Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal: Eligibility and Proof

To qualify for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, you must have deployed outside the United States to a designated area of eligibility for at least 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days while assigned or attached to a unit taking part in an approved operation.¹ Combat engagement, being killed, being wounded, or being medically evacuated waives the time requirement entirely. Stateside service never counts, no matter what operation you supported.

Who Qualifies

The baseline is time on the ground in the right place. Thirty consecutive days, or 60 nonconsecutive days spread over the life of the operation, deployed to a designated area while attached to a unit participating in an approved mission.¹ The nonconsecutive days can accrue across multiple trips.

Two situations waive the day count. First, service members involved in actual combat against the enemy under circumstances of grave danger of death or serious bodily injury qualify regardless of time in country. Second, anyone killed, wounded, or injured seriously enough to require medical evacuation from the operation qualifies with no minimum.²

Personnel serving within the United States are not eligible for this medal under any circumstances.³ Stateside counterterrorism support falls under the separate GWOT Service Medal.

Aircrew

Aircrew earn credit by sortie. A regularly assigned crew member flying sorties into, out of, within, or over the area of eligibility in direct support of a qualifying operation may count each day with one or more sorties as one day toward the 30- or 60-day requirement.¹ Flights need not land in the zone; flights out of, within, and over the designated area also qualify when they directly support the operation.²

Approved Operations and Areas

The Department of Defense has approved these operations for the GWOT-EM, each with its own date range and geographic boundaries:⁴

Operation Enduring Freedom: September 11, 2001 to TBD
Operation Iraqi Freedom: March 19, 2003 to August 31, 2010
Operation New Dawn: September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011
Operation Nomad Shadow: November 5, 2007 to TBD
Operation Inherent Resolve: June 15, 2014 to TBD
Operation Freedom’s Sentinel: January 1, 2015 to TBD
Operation Prosperity Guardian: December 18, 2023 to TBD⁵

One important carve-out on Operation Inherent Resolve: as of March 30, 2016, the GWOT-EM is no longer authorized for OIR service in Iraq or Syria.⁶ Service members who deployed to those countries under OIR after that date earn the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal instead.

Initial eligible locations include Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and several other countries and maritime zones.¹ Operation Prosperity Guardian added the Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab Al-Mandeb Strait.⁵ You have to have been physically inside the borders or territorial waters defined for the operation. A tour in a neighboring country that isn’t on the list does not count.

How the GWOT-EM Differs From the GWOT Service Medal

The two medals share an origin but recognize different things. The GWOT-EM is expeditionary and requires overseas deployment to a designated area. The GWOT Service Medal is an individual service medal that can be earned from home station, recognizing broader counterterrorism support where personal risk is minimal.³ The service member at Fort Liberty processing deployment orders for a unit headed to Afghanistan could earn the service medal; the one who actually flies to Afghanistan and stays 30 days earns the expeditionary medal. You cannot receive both for the same period of service.¹

Converting the Medal to a Campaign Medal

If your qualifying service happened during certain overlap windows in Iraq or Afghanistan, you can apply to swap the GWOT-EM for a theater-specific campaign medal.

For Iraq, the overlap runs March 19, 2003 to February 28, 2005. Anyone who qualified for the GWOT-EM in that window may apply for the Iraq Campaign Medal instead. Conversion is optional, and you cannot hold both for the same deployment.⁷

For Afghanistan, the window runs October 24, 2001 through April 30, 2005. The same either-or rule applies. Army soldiers who earned an arrowhead device on the GWOT-EM can carry it over to the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.⁸

Campaign medals generally carry more weight because they identify service in a specific named campaign. If your service falls inside one of these windows and you plan to keep serving, the conversion is usually worth the paperwork.

Documentation to Prove Eligibility

If you’re trying to get this medal added to your record after the fact, the burden of proof is on you. Your DD Form 214 is the starting point, since it summarizes active duty periods and foreign service credit.⁹ When it doesn’t reflect the deployment, you’ll need to build the case with other records.

Travel vouchers and finance records showing arrival and departure dates from a tax-free combat zone are strong evidence. Officer or Enlisted Performance Reports often describe duties and locations. Aircrew should pull flight logs and mission manifests to verify sortie days. Deployment orders and unit assignment records fill remaining gaps. Gather everything before you file. Incomplete applications are the top reason corrections stall, and review boards will not chase down records for you.

Getting the Medal Added to Your Records

The path depends on whether you’re still in uniform.

If You’re Still Serving

Work through your unit personnel office or your branch’s human resources command.¹⁰ Unit staff can verify deployment orders against the operation’s eligibility criteria, and your records sit inside the military personnel system where they can be reached quickly.

If You’re a Veteran

Two forms get confused here, and mixing them up costs months. Standard Form 180 requests copies of your military records. It produces documents, not corrections.¹¹ You can file SF-180 online at vetrecs.archives.gov (identity verification through ID.me is now required) or by mail to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.¹²

To actually correct your record and add the medal, use DD Form 149, Application for Correction of Military Records. This goes to your service branch’s Board for Correction of Military Records, not to the National Archives.¹³ Attach everything you have: deployment orders, travel vouchers, performance reports, witness statements. The board needs to be satisfied that the omission was an error or injustice.

There is a three-year filing deadline from the date you discover the error. The board can waive it if you explain the delay and it finds a waiver would serve the interest of justice.¹³ Don’t sit on it. The longer the wait, the harder it is to justify.

One procedural change worth flagging: the National Archives no longer issues DD Form 215 documents to amend DD-214s, per DODI 1336.01. Corrections now flow through the service branch’s personnel command.¹³ The NPRC advises waiting at least 90 days before following up on any request.¹²

1
Air Force’s Personnel Center. Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
2
United States Marine Corps. MARADMIN 129/04 – Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (GWOTEM) – Section: 3. Criteria for the Award
3
Executive Services Directorate. Manual of Military Decorations and Awards – DoD Service Awards: Campaign, Expeditionary, and Service Medals
4
United States Navy. Changes to the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
5
United States Marine Corps. Awards Update
6
U.S. Army Human Resources Command. Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Operations
7
Air Force’s Personnel Center. Iraq Campaign Medal
8
Air Force’s Personnel Center. Afghanistan Campaign Medal
9
National Archives. DD Form 214 – Discharge Papers and Separation Documents
10
U.S. Army Human Resources Command. How to Request Replacement Medals
11
National Archives. Request Military Personnel Records Using Standard Form 180
12
National Archives. Request Military Service Records
13
National Archives. Correcting Military Service Records