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Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon
The Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon was officially created by the Department of the Navy in June of 1987. These US military medals are given to all members of the Navy or Marine Corps who complete one year of consecutive or cumulative duty at a permanent overseas duty station. These medals of America are also presented to members of the reserve components. The first decoration is authorized upon completion of either 30 consecutive or 45 cumulative days of overseas active duty for training. For subsequent awards, the criteria of award for reservists are the same as the active duty member’s criteria.In 1999 the Chief of Naval Operations issued a directive allowing those Navy and Marine Corps personnel stationed on overseas home-ported naval vessels to receive the active duty version of these Navy ribbons. Current regulations now permit the receipt of both the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon for the same tour of duty.
The Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon is worn below the Navy Arctic Service Ribbon and above the Navy Recruiting Ribbon in the general order of precedence that has been established for all military medals and ribbons. Additional awards of the Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon are denoted by Service Stars. These Navy and Marine Corps awards are available in military ribbons and lapel pins, and may be worn as traditional slide-on military ribbons. Nowadays however, more and more military service personnel are realizing the value to their career goals of always having their uniform decorations looking their best, and have turned to the slimmer and trimmer thin military medals and mini medals and the ultra thin ribbon racks to provide them with the smartest looking military award displays possible.
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