Accumulated Service Medal/ACSM 2011

The Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (ACSM) is awarded to army, RAF, RoyalNavy and Royal Marines personnel to recognise continued campaign service.

To apply for the ACSM, you must have completed 1,080 days aggregated by 1 January 2008 in theatres which would have merited:

·         a General Service Medal 1962-2007 (Northern Ireland, Air Ops Iraq)

·         an Operational Service Medal(Sierra Leone, Afghanistan)

·         an Iraq Medal

If your aggregated service falls short of 1,080 days by 1 January 2008, the service will go towards the ACSM 2011.

The Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (ACSM) 2011 is awarded to army, RAF, Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel to recognise continued campaign service.

To apply for the ACSM 2011, you must have completed 720 days aggregated service and be serving either on or after 1 January 2008.

Your service must have merited:

·         a General Service Medal 1962-2007 (Northern Ireland, Air Ops Iraq)

·         an Operational Service Medal (Sierra Leone, Afghanistan)

·         an Iraq Medal

If you go on to complete a further 720 days aggregated service, you will be awarded a bar. The bar is worn on the ribbon of the ACSM. You can receive more than one bar.

The negotiations of the British Government culminated in the Good Friday (or Belfast) Agreement of 1998.which was effectively the end of the troubles in Northern Ireland. The award of the ASM/ACSM 2011 requires service people to have been serving  either on or after 01 January 2008 which means many service personnel and veterans who have been on repeated tours throughout the Northern Ireland troubles and left the service at or around the end of the troubles in 1998 are not eligible for the medals. I believe that all service personnel with accumulated service in the Provence should receive the medal and that the 01 January 2008 criteria should be removed.