Marksmanship Medal

Marksmanship Medal
Navy and Coast Guard Marksmanship Medals
Awarded by United States Navy & United States Coast Guard
Type	Ribbon
Status	Current
Ribbons: Navy (left), Coast Guard (right); rifle (above), pistol (below)

The Marksmanship Medal is a United States Navy and the Coast Guard military award and is the highest award one may receive for weapons qualification. The Marksmanship Medal is the equivalent of the Expert Marksmanship Badge in the United States Army and Marine Corps. Additionally, select State National Guard organizations award marksmanship medals to guardsman who achieve some of the highest aggregate scores at state-level marksmanship competitions.

The Marksmanship Medal is awarded for qualifying as an expert marksman on either the 9×19mm Beretta M9 (Navy or Coast Guard), .40 S&W SIG P229 DAK (Coast Guard only), or M16 rifle. To qualify at the expert level, a superior score must be obtained on an approved weapons qualification course. The standard Navy weapons qualification course for pistol normally consists of several courses of fire from strong-side supported (standing), weak-side supported (standing), and strong-side supported (kneeling) positions. For the rifle, the Navy qualification course consists of firing from a sitting and prone positions.