General Service Medal (Canada)
| General Service Medal | |
|---|---|
Awarded by the monarch of Canada |
|
| Type | Service medal |
| Eligibility | Members of the Canadian Forces, or an allied forces |
| Awarded for | Deployment outside of Canada with Canadian Forces, though not necessarily in a theater of operations, to provide direct support, on a full-time basis, to operations in the presence of an armed enemy. |
| Status | Currently awarded |
| Statistics | |
| Established | March 2004 |
| First awarded | 29 November 2004 |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | General Campaign Star |
| Next (lower) | Operational Service Medal |
.png){kind=small} Ribbon bar for Allied Force GSM  Ribbon bar for South-West Asia GSM .png){kind=small} Ribbon bar for Expedition GSM |
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The General Service Medal (GSM) (French: Médaille du service général) is a service medal of Canada established by Her Majesty The Queen in March 2004 and presented for the first time on 29 November 2004. It is presented to members of the Canadian Forces, or members of allied forces for deployment outside of Canada with Canadian Forces, though not necessarily in a theater of operations, to provide direct support, on a full-time basis, to operations in the presence of an armed enemy.
The medal was initially only awarded with one ribbon. Bars were to be attached to denote the area or mission which qualified for recognition. These two bars were titled "ALLIED FORCE" and "ISAF+FIAS". In 2009, the GSM was modified to abolish the existing system of bars. These bars were replaced with ribbons denoting specific a theater or service. This allows the use of bars to recognize multiple rotations when appropriate. As a result, recipients of the original GSM with the ALLIED FORCE bar must remounted their medal without the bar and using the new ALLIED FORCE ribbon. Recipients of the medal with the ISAF+FIAS bar needed only to have the medal remounted without the bar on the same ribbon.
The General Service Medal is awarded to members of the Canadian Armed Forces as well as members of allied forces who serve with the Canadian Armed Force on deployments outside of Canada. These deployments need not necessarily be into a theatre of operations, but must provide full-time direct support to operations in the presence of an armed enemy. Canadian citizens who are not members of the armed forces may also be awarded the medal. Civilian must have deployed outside of Canada and worked with the CF to provide full-time direct support to operations in the presence of an armed enemy. The GSM is always awarded with a ribbon specific to the theatre or type of service being recognized. Each ribbon has its own criteria.
The General Service Medal with Allied Force ribbon is awarded to personnel who served at least 30 days cumulative service in direct support of Operation Allied Force in Aviano or Vicenza, Italy, or in Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from 24 March to 10 June 1999. Some recipients may have to exchange their previously awarded NATO Medal for the GSM-Allied Force.
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