued in 1958 and 1967 respectively.

If the medal is awarded for periods of service, it is accompanied by an hourglass device. Depending on the length of service, a bronze, silver, gold, or bronze and gold hourglass are worn on the suspension ribbon and service ribbon, indicating 10, 20, 30, or 40 years of service respectively.

If the medal is awarded in connection with a mobilization, it is accompanied by an "M" device. Subsequent mobilizations under an unrelated presidential call-up order result in a numeral device being worn to indicate the number of mobilizations.

For service – the Hourglass device
In the Army Reserve and National Guard, a service member qualifies for the medal after completing a total of ten years service in the active reserve. This service may be cumulative, provided that the combined ten years of service was performed over a period of twelve consecutive years. Voluntary recalls to active duty are not counted within the ten years of service. In addition, unlike the Reserve Good Conduct Medal, a service member’s disciplinary history is not a factor when awarding the Armed Forces Reserve Medal. In the Naval Reserve, members of the Individual Ready Reserve are eligible for the medal after 10 years of service. Periods of service for the Armed Forces Reserve Medal are denoted through the use of the hourglass device. The length of the period for which the Armed Forces Reserve Medal is awarded is indicated using a bronze hourglass, silver hourglass, gold hourglass, or bronze and gold hourglasses together. The initial presentation of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal is authorized with the bronze hourglass device denoting ten years of reserve service. At twenty years of service, the hourglass is upgraded to silver and at thirty years the hourglass becomes gold. For those who complete forty years of reserve service, a gold and bronze hourglass device are worn simultaneously. This is the only case where hourglasses are worn together; in all other cases the hourglass device is upgraded to the next higher award degree and is worn as a single device. Prior to Executive Order 13013 issued on August 6, 1996, a bronze hourglass device was presented only upon the second and subsequent awards of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, as in a bronze hourglass for twenty years of service, two bronze hourglasses for thirty, and three bronze hourglasses for forty. Executive Order 13013 provided awarding a bronze hour glass after 10 years service, a silver hourglass after 20 years of service and a gold hourglass after 30 years of service. Personnel discharged or retired, prior to the change of the Hourglass Device award criteria, are not eligible for a correction of records or an upgrade of the Hourglass Device, as the Hourglass Device would have originally been presented under the original award specifications.

For mobilization – the "M" device
The Armed Forces Reserve Medal is also awarded to any member of the Reserve or National Guard who is involuntarily mobilized for a contingency operation under Title 10 USC or Title 14 USC, or volunteers for federal active duty during any such mobilization. In such cases, the medal with an "M" device, or mobilization device, are both awarded together without regard to the period or length of service. The "M" device is a bronze "M" 1/4 inch in height.

Subsequent mobilizations for a different executive order call-up authorize a numeral device ("2", "3", etc.), sometimes called an award numeral, to be worn with the initial "M" device on the service ribbon and suspension ribbon of the medal. However, multiple deployments for different operations during a call-up for the same executive order only qualify for a single award of the "M" device. For example, if a soldier mobilized multiple times under Executive Order 13223, once for Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and twice for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, the soldier would still only be awarded one "M" device despite having been mobilized three times.

If no "M" device is authorized, the appropriate hourglass shall be positioned in the center of the ribbon. If no hourglass is authorized, the "M" device shall be positioned in the center of the ribbon, followed by Arabic numerals indicating the number of times the device has been awarded (e.g., 2 to 99 — no number is worn for the first award). If both the hourglass and the "M" device are awarded, the hourglass(es) shall be positioned in first position on the ribbon (at the wearer's right), the "M" device in middle position, and the number of times the "M" device has been awarded in the remaining position (at the wearer's left).