Iraq Campaign Medal

Iraq Campaign Medal
The Iraq Campaign Medal, obverse (left), and reverse (right).
Awarded by United States Department of Defense
Type	Campaign medal
Status	Inactive (31 December 2011)
Statistics
Established	29 November 2004
First awarded	19 March 2003 (retroactive)
Precedence
Next (higher)	Afghanistan Campaign Medal
Next (lower)	Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal
Related	Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Ribbon & Streamer

The Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order of U.S. President George W. Bush on 29 November 2004. The Iraq Campaign Medal was designed by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry and was awarded from 29 November 2004 to 31 December 2011.

The Iraq Campaign Medal became available for general distribution in June 2005. It was awarded to any member of the U.S. military who performed duty within the borders of Iraq (or its territorial waters) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days. The medal was awarded retroactively from 19 March 2003 until the end of Operation New Dawn on 31 December 2011. Personnel who engaged in combat with an enemy force, or personnel wounded in combat or wounded as a result of a terrorist attack within Iraq received the Iraq Campaign Medal regardless of the number of days spent within the country.

In addition, each day participating in aerial missions as a "regularly assigned air crewmember of an aircraft flying sorties into, out of, within or over Iraq and in direct support of the military operations" established a single day of eligibility, when the required minimum days of eligibility were accrued, the medal was then awarded.

The medal was also awarded posthumously to any service member who died in the line of duty within Iraq, including from non-combat injuries such as accidents and mishaps.

On 23 April 2012, an order terminating the award of the campaign medal was issued by the Department of Defense. The order is effective to 31 December 2011, the day Operation New Dawn ended. U.S. military personnel serving inside the borders of Iraq after December 2011 will not be eligible to receive the Iraq Campaign Medal.

U.S. military personnel serving post-2014 in the Iraq conflict were originally awarded the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOTEM) and not the Iraq Campaign Medal as the latter conflict had ended and the former conflict was nameless at the time and the American government did not designate the fighting to be a military campaign.