Operational Service Medal for the Democratic Republic of Congo

Award

Operational Service Medal for the Democratic Republic of Congo
Operational Service Medal, obverse and reverse
Type	Military Campaign Medal
Awarded for	Campaign service
Description	Silver disk, 36 mm diameter.
Presented by	United Kingdom
Eligibility	Members of the United Kingdom armed forces
Campaign(s)	Democratic Republic of Congo, 2003
Clasps	DROC
Established	2005

Ribbon bar Silver rosette signifies award of the DROC clasp

The Operational Service Medal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a British armed forces campaign medal, awarded mostly to military personnel who served between 14 June and 10 September 2003 on Operation Coral.

Operational Service Medal

The Operational Service Medal (OSM) was established in 1999 to replace the General Service Medal (1962) for all new operations. A separate medal of the same design is awarded for each campaign, differentiated by a distinct ribbon. It has been awarded for four separate campaigns:

Afghanistan (from 11 September 2001)
Sierra Leone (May 2000 – July 2002)
Democratic Republic of Congo (June – September 2003)
Iraq and Syria (Dates to be confirmed)

From 2008, British service personnel could receive the General Service Medal (2008) for participation in smaller operations that do not justify the award of the Operational Service Medal.

Medal

The Operational Service Medal for the Democratic Republic of Congo is silver and circular in shape.

Obverse: the crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID. DEF.
Reverse: the Union Flag, surrounded by the inscription FOR OPERATIONAL SERVICE and the four major points of the compass with, between the points, four Coronets: Royal (top left), Naval (top right), Mural-Army (bottom left), and Astral-Royal Air Force (bottom right).
Ribbon: a broad central red stripe, flanked each side by a stripe of navy blue and one of light blue, to represent the three services, with an outer stripe of ochre, to represent the Congolese landscape.
Clasp: DROC clasp awarded with every medal. A silver rosette denotes the clasp when worn on the ribbon bar.

Qualifying criteria

The medal with clasp is awarded for 25 days continuous service in Bunia in the Ituri Province of the Congo, or five return operational flights between Entebbe and Bunia, between 14 June and 10 September 2003 on Operation Coral.

There is no minimum qualifying period for those killed, wounded or disabled during operations, or where a recipient is decorated for operational service (including a mention in dispatches and a Queen’s Commendation).

Qualifying service for the Operational Service Medal counts towards the period required to receive the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal.

British military personnel serving with United Nations forces in the Congo from 30 November 1999 for 90 days as part of the MONUC or MONUSCO missions are entitled to wear the United Nations Medal with the appropriate ribbon.

References

John Mussell (ed). Medal Yearbook 2015. p. 198. Published by Token Publishing Ltd. Honiton, Devon.
^ "Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan". MOD Medal Office. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
"Medals: campaigns, descriptions and eligibility, Announcements Operational Service Medal Iraq & Syria". UK MOD. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
"Medals: campaigns, descriptions and eligibility". Ministry of Defence Medal Office. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
^ Parliamentary Paper, October 2006 (9 October 2006). The Operational Service Medal: service in the Democratic Republic of Congo, June-September 2003 (PDF). Stationery Office. ISBN 9780101693424.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
"Honours and Awards in the Armed Forces (JSP 761) (V5.0 Oct 16). Page 8B-2". MoD Joint Services Publication. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
"Honours and Awards in the Armed Forces (JSP 761) (V5.0 Oct 16). Page 8A-6". MoD Joint Services Publication. Retrieved 2018-03-09.

External links

v t e British campaign medals
18th century	Naval General Service Medal (1793–1840) Naval Gold Medal (1793–1815) Military General Service Medal (1793–1814)
19th century	Army of India Medal (1803–26) Army Gold Cross/Army Gold Medal (1806–14) Waterloo Medal (1815) South Africa Medal (1834–6, 1846–7, 1850–3) Ghuznee Medal (1839) First China War Medal (1839–42) Jellalabad Medals (1841–2) Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul Medal (1842) Medal for the Defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie (1842) Scinde Medal (1843) Gwalior Star (1843) Sutlej Medal (1845–6) New Zealand Medal (1845–7, 1860–6) Punjab Medal (1848–9) India General Service Medal (1852–95) Baltic Medal (1854–5) Crimean War Medal (1854–6) Indian Mutiny Medal (1857–8) Second China War Medal (1857–60) Canada General Service Medal (1866–70) Abyssinian War Medal (1867–8) Ashantee Medal (1873–4) South Africa Medal (1877–9) Afghanistan Medal (1878–80) Kabul to Kandahar Star (1880) Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal (1880-1, 1896–7) Egypt Medal (1882–9) Royal Niger Company Medal (1886–97) North West Canada Medal (1885) East and West Africa Medal (1887–1900) British South Africa Company Medal (1890–7) Central Africa Medal (1891–8) India Medal (1895–1902) Ashanti Star (1895–6) Queen's Sudan Medal (1896–8) East and Central Africa Medal (1897–9) Queen's South Africa Medal (1899–1902) Queen's Mediterranean Medal (1899–1902) Transport Medal (1899–1902) China War Medal (1900) Ashanti Medal (1900)
20th century pre-First World War	King's South Africa Medal (1902) Africa General Service Medal (1902–56) Tibet Medal (1905) Natal Native Rebellion Medal (1906) India General Service Medal (1909)
First World War	1914 Star 1914–15 Star British War Medal Mercantile Marine War Medal Victory Medal (United Kingdom) Victory Medal (South Africa) Territorial War Medal
Inter World War	Naval General Service Medal (1915) General Service Medal (1918) India General Service Medal (1936)
Second World War	1939–1945 Star Atlantic Star Arctic Star Air Crew Europe Star Africa Star Pacific Star Burma Star Italy Star France and Germany Star Defence Medal War Medal 1939–1945 Canadian Volunteer Service Medal Africa Service Medal India Service Medal New Zealand War Service Medal Australia Service Medal Southern Rhodesia Service Medal
Post War	Korea Medal (1951) Nuclear Test Medal (1952) General Service Medal (1962) Rhodesia Medal (1980) South Atlantic Medal (1982) Gulf Medal (1992)
21st century	OSM for Sierra Leone (2000) OSM for Afghanistan (2002) OSM for Democratic Republic of Congo (2003) Iraq Medal (2004) Iraq Reconstruction Service Medal (2004) Civilian Service Medal (Afghanistan) (2011) Ebola Medal (2015) General Service Medal (2008) (2015) OSM for Iraq & Syria (2017) Humanitarian Medal (2023) Wider Service Medal (2024)

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