THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602060293
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM GILLESPIE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Members of the armed forces who served in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm should soon receive a new medal in recognition for their service.
Any service member who qualified for the Kuwait Liberation Medal given by Saudi Arabia will automatically qualify for another Kuwait Liberation Medal given by the government of Kuwait, according to a Pentagon spokesman.
For service members in Hampton Roads, that means more than 40,000 people could be eligible for the new medal. That's the estimated number of personnel who left for the crisis from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
The qualifying time for the first medal of Jan. 17, 1991, to Feb. 28, 1991, has been expanded to include the time between Aug. 2, 1990, and Aug. 31, 1993, for the Kuwaiti medal. Geographic areas for qualification for the award remain the same for both medals. Those areas are:
Land area of Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar or United Arab Emirates.
At sea in the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, or Arabian Sea north of 10 degrees 0 minutes north latitude and west of 68 degrees 0 minutes east longitude.
Additionally, qualifiers must have:
Been attached to or served for at least one day with a unit participating in ground or shore operations.
Been attached to or served for at least one day aboard a naval vessel directly supporting military operations.
Participated as a crew member in one or more flights directly supporting military operations in the areas listed above.
Served on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days in the areas listed above. This may be waived for those who participated in actual combat operations, according to the Pentagon spokesman.
The Department of Defense initially received 500,000 medals from the Kuwaiti government, but demand has exceeded that number, according to a Pentagon spokesman. The Army has requested 400,000; the Navy, 200,000; the Air Force and Marine Corps, 100,000 each; the Coast Guard, 1,000.
While the peak number in the region was estimated to be 500,000 American service members, more than that number rotated into and out of the region, thus creating the need for more than 500,000 medals.
The new medal mirrors the colors of the Kuwaiti flag: three vertical columns of red, white and green extend below a black trapezoid. The metal portion is engraved bronze.
The new medal is worn immediately behind the Kuwait Liberation Medal given by Saudi Arabia.
Wearing the medal or accompanying ribbon is now authorized, according to spokesmen from each of the five services, but availability is limited. Most Tidewater-area base exchanges and uniform shops report none in stock.
The medal can be awarded posthumously, according to a Pentagon spokesman. For information concerning posthumous award, individuals should contact the secretaries of their particular services. Coast Guard members should contact their headquarters awards office in Washington. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot
The new medal mirrors the colors of the Kuwaiti flag: three vertical
columns of red, white and green extend below a black trapezoid.
by CNB