To recognize the increasingly important role played by the Coast Guard in operations outside the United States and its territorial waters, the Commandant of the Coast Guard approved the Overseas Service Ribbon on October 28, 2009.
Eligibility requirements for the ribbon vary widely based upon a Guard member’s status. Active-duty members must be on a permanent assignment and successfully complete a 12-month tour of duty either at an overseas, shore-based duty station or aboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter that’s permanently assigned to an overseas area. (“Overseas” does not include Hawaii or Alaska.) Coast Guard Reservists on inactive-duty status and who are permanently assigned must satisfactorily complete at least 36 days of service (cumulative) at an overseas duty station during each of twelve-month period of the tour length served by active-duty personnel. Reservists on extended active duty, on the other hand, must meet the same service requirements as active-duty Guard members.
In the case of deployments to support contingency operations, Guard members on active duty need to service either six consecutive or twelve cumulative months at either an overseas shore-based duty station or aboard a Cutter that has been deployed in-theater overseas in direct support of combat operations. Members of the Reserve who’ve been mobilized and are subsequently eligible for the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with the “M” device must serve six consecutive months or twelve months cumulatively, either at a shore-based station or on-board a Cutter assigned to directly support combat operations overseas.
The Coast Guard Overseas Service Ribbon cannot be awarded for the same period of service for which personnel are eligible for another award such as the Coast Guard Restricted Duty Ribbon or a decoration for similar service issued by another branch of the Armed Forces of the United States. This a hard-and-fast rule with no exceptions or waivers permissible.
Recognizing that many Guard members likely would have qualified for the Overseas Service Ribbon for their service following the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the Coast Guard allows the ribbon to be awarded retroactively provided the candidates meet the eligibility requirements specified above. Members seeking the ribbon, however, are responsible for providing supporting documentation to verify their qualifying periods of service.