As the Cold War moved into full swing in the 1950s, the United States Army expanded its work with civilian researchers, scientists, and technicians in an effort to ensure the United States military was second-to-none both in terms of weaponry and efficiency. To honor the contributions made by non-Army personnel toward achieving successful accomplishment of the Army’s missions, Secretary of the Army established the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service Award (DDSCA) in May, 1956.
The primary criterion for the DDCSA is distinguished service that yields a substantial contribution to the Army’s various missions. Those eligible for the award include (but are not limited to) any civilians not employed by the Army or by Army contractors, officials in the Federal Government serving at the policy-development level, and technical personnel working with the Army as consultants or advisors.
In November, 2014, the Department of the Army’s Public Service Awards division was modified to bring it more in line with the naming convention of military awards and honors. Besides changing the name of the division to Public Service Medals, the Army also changed the name of several of the awards, with the DDCSA being renamed the Distinguished Public Service Medal.
But old habits die hard, and implementation of the name change has yet to reach all appropriate commands. On February 3, 2017, for example, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer published a story on its Web site, “Sanford Bishop gets Army’s top civilian honor,” that quoted an Army press release stating that the Army had awarded the Georgia Congressman the Army Distinguished Civilian Service Medal—an amalgam of the old “Civilian Service Award” and the new “Public Service Medal.”