General Service Medal (2008)

For other uses, see General Service Medal (disambiguation).

General Service Medal (2008)
Obverse and reverse of the medal
Type	Campaign medal
Awarded for	Campaign service.
Description	Silver disk, 36 mm diameter.
Presented by	the United Kingdom
Eligibility	British forces.
Campaign(s)	Minor campaigns 2008–present
Clasps	Southern Asia Arabian Peninsula Northern Africa Western Africa Eastern Africa Gulf of Aden Global Operations
Established	2015
First awarded	12 June 2016
Service ribbon of the medal
Related	General Service Medal (1918) General Service Medal (1962)

The General Service Medal 2008 (GSM 08) was introduced in 2015 for award to Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army, and RAF personnel^[1] to recognise specified operations since January 2008, not qualifying for another campaign medal. Unlike its predecessor, the General Service Medal (1962), operations will be denoted by clasps indicating the geographic area of operations, rather than a specific operation. The first awards of the medal were made by Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon at a ceremony on 12 June 2016.^[2]

Appearance

The GSM 08 is a circular silver medal, 36 millimetres (1.4 in) in diameter.
The obverse features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Elizabeth II, with the inscription ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FID DEF.
The reverse bears a design featuring a figure of Britannia holding a trident standing ahead of a lion, symbolising Britain, with, below, the inscription FOR CAMPAIGN SERVICE, with the whole encircled by an oak leaf wreath.^[2]
The suspension bar is the same design as those of the GSM 1918–62 and GSM 1962, as are the colours of the 32 mm (1.26 in) wide ribbon, which is dark green with a purple stripe towards each edge.^[1]

Clasps

The clasps for the medal are named based on the geographic region of operations and not for specific named operations.^[2] Further operations deemed sufficient to warrant the award of the medal will see the addition of more clasps.^[1] Service in subsequent qualifying operations is reflected by additional clasps added to the existing GSM medal.^[1]

The clasps and their qualifying periods of service are as follows:^[3][4]

Southern Asia

• Operation VERDITER (LEEWAY) (Pakistan), 1 January 2008–6 May 2015 EOD Short Term Training Team^[5]

Arabian Peninsula

• Operation QUANTAM, 1 January 2009–21 May 2012
• Operation ICENI, 1 June 2012–2 December 2013

Northern Africa

• Operation DEFERENCE (Libya), 21 February–22 March 2011
• Operation VOCATE (Libya) & (UK), 11 November 2011–present

Western Africa

• Operation NEWCOMBE (Mali), 13 January–22 May 2013
• Operation NEWCOMBE (Mali), 28 February 2018–present^[6]

Eastern Africa

• Operation TANGHAM (Somalia) including:
  • Headquarters Op TANGHAM (01-Nov-13 to present)
  • Somali National Army (SNA) Training and Advisory Team (STAT); formerly included in Op BACKWELL (24-Apr-12 to present).
  • African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Mission Support Team (MST); formerly included in Op BACKWELL (24-Apr-12 to present).
  • United Nations Support Team (UNST); formerly Op CATAN (03-Mar-16 to present).
  • Comprehensive Approach to Security (CAS) Strand 2A; formerly Op PRESIDIUM.
  • Government Provided Personnel to UN; formerly Op PRAISER (16-Dec-14 to present).
  • European Union Training Mission-Somalia (EUTM-S); formally Op MODEST (24-Jan-13 to 01-Feb-20).

Gulf of Aden

• Task Force 50, October–November 2016^[7][a]

Global Operations

• Operations undertaken by submariners outside individual conflicts (2008 onwards)^[8][b]

Notes

1. Awarded to Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel serving aboard HMS Daring during escort missions through the Gulf of Aden
2. The specific criteria for the award of the Global Operations clasp have not been released

References

1. "Medals: campaigns, descriptions and eligibility". Ministry of Defence Medal Office. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
2. "Defence Secretary awards new medal to 46 troops". GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
3. "UK Armed Forces Deaths: Operational deaths post World War II 3 September 1945 to 17 February 2016" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 31 March 2016. p. 16. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
4. "JSP 761: Honours and Awards in the Armed Forces" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. October 2016. p. 8A-4. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
5. "Minutes of the 122nd Meeting of the Management Committee of the Royal Engineers Association, 21st January 2015, Annex B." (PDF). Royal Engineers Association. 24 February 2016. p. 1. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
6. "Campaign medal recognition for personnel deployed to West Africa". Royal Air Force. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
7. "Award for Royal Navy sailors who defied missile threat to protect merchant ships". Royal Navy. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
8. "Hundreds of Royal Navy submariners awarded medal for their part in global missions". Forces News. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.