Air Force Combat Action Medal

Air Force Combat Action Medal
U.S. Air Force Combat Action Medal
Awarded by United States Air Force
Type	Medal (Service/Achievement)
Eligibility	United States Air Force members in the grades of E-1 through O-6 (Airman Basic through Colonel)
Awarded for	Active participation in ground or air combat
Status	Currently awarded
Statistics
Established	15 March 2007
First awarded	12 June 2007
Posthumous awards	Yes
Precedence
Next (higher)	Air Force Achievement Medal
Equivalent	Navy-Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon Coast Guard Combat Action Ribbon
Next (lower)	Air Force Presidential Unit Citation
Related	Army Combat Action Badge
AFCAM service ribbon

The Air Force Combat Action Medal (AFCAM) is a relatively new medal created for the United States Air Force in March 2007 to recognize Air Force members for active participation in ground or air combat.

The AFCAM was first awarded on June 12, 2007 to six Air Force members who were engaged in air or ground combat off base in a combat zone during Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan, October 7, 2001-December 28, 2015) or Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq, March 19, 2003-September 1, 2010). The medal is retroactive from September 11, 2001 to a date to be determined and may be awarded posthumously.

For an airman to wear the AFCAM, members must provide proper documentation to their commander which includes a narrative explanation of the airman's involvement in combat activities to the first O-6 (Colonel) in their operational chain of command on an AF Form 3994. The application will be processed through the chain of command and eventually be approved or disapproved by the Commander of Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR).

Nomination of the award of the AFCAM will be restricted to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who on or after 11 September 2001 were under any of the following conditions:

Retroactive awards prior to 11 September 2001 are not authorized.

The AFCAM has no patch or badge equivalent for wear on the Airman Battle Uniform and other functional uniforms that are worn for daily duties and deployments. It is worn after the Air Force Achievement Medal and before the Air Force Presidential Unit Citation.

The AFCAM may be awarded to members from the other Armed Forces and foreign military members serving in a U.S. Air Force unit, provided they meet the criteria for the award.

According to USAF Memo, 25 June 2015, AFI36-2803, 18 December 2013 (Change 1, 22 June 2015): AFCAM, Authorized Device: A gold star will be worn to recognize subsequent operations when approved by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (pages 148-49). However, in AFI36-2803, gold stars are not included in the AF list of authorized ribbon devices (page 224); service/campaign stars ( ³⁄₁₆" bronze/silver star) are the only star devices authorized for wear. Also, no ribbon device is authorized for wear in AFI36-2803 to denote subsequent awards of the AFCAM, which normally would be oak leaf clusters. The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard authorizes a  ⁵⁄₁₆" gold star to denote subsequent awards of specific decorations.