NATO Service Medal

 

General Service Since 1992.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The NATO Medal is an international campaign medal presented for service to the many different armed forces that are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) alliance for service during the separate conflicts and operations that NATO has sanctioned since 1992.

 

The medal was instituted in December 1994 and has been awarded for nine separate campaigns, these being service in Yugoslavia, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, two for service during Article 5 operations (Eagle Assist, Active Endeavour), and four for Non-Article 5 NATO operations (ISAF, Balkans, NTM-Iraq, and Pakistan).

 

(There is also a NATO Meritorious Service Medal, with a ‘Meritorious Service’ clasp which was first awarded in 2003 to commend NATO staff whose personal initiative and dedication went beyond their duty to make a difference both to their colleagues and to NATO as an organisation. The Medal is the personal Award of The Secretary General of NATO, who signs each citation. Less than 50 medals are awarded each year and it remains the only significant award for individual personal effort for NATO staff; and can be awarded to Military and Civilian personnel alike.

 

When assessing nominations for the award, there are several criteria taken into consideration: the performance of acts of courage in difficult or dangerous circumstances; showing exceptional leadership or personal example; making an outstanding individual contribution to a NATO sponsored program or activity; or enduring particular hardship or deprivation in the interest of NATO).

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and is struck in bronze. The obverse of this medal depicts the NATO emblem (a four pointed star emitting a ray from each point superimposed on an annulet) enclosed at the base by a wreath of olive.

 

The reverse has the inscription; ‘NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION’ at the top and; ‘ORGANISATION DU TRAITE DE L’ATLANTIQUE NORD’ in French below.

 

In the centre is a sprig of olive between the inscription; ‘IN SERVICE OF PEACE AND FREEDOM’ above and; ‘AU SERVICE DE LA PAIX ET DE LA LIBERTE’ in French below.

 

The medal is surmounted by a small laterally pierced ball suspension.

 

The medal is issued un-named.

 

 

The ribbon is 36mm wide, and to differentiate between the different issue of the NATO Medals, a different ribbon pattern scheme is used for each award. These are as follows:-

 

 

The NATO Medal for Yugoslavia Service consists of a blue ribbon with two thin white stripes on each side, very similar in appearance to the United Nations Medal.

 

 

The NATO Medal for Kosovo Service appears as a mixed blue and white stripped ribbon, with white stripes on the side as well as a wide white central stripe.

 

 

The NATO Medal for Macedonia appears as a blue and white mixed ribbon with four white stripes. The Article 5 NATO Medal for 'Operation Eagle Assist' has a blue background with a thin central golden stripe surrounded by white stripes.

 

 

The Article 5 Medal for 'Operation Active Endeavour' has a blue background with two thin golden colored stripes surrounded by white stripes.

 

 

The Non-Article 5 medal for the Balkans operations consists of a blue background with a central silver stripe surrounded by white stripes.

 

 

The Non Article 5 Medal for ISAF, and NTM-I operations consists of a blue background with two silver stripes surrounded by white stripes.

 

 

NATO Non-Article 5 medal for NTM-Iraq operations consists of a blue background with two silver stripes surrounded by white stripes - with the emblem; ‘NTM-Iraq’.

 

 

NATO Non-Article 5 medal for Pakistan operations consists of a blue background with two silver stripes surrounded by white stripes - with the emblem; ‘PAKISTAN’.

 

 

NATO Article 5 medal for 'Operation Eagle Assist' operations consists of a blue background with one thin golden colored stripe surrounded by white stripes.

 

 

The NATO Meritorious Service Medal consists of a blue background with silver and white stripes on the outer most portion of the ribbon, and the medallion color is changed from bronze in appearance to a silver medallion for this medal only.

 

 

All medals except the Macedonian NATO Medal have corresponding campaign bar, however, some militaries prohibit the wearing of the medal with a bar and instead authorize service stars.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The NATO Alliance.

 

The NATO Alliance - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), also called the (North) Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed in April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

 

NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe, the newest of which, Albania and Croatia, joined in April 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's 'Partnership for Peace', with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the world's defence spending.

 

NATO was little more than a political association until the Korean War galvanized the organization's member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders.

 

The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, which formed in 1955. Doubts over the strength of the relationship between the European states and the United States ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defence against a prospective Soviet invasion - doubts that led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO's military structure in 1966.

 

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the organization was drawn into the breakup of Yugoslavia, and conducted its first military interventions in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995 and later Yugoslavia in 1999. Politically, the organization sought better relations with former Warsaw Pact countries, several of which joined the alliance in 1999 and 2004.

 

Article 5 of the North Atlantic treaty, requiring member states to come to the aid of any member state subject to an armed attack, was invoked for the first and only time after the 11 September 2001 attacks, after which troops were deployed to Afghanistan under the NATO-led ISAF.

 

The organization has operated a range of additional roles since then, including sending trainers to Iraq, assisting in counter-piracy operations and in 2011 enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973.

 

The less potent Article 4, which merely invokes consultation among NATO members has been invoked three times, and only by Turkey: once in 2003 over the Iraq War, and twice in 2012 over the Syrian civil war after the downing of an unarmed Turkish F-4 reconnaissance jet and after a mortar was fired at Turkey from Syria.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.