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Coast Guard Pistol Marksmanship Medal

Some type of marksmanship ribbon is awarded by three of the Unites States service branches: the Air Force, the Navy and the Coast Guard. These medals of America are awarded to service persons who pass a weapons qualification course and achieve an above-average score. The Coast Guard established two US military medals to reward superior marksmanship: one named the Coast Guard Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon and the other called the Coast Guard Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon. The pistol ribbon is currently awarded for qualification on the 40 cal SIG-Sauer P229R DAK pistol, and the rifle ribbon is awarded for qualification on the M-16 semi-automatic rifle. The Coast Guard issues these military medals in three rankings: Marksman, Sharpshooter and Expert. These military ribbons are presented as a plain ribbon for Marksman qualification, with the Marksmanship Device added to denote Sharpshooter or Expert status.

The Coast Guard also issues military medals called the Coast Guard Marksmanship Medal to personnel that qualify as Expert with either the M-16 semi-automatic rifle or the .40 cal SIG-Sauer P229R DAK pistol. To qualify at the expert level, a superior score must be obtained on an approved weapons qualification course. The standard weapons qualification course normally consists of several courses of fire from one handed kneeling, double handed standing, and (in the case of the M16), firing from a crouched position. A superior score, qualifying for the Marksmanship Medal, is typically 285 points out of a 300 point scale. This varies slightly depending on the awarding authority and the military command which is running a particular qualification course.

The Marksmanship Medal is worn as a full sized medal, on a dress uniform, but when worn on a duty uniform the award is displayed as the standard Marksmanship Ribbon with and Expert Device. The Marksmanship Medal is the equivalent of the Expert Marksmanship Badge in the Army and the Marine Corps. Coast Guard Rifle Marksmanship Ribbons and Pistol Marksmanship Ribbons are worn below the Republic of Korea War Service Medal and above the Outstanding Volunteer Service Ribbon in the general order of precedence that has been established for the proper display of all Coast Guard medals and ribbons. These Coast Guard medals and ribbons can be worn in traditional full size medals, mini-medals, ribbons and lapel pins. They are generally available from commercial suppliers of military insignia as traditional full size medals, mini-medals, and slide-on 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 military ribbons to provide them with the smartest looking military award displays possible.