Established by an executive order issued on March 30, 2016 by President Barrack Obama, the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (IRCM) is intended to recognize the service of military personnel from all five branches of the Armed Forces of the United States in the war against the terrorist organization ISIS, or Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Inherent Resolve is also an officially approved operation for the
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (
GWOT-EM), which means that some military personnel who have served in support of the IRCM but fail to meet some of its geographic eligibility requirements will likely qualify instead for a campaign star for wear on the
GWOT-EM. (Regulations prevent the issuance of two awards for the same actions and same time period.)
The IRCM’s eligibility date is retroactive to June 15, 2014; military personnel based in Iraq in Syria (or who flew missions over those nations or served in contiguous waters) for either 30 consecutive or 60 cumulative days are eligible for the award. Servicemembers who have engaged in combat or are killed or wounded (medically evacuated from the medal’s Area of Eligibility due to injuries or wounds) immediately qualify for the IRCM.
The first Servicemembers to receive the IRCM were members of the 101st Airborne. On April 18, 2016, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter presented the IRCM two of that unit’s members who were deployed to Iraq in support of the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve.