Chapter 4 – Campaign, service medals and the Canadian Forces decoration

Responsibilities

1. DH&R administers all post-Second World War campaign, service (except service in Korea) and military long service medals to Canadian citizens under delegated authority on behalf of the Chancellery of Honours. This includes eligible:
   1. serving members of the CF (Regular, Reserve, Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service (COATS), Canadian Rangers and holders of honorary appointments);
   2. retired members of the CF;
   3. deceased members of the CF;
   4. foreign military personnel on exchange with the CF; and
   5. civilians (including civilian police, public servants, and contractors from all other federal government departments who deploy overseas on behalf of the GC).
2. Unless otherwise specified in the respective Regulations pertaining to a specific medal, ribbon or bar (amended by the Governor in Council from time to time as required), the CDS in consultation with AFC and on recommendation of the CFHPC, is the sole authority to approve changes to the eligibility lists for campaign and service medals. The process for requesting addition of a service not yet recognized is the responsibility of the deploying organisation (whether CF or federal government department) and the procedures can be found in Chapter 1.

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Eligibility and criteria

3. General. Canadian campaign and service medals recognize Canadian participation in a particular campaign or operation inside a specified eligible theatre of operation for a specified period of time (refer also to Chapter 1) and have minimum qualifying periods. Regulations for campaign, war, operational, general, and long service medals are described in Chapter 9, at Annexes I to T.
4. To be eligible for Canadian recognition through campaign or service medals, one must be in the service of the Canadian Crown, either as an employee (military or civilian), as a contractor with the GC or have another formal relationship with the Crown as it relates to the service in question. Persons, including members of the Reserve Force or public servants, who take leave of absence to volunteer or serve under contract with non-governmental organizations in mission areas are not eligible for Canadian recognition with the possible exception of the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal (CPSM) as applicable under its regulations (refer to Chapter 9, Annex Q, Appendix 1). A member of the Reserve Force who serves in a mission area as a civilian (as part of their full-time employment as a public servant, as a contractor or volunteer) will be considered as a civilian for recognition purposes.
5. Canadian overseas recognition is generally theatre based (Geographically) rather than mission specific (Chain of Command) and service is now recognized with a distinct ribbon for each separate theatre (for the General Campaign Star (GCS), the General Service Medal (GSM) and the Operational Service Medal (OSM)). This means that all service in a designated theatre which is not recognized by another medal (such as the UN or the NATO) may be eligible for recognition.
6. Except where otherwise specified (e.g. the General Campaign Force – Allied Force (GCS-AF)), all eligible time for Canadian campaign and service medals is reckoned in days and any and all eligible time for a specific honour may be cumulated for award calculation. Eligible service for different honours cannot be combined. In many instances, members may not accumulate sufficient time to be eligible for a medal but that time will be credited and may be cumulated with further eligible deployments for the purpose of establishing eligibility.
7. Service can only be credited towards the award of one campaign or service medal, be it Canadian or foreign. For example, if a NATO, UN or other international medal recognizes a service, a Canadian service medal will not be approved for the same service with the exception of the CPSM (refer Chapter 1, Dual/Duplicate Recognition). When CF members on exchange with an allied force deploy with their host nation and are recognized by the host nation, that recognition will be given priority and approved by the Government of Canada where appropriate. Only if the host nation does not provide recognition will a Canadian form of recognition be considered as an alternative, if appropriate.
8. Travel/Transit time to and from an eligible theatre ("Geographically" as defined in Regulations or approved by CDS/AFC) does not constitute qualifying service/time towards any campaign or service medal as only in-theatre days shall be counted.
9. Arrival and departure days while in the qualifying area/eligible mission theatre count as full days.
10. Aircrew flying in the eligible theatre accumulate one day of service for the first sortie flown on any day. Additional sorties flown on the same day receive no further credit. Sorties flown by aircrews spanning two calendar days count as two days. Local time is to be used when calculating eligible service.
11. Personnel on Home Leave Travel Assistance (HLTA) remain attached posted to the mission and their eligible service is not interrupted. All days on HLTA shall be counted.
12. Certain visits and inspections do not constitute qualifying service. Refer to the relevant appendices in Chapter 9 for the exclusions, which vary for each specific medal.
13. Technical Assistance Visits (TAVs) may be eligible when their purpose is to provide actual technical assistance (as opposed to administrative tasks) that is important to mission success and could not be accomplished elsewhere (e.g. adding armour to vehicles, updating information technology (IT) systems, backfills, etc). Conversely, TAVs which are intended to perform excluded activities or "any other similar activity" to those listed in appendices referred to in paragraph 12 are not eligible. It is therefore the purpose of the TAV, reviewed in conjunction with the list of exclusions referred to that establishes eligibility.
14. Campaign and service medals have four core eligibility criteria that must be met:
    1. Canadian citizenship (in the case of civilian personnel).
    2. Presence in a specific geographical area or service on a specific mission/operation.
    3. Time requirement, specifically from first day in to the last day out of theatre/recognition box.
    4. Honourable service (refer to paragraph 67 to paragraph 97).
15. Recipients of the South-West Asia Service Medal (SWASM) with AFGHANISTAN bar, the GCS, GSM and OSM may be eligible for further recognition in the form of Rotation Bars. The first Rotation Bar is awarded after a total of 210 eligible days, including the days taken into account for the medal itself. Each subsequent Bar recognizes a further 180 days of eligible service following qualification for the Medal or the last Rotation Bar the person has earned.
16. Doubtful entitlement cases shall be referred through the chain of command to NDHQ/DH&R.

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Application – Initial issue

17. General. DH&R will review all applications to ensure that the candidate fully meets the medal criteria and eligibility for the award being requested.
18. No application shall be made until the individual has fully met the criteria for the honour in question.
19. An application for recognition does not guarantee an award.
20. Applications are treated in the following order of priority (whether civilian or military):
    1. Operational deaths and dying (terminally ill) members.
    2. Applications originating from deployed units still in theatre.
    3. All other applications (originating from home/non-deployed units) in the order the signed application is received.
21. Once the application is approved by DH&R, a recommendation to award is forwarded to the Governor General for approval (Instrument) as required by Regulations.

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Serving members

22. Medals Application Processing System. Campaign and service medals and Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) applications (except the Sacrifice Medal (SM), refer to Chapter 9, Annex J), whether initial issue or replacement, are processed by designated CF medals clerks within a unit Orderly Room (OR) via a component of the Guardian called the ODMC. The system is used to manage, track and administer all honours and to record approved departmental awards. Campaign and service medals, as well as the CD, are not to be ordered until candidate has fully met the medal’s eligibility criteria. Units that order any medals before the member has met the eligibility criteria will see their applications rejected and returned to the originating Unit.
23. All units that have a CO are to nominate a member(s) of their OR staff to be their unit medals clerk. With the exception of the chief clerk, the unit medals clerk will be the only staff member given access to ODMC and will be responsible for all medals applications administration on behalf of their unit's members. The designated individuals must already have access to Guardian. ODMC requires its own separate account access and all access requests are to be forwarded to +ODMC Access DH&R@CMP DH&R@Ottawa-Hull for review and approval.
24. Within large establishments and bases, administration may be done in a centralized location or section (i.e. Division Support Group, Base OR). However, in all cases, the member's own CO must sign the application form irrespective of where the nominee's personnel file is located. It is the submitting unit's responsibility to routinely review their applications in ODMC as DH&R uses the information in ODMC (including statuses and comments) to advise units of an application's progress from start to finish.
25. The unit OR shall submit applications for all campaign and service medals, the CD and Clasps on behalf of their members. Once the application has been registered in ODMC, it is to be printed, signed by the member's own CO, and forwarded to NDHQ/DH&R.
26. Rotation Bars and Clasps, although they denote further recognition, are themselves official honours emanating from the Crown and cannot be ordered through the supply system or other manufacturers. Applications for subsequent bars and clasps to campaign, service and long service medals shall be submitted in accordance with paragraph 25.
27. The person signing the application attests that:
    1. they are the CO for the member(s) listed on the application or A/CO (with National Capital Region (NCR) members);
    2. each personnel file has been verified;
    3. the medal criteria is fully met;
    4. each Guardian/MPRR is current and up-to-date (recording all deployments (including Staff Inspection Visits (SIV), Staff Assistance Visits (SAV), Technical Assistance Visits (TAV), and Temporary Duty (TD), etc.), qualifying service and dates; non-active service; disciplinary measures, sanctions, and punishments); and
    5. any adverse conduct and/or administrative related action has been fully remedied.
28. No person shall apply for their own medals. Applications for a CO or Commander shall be made and signed by their superior HQ.
29. Holders of Honorary Appointments. The service of those holding honorary appointments within the CF is eligible for recognition towards the CD and Clasps (refer to Chapter 9, Annex T). Applications are to be processed in ODMC by the unit OR. DH&R will consult the Director of Senior Appointments and perform a complete verification of the member's service in the honorary role with an additional verification of the member’s service record recovered from archives and/or other sources. Units are also requested to send any available supporting documentation.
30. No request will be processed until the original signed hardcopy is received by DH&R accompanied by all relevant Proof of Service for the award requested. Applications will be rejected if a unit initiates a request before the member has fully met the eligibility criteria, does not provide the Guardian/MPRR or/and all relevant Proof of Service for the award requested or does not bear the member's CO's signature. For more information about Proof of Service, refer to paragraph 59 to paragraph 65.
31. The medal is then shipped to the requestor/submitting unit via DND 728 for presentation by the member's chain of command.
32. Upon receipt of any honour, whether initial issue or replacement, units shall inspect the awards for condition and accuracy of engraving and report any error or damage to DH&R within 30 days. In the event that DH&R is responsible for an engraving error or damage, the item will be returned to DH&R and a replacement will be produced at no cost to the unit.  In the event that the unit is responsible for the engraving error or damage, the item will be returned to DH&R and a financial code will be required to produce a replacement. If DH&R is not notified within 30 days of receipt of any honour, the unit will provide a financial code for the replacement, regardless of who was responsible for the error.
33. All honours awarded to members of the CF shall be recorded on the Guardian MPRR within the Honours and Awards (H&A) panel. DH&R is responsible for the H&A panel in Guardian. DH&R updates the MPRRs of all honours and awards processed via ODMC (excluding UN and NATO medals and Command Commendations) when the unit has confirmed receipt, normally by the return of the signed DND 728 form.
34. Retired Members. Retired Members of the CF can apply for any medal that they may not have received while serving. In all instances, retired members are to complete the application form (DND 4010-E (05-2014)) which can be downloaded from the Canada.ca Internet site or from the DIN Defence Forms Catalogue (DFC) website (accessible only on the National Defence network) for onward transmission to a retired member. Once the form has been completed in full, it is to be mailed to DH&R at the address indicated on the application form. When the request arrives, DH&R will perform a complete verification of the member's service record recovered from archives and/or other sources and advise the retired member directly of the outcome.
35. Third party applications shall not be accepted unless for a deceased or incapacitated member as per paragraph 38.
36. Applications are processed on a first-come first served-basis from the time of receipt of the application. For assistance in completing the form, clarification on eligibility or other queries, retired members may contact DH&R (refer to contact information in Chapter 1).
37. CF units shall not submit applications via ODMC for retired members.
38. Deceased/Incapacitated CF Members. Families may request any campaign and service medals a deceased or incapacitated member of the CF may not have received while serving. In such cases, only the executor or individual with power of attorney shall make an application on behalf of the deceased or incapacitated member.
39. When an officer or non-commissioned member dies intestate (no executor), the Director of Estates may, without regard to the law of intestate succession of the domicile of the deceased member, distribute any order, decoration or medal to the person that the Director of Estates thinks is best qualified to receive it, but normally in the following order of preference:
    1. Spouse or common-law partner.
    2. Eldest surviving child.
    3. Father and mother.
    4. Eldest surviving sibling.
40. The applicant is to complete and submit the Retired Member application form as described at paragraph 34, and include a letter addressed to the Director, Honours and Recognition, indicating the following information:
    1. Name and address of the executor or the administrator of the estate or the liquidator of the succession.
    2. Name and address of the primary beneficiary of the estate (usually the person who will inherit the deceased's medals as per the deceased member's will).
    3. Service number (SN), rank and full name of the deceased.
    4. Medal/mementoes requested.
    5. Name of legal beneficiary/recipient to receive the Medal/mementoes requested.
    6. Any special instruction for presentation to include name, address and telephone number of presenter. It is the responsibility of the requestor to arrange for presentation.
41. DH&R must confirm requestor details with the Director, Law, Estates and Pensions of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG), prior to processing any application. In some instances, DH&R may request from the applicant additional legal documentation to confirm an applicant's status, especially to confirm status of power of attorney.
42. Medals awarded to deceased recipients shall be presented as per Presentation of Posthumous Honours described in Chapter 1, paragraphs 56 to 60. [re: "legal beneficiary"]
43. Allied Military Personnel. Under the regulations pertaining to certain campaign and service medals (refer to annexes) members of allied forces working with the CF may be eligible for award. This is restricted to:
    1. those members of foreign allied forces who are on exchange with or seconded to the CF under various international military agreements (having a valid CF SN assigned to them and being administered as a CF member) and are serving in an operation/mission under the authority of the CF, deployed with the unit they are on exchange with; and
    2. those members of allied forces put under the operational command of the CF under a specific technical agreement.
44. Members of allied forces serving alongside the CF or under the command of a CF officer in an international mission context are not eligible for Canadian recognition.
45. Units shall not submit on-line applications for eligible members of allied armed forces on exchange to the CF. They shall send an email to DHRMedalsApplications-DDHRApplicationsdeMedailles@forces.gc.ca requesting consideration for a Canadian honour to DH&R to include the following information in order to initiate diplomatic approval with the member's country and process the honour once diplomatic approval has been received:
    1. All details of the member's Canadian qualifying service.
    2. Documented proof of service (service record) HRMS/MPRR.
    3. Foreign military SN (and record if available).
    4. Copy of the member's passport.
    5. Copy of the foreign member’s military ID.
46. Civilians. Under the regulations of certain campaign and service medals (refer to annexes), certain groups of civilians may be eligible for recognition. Certain medals are primarily military honours, such as the SWASM or GSM, and require that the civilian person be seconded to and/or under the direct authority (command and control) of the CF.
47. Other campaign and service medals are open to all eligible Canadian citizens, such as the OSM and the CPSM. These honours recognize any and all Crown service in approved operations and theatres even where there is no military presence.
48. The responsibility ultimately rests with each civilian organisation, federal government department and/or agency (including contracting company) to recognize their civilian personnel. They will identify an Honours and Awards Coordinator to coordinate recognition of their own personnel and act as the direct link with DH&R providing the required source documentation for eligibility (refer to Proof of Service, paragraph 59 to paragraph 66). These applications will be forwarded in bulk as per established procedures by the responsible department or agency coordinators to DH&R by using a form provided by DH&R along with the required Proof of Service for determination. Individuals contacting DH&R will be directed to their appropriate organisation's representative.
49. CF units shall not apply for non-Department of National Defence (DND) civilians who are not serving under DND authority unless directed otherwise by DH&R.

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Casualty recognition

50. General. DH&R is responsible for the priority processing and administration of all honours to members of the CF, or members of a military allied force on exchange to a CF unit who are dying, die, or are killed while on duty, on training or deployed (operational or non-operational, domestic or international). DH&R is also responsible for issuing mementoes to the deceased's family as a priority. In these instances, unit applications are not required as these will be processed by DH&R upon confirmation of eligibility.
51. Casualty administration is the responsibility of the CO as outlined in the Casualty Administration Manual issued under the authority of Director Casualty Support Management (DCSM) and other applicable directives. The purpose of this section is to outline responsibilities and processes only as they pertain to national honours and mementoes.
52. When a CO is notified of a member who is dying, dies or has been killed on duty, on training or when deployed, the CO will commence the notification process as described in the Casualty Administration Manual.
53. Although procedures and process vary slightly for dying and deaths, within 24 hours of notification, units must coordinate immediately and directly with DH&R who will conduct a complete verification of the member's service records for all outstanding honours and mementoes to which the member or the family may be entitled.
54. The unit Point of Contact, usually the Chief Clerk or Adjutant, must contact DH&R and, if for a death, forward certified true copies of the member's:
    1. Designation of Memorial Cross Recipients Form (DND 2105).
    2. Birth Certificate and/or passport that clearly identifies the full complete legal name (all given names) of the individual.
    3. If the member was deployed, their original expected/planned date of return to Canada.
55. Whenever possible, any outstanding awards for a dying member will be expedited by courier to the unit's CO for presentation to the member at a suitable time and place at the discretion of the CO.
56. When a member of the CF dies while in a theatre of operations, they may be eligible for the campaign or service medal associated with that theatre. In addition to this, all those who die as a direct result of military service (whether deployed overseas or not) are eligible for the SM (Chapter 9, Annex J) and their family are entitled to a number of memorials. (Memorials are outlined in Chapter 9, Annex V).
57. For a death, any honours previously sent to the member's deployed unit or operational theatre, whether presented or not, shall be collected and provided to the escort who shall return them to Canada prior to or in conjunction with the repatriation of remains. The unit shall confirm to DH&R that all in-theatre honours (not ribbons or miniatures) have been located. Any honours belonging to the deceased that are in Canada are to be collected by the designated Assisting Officer or such other person as designated by the CO. DH&R prepares all outstanding/ posthumous honours and the memorial package where applicable and forwards them to the designated CF Casualty Support Centre (i.e. Trenton) where all honours will be collected (from the escort and/or from the home unit/ deceased's residence) in preparation for the funeral or memorial service. The deceased's medals may be displayed on casket as per the Canadian Forces Manual of Drill and Ceremonial (ref. A-PD-201-000/PT-000).
58. In the event of a death in Canada, any outstanding/posthumous honours that have been identified will, whenever possible, be expedited directly to the unit CO in preparation for the funeral or memorial service.

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Proof of service for medals entitlement

59. General. All applications (whether military or civilian) for campaign and service medals shall be accompanied by primary source documents that clearly establish the criteria have been fully met. The SM and CD each have their specific criteria and process detailed in Chapter 9, Annexes J and T respectively.
60. A primary source document is a document that is contemporary to the event and not created after the fact, provides proof of context, is unalterable and, once completed, initiates an action such as a change of pay and/or locations. Consequently, letter, emails and statutory declarations from a superior are not primary source documents and therefore not accepted as proof of service.
61. Serving Members. All applications shall be accompanied by an accurate up-to-date HRMS/MPRR as proof of service. All deployments, attach postings, exercises, SIVs, SAVs, TAVs, and Temporary Duty (TD) assignments must be recorded on the HRMS files of all serving members using in theatre dates (arrival and departure dates) and all disciplinary measures (refer to the Military Human Resources Records Procedures (MHRRP)).
62. For all personnel/aircrew who have recorded flight time/hours, certified true copies of the Flight Logs for the time period in question shall be submitted with applications which clearly indicate the service number (SN), last name, mission flown, duration and location. For those flying on Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) or with foreign air forces, a requirement may exist to use the local Flight Logs (e.g. USAF) and these should be supplied as well. Other documents that may be requested are Flight Authority Forms (K2017) along with Mission History Forms and Flight Manifest Forms. Local time is to be used when calculating eligible service.
63. Civilian. The same proof of service in the form of source documentation is applied to both military and civilian applications in order to identify the appropriate recognition.
64. For contracting companies, the prime contracts as well as amendments must be submitted to DH&R for review before individual applications can be received in order to establish the correct recognition (e.g. GSM or OSM) by identifying the reporting structure to the CF and by extension, the appropriate medal.
65. DH&R does not have access to HR systems for all civilian applicants and therefore requires source documentation for determination.
66. The following information must be provided at time of application:
    1. Canadian birth certificate listing full complete legal name. A passport (pages 2 and 3) can also be used but only if the individual's full legal name appears. This requirement fulfils the citizenship criteria and also ensures data capture is correctly recorded in ODMC so that no errors occur during the engraving process.
    2. Source documentation of employment and context of deployment (i.e. personal service contract information confirming name, position and contract length, tasking message, HR extract, etc.).
    3. Source documentation indicating first day in theatre and last day in theatre in order to correctly calculate cumulative eligible service. This is most often linked to pay and claims.
    4. Contract with DND, secondment letter, inter-departmental arrangement, clearly establishing that the civilians/contractors are under the authority of DND/CF (command and control) for SWASM and GSM only.
    5. Personal Record Identifier (PRI) number, Employee number, Regimental number.

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Honourable service criteria

General

67. Honours from the Crown are not a right but a privilege conferred by the Crown upon those who are honourable.
68. In accordance with their respective regulations, all modern Canadian campaign and service medals as well as bars are awarded for "honourable service".
69. All participants in an operation are assumed to have served honourably unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Scope

70. For the purpose of evaluating the "honourable service" portion of the criteria, only conduct arising during the eligible medal/Rotation Bar earning periods of service are to be considered. As pre-deployment training, post- deployment decompression or post-deployment leave as well as transit time to and from the theatre are not eligible for service recognition, any conduct arising during these periods shall not be considered when evaluating the eligibility of the person.
71. However, as approved temporary absences from theatre (such as HLTA, TD, and related travel) are considered part of the deployment and medals eligibility is uninterrupted during this period, the conduct of the person during this time is subject to consideration under the "honourable service" criteria.
72. When it has been deemed that a person's service was not honourable for a deployment, the entire period of that specific deployment is excluded from eligibility, regardless of when during that deployment the person may have become eligible for recognition. Such a decision for a deployment affects only that deployment and all honourable service in previous and subsequent deployments remains eligible for recognition.

Definition

73. The regulations for most campaign and service medals do not define "honourable service" however; the following are generally-accepted definitions and descriptions for the concept of "honourable".
74. The Oxford English dictionary defines "honourable" as "worthy of being honoured; entitled to honour, respect, esteem, or reverence".
75. Duty with Honour: The Profession of Arms in Canada describes "honour" as "the most treasured of military qualities". "This honour comes from performing their military duties within the context of a ‘good' and ‘right' military ethos and is manifest in loyalty to their comrades, adherence to the law of armed conflict and the protection of non-combatants." The same document states that "Canadian military values are essential for conducting the full range of military operations, up to and including warfighting. Military values must be always in harmony and never in conflict with Canadian values."
76. The DND and CF Code of Values and Ethics includes five core values which are shared between all DND employees and CF members: Integrity, Loyalty, Courage, Stewardship and Excellence.
77. The Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector provides a list of values related to "respect", "integrity", "stewardship" and "excellence". In addition, organizational codes of conduct outline the "values" and "expected behaviours" within an organization.

Effect

78. Medal denial should be considered for any person whose conduct during the medal/bar earning period is construed as not honourable.
79. Medal denial process shall be initiated for any person who, as a result of their conduct during the medal/bar earning period:
    1. has received a punishment or sanction from a court martial, summary trial, or summary hearing other than a fine, deprivation of pay, "minor punishment" or "minor sanction" as defined in QR&O 104.13 and 123.02, published under the authority of the National Defence Act (NDA); or
    2. has been convicted by a civil court resulting in a sentence comparable to a punishment or sanction covered by paragraph a.
80. In all such cases, a recommendation to consider medal denial shall be forwarded to the chain of command as detailed under PROCESS below.
81. In all cases, whether the service is honourable or not will be assessed by the chain of command in light of the guidelines provided below. The overall aim is to ensure the spirit and intent of the honour in question is respected in order to protect its respect and value in the eyes of other recipients and all Canadians. The basic question is whether the person's conduct throughout the medal/bar earning period can be seen as honourable by a reasonable person: that is, did the conduct of the person depart significantly from that which would be expected for persons on this mission, operation or assignment?
82. Note that the Somalia Medal and the CD have more specific rules which are described in the related regulations which are not superseded by this document.

Guidelines

83. When considering whether a person's conduct has been honourable or not and, therefore, whether a recommendation for denial is required, a number of factors, many of which are subjective, should be taken into account. The guidelines which follow are provided to assist the chain of command in evaluating potential denial cases. Each case must be examined, taking all relevant factors and circumstances into consideration, before a recommendation can be made. The denial of medals shall not be used as a form of punishment nor to address poor performance.
84. Considerations to be taken into account when reviewing each case include:
    1. Did the person's conduct deviate so greatly from acceptable norms so as to be considered not honourable?
    2. Did the person's conduct cause severe and irreparable harm to the reputation of the CF, the department, the GC or Canada itself?
    3. Was the person's conduct a gross error in judgement, as opposed to simple negligence or an honest mistake?
    4. Did the person's conduct breach the Laws of Armed Conflict, Canadian or international law, government or CF rules, regulations or codes of ethics?
    5. Was the person's conduct premeditated or deliberate?
    6. Is there a pattern of misbehaviour, misconduct or of disobeying orders as opposed to an isolated incident?
    7. Did the person's action unnecessarily endanger lives or jeopardize safety and security?
    8. Did the person attempt to cover up the mistake or wrongdoing?
    9. Did the person refuse to serve (conscious choice vs. possible mental health issue)?
    10. Did any disciplinary or administrative action or repatriation result from the incident?
    11. Other considerations that may have an impact on the evaluation of the case such as rank, position, experience and aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
85. Upon consideration of the totality of circumstances, is there sufficient information to establish on a balance of probabilities that a decision to deny the medal is justified?
86. Award of the medal should be recommended in cases such as, but not limited to:
    1. insufficient information on the case;
    2. isolated minor incident;
    3. error or poor performance caused by inadequate training or lack of experience;
    4. lack of judgment by a very junior person with no charge recorded; or
    5. failure of the system to detect issues or deficiencies that should have prevented the person from being deployed.

Process

87. When a person's conduct during the medal/Rotation Bar eligibility period may have been not honourable and/or the person was given a punishment or sanction other than a fine, deprivation of pay, "minor punishment" or "minor sanction" by a court martial, summary trial, or summary hearing due to their conduct during the medal/Rotation Bar eligibility period, or the person was convicted by a civil court resulting in a sentence comparable to such a punishment or sanction; the appropriate authority (the person's CO, Task Force Commander or Senior National Representative) responsible for the service eligible towards earning a medal/Rotation Bar must submit a recommendation for possible medal denial to the chain of command for consideration.
88. The submission must include all relevant details justifying the recommendation according to the definition and guidelines above. If the FE is unable to come to a decision while the person is still deployed or within 90 days of the redeployment of the person or within 90 days of the conclusion of any criminal, disciplinary or administrative measure related to the incident, unless an agreement is reached between the Force Generator (FG) and FE, the file shall be transferred to the FG for the completion of this process.
89. In all cases, DH&R shall be immediately informed that awarding of a medal is under review. The information required by DH&R is the person's SN, Employee number, Regimental Number (RCMP), PRI, rank (if applicable), date of birth (for civilians), initials and surname, location and dates of deployment. No details on the reason for possible denial should be included in this notice. This information is considered Protected B.
90. The medal application process will be put on hold until a final decision is made where the application has not yet been made or where the application is in the processing stage. If a medal application has already been processed and the medal has been sent for presentation, even if it has already been presented, the medal shall be returned to DH&R until a final decision is made.
91. The person affected by the recommendation shall be notified in writing by the initial recommending authority of the pending decision regarding the recommendation and provided copies of all relevant documents (disclosure). When the disclosure package is received, the person may provide written representation to the initial recommending authority, including arguments and facts that may not have been included with the disclosure package and any correction to the disclosed documents and other information that the person considers necessary. The person should be provided with a reasonable time frame, which shall be no less than 15 working days from the time of disclosure, to provide written representation, which will then become part of the file for consideration by the chain of command. If the person requires more than 15 working days, the person must request an extension in writing and indicate the reason for the request.
92. The full recommendation, including any representation from the affected person, will be staffed from the unit or Task Force through the chain of command to the appropriate Level 1 (L1) Advisor for consideration by their Honours and Awards Committee and final decision by the L1.
93. In cases where the issuing or denial authority rests outside the CF (for example, NATO or the UN), the Task Force Commander must present the case to that authority for final decision.
94. Denial cases for civilian personnel who are under CF authority also follow the process detailed above.
95. Denial cases for civilians who are not under CF authority should follow a similar review process within their own organisation and DH&R should be notified in a similar fashion. The final authority shall be equivalent to an L1, which in the case of public servants would be an Assistant Deputy Minister
96. If the denial is confirmed by the L1 (or equivalent civilian authority) the person will be advised of the decision in writing through their chain of command and a copy of the approval authority reference and the supporting documents will be placed on the person's file for future reference. In addition, the following information shall be sent to DH&R for record purposes: SN, Employee number, Regimental Number (RCMP), PRI, rank (if applicable), date of birth (for civilians), initials and surname, location and dates of deployment of the individual to be denied the medal, the approving authority's final decision, date of the decision and reference number and a confirmation that the information has been placed on the individual's file. DH&R will annotate the medals distribution database to ensure that, should there be a request for the medal in the future, it will not be processed.
97. If the recommendation for denial is not supported, the decision that the service is deemed honourable shall be communicated to the person and DH&R, and recorded on the person's file following the same process as described above for denials. In these cases, the person's unit, department or agency will conduct a review and submit an application to DH&R for determination based on the other criteria for the medal (such as length of eligible service, place of service, citizenship for civilians, etc.) and DH&R will proceed with the award following the usual process where all conditions are met.
98. Impacts that punishments, sanctions and administrative measures have on honours are detailed in Annex A.

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Engraving

99. The SM, certain campaign and service medals (namely the GCS, the GSM, the OSM, as well as the CD), the Memorial Bar and the Memorial Cross bear the details of the recipients. Engraving shall always be in the FOL of the recipient, in block letters without accents or period marks as per National Honours Policy. Hyphens, apostrophes and brackets are used where appropriate. For policy concerning recipient details at the crystallization, refer to Chapter 1, paragraphs 70 to 75.
100. In all cases, the details used for the engraving taken from the CF member's HRMS file or the civilian's passport/birth certificate supplied as proof of service.
101. The SM, campaign and service medals and the Memorial Cross are engraved as follows:
     1. CF Members. SN, abbreviated substantive rank at time of eligibility, first name, initials and last name as follows:
        1. A12345678 MCPL JM SMITH
        2. B23456789 LT(N) AB O'CONNOR
        3. C34567890 AB J SMITH-JONES
     2. Members of Allied Forces. National service number (SN), national abbreviated substantive rank at time of eligibility, first name initials and last name:
        1. AB234 CMDT IK DVORAK
     3. Civilian Police. Regimental or badge number, abbreviated substantive rank at time of eligibility, first name initials and last name:
        1. 12345 CST AB SMITH
        2. AB123 SUPT DA JONES
     4. Civilians. First names and last name:
        1. CATHERINE JANE JONES
102. The CD is engraved with the abbreviated substantive rank at time of eligibility, initials and last name as follows:
     1. PTE AB JONES
     2. CAPT JBPM TREMBLAY
     3. HLCOL JA SMITH-HATFIELD
     4. HCOL THE HON AB SMART
103. By custom, the CD awarded to members of the Royal Family is engraved with their title only, while the CD for the GG includes title, full fore name and post-nominals:
     1. HRH THE DUKE OF KENT
     2. LA TRES HON MICHAELLE JEAN, CC, CMM, COM
     3. THE RT HON DAVID LLOYD JOHNSTON, CC, CMM, COM
104. Engraving on replacement medals shall bear the abbreviated substantive rank, legal initials and surname at time of eligibility for the original honour and shall include the letter "R" in brackets at the end of the engraved information to denote the honour is a replacement. This requirement is waived when the original award is returned to DH&R for destruction (due to engraving errors, damage, etc.).
105. Replacements are provided in component parts and recipients are responsible for having medals mounted.

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Presentation

106. Timely recognition is an important aspect of morale. It is the responsibility of the chain of command to ensure that applications are made in a timely fashion as soon as the candidates meet the criteria, and to ensure that medals received by the unit are presented in a timely manner, normally within 90 days of receipt at the unit.
107. Units shall not plan events (medal presentation ceremonies or parades) until after the medals in question have been received by the unit.
108. Awards shall only be presented to the authorized recipients.
109. Recipients of campaign or service medals (including the CD or Clasps) are not authorized to wear undress ribbons nor miniatures until the GG has approved the award in the form of the Instrument and the recipients have been presented with the actual honour (refer to Chapter 7).
110. Medals will be forwarded to the requesting unit CO, or the responsible agency or organisation for civilians, for appropriate presentation. Retired or civilian recipients not part of an agency or organisation may choose to have the award forwarded to an organization or person for presentation, or to have it mailed directly to their home address.
111. Presentation ceremonies will vary according to local circumstances. In general, members of formed units should receive medals on parade or other formal occasion where the greatest exposure can be achieved at the discretion of the unit CO (less the SM for which special instructions can be found in Chapter 9, Annex J). In all cases, the medals (except the SM) should be personally presented by the most senior officer available at the establishment, in the dignified circumstances which the event deserves. As a minimum the CO should personally present the honour. Except while in deployed operations, the order of dress should be 1A for presenter and recipient.
112. In the case of wounded members, the presentation should not occur immediately after the incident but rather when the member is sufficiently stable, both emotionally and physically, to receive the award. The proper time would be at the home unit with family and friends, or in the case of extended hospitalization, once the member's condition has stabilized.
113. As honours from the Crown, Canadian medals may be presented by any of the Sovereign's representatives and officials including members of the Royal Family, the GG, Lieutenant Governors, Ministers of the Crown, Officers of the CF, Canadian Ambassadors and senior Public Servants.
114. Canadian medals should not normally be presented by foreigners even if the recipient is serving under the command of a foreign officer in an international mission context. Only in the most extraordinary circumstances, such as a CF member on exchange in a foreign country where there are no Canadian superiors present, can a foreigner present a Canadian medal.
115. Where more than one honour is being presented, they shall be presented in the Order of Precedence as established by the GC starting by the highest. For each award, the recipients will be called in alphabetical order, regardless of rank and irrespective of status as military or civilian. Recipients of a bar or clasp shall be called ahead of those receiving the honour for the first time.

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Medals not presented

116. If a recipient has retired prior to the unit receiving the medal, the requesting unit shall attempt to make the presentation.
117. If a medal cannot be presented to the recipient because the member has been posted out of the unit or has retired outside of the immediate area or for any other reason, it shall be returned to DH&R, accompanied by an explanation and forwarded with a DND 728.
118. Any medal belonging to a member or to which a member is entitled and which is in the care and custody of a CO shall be forwarded to NDHQ/DH&R if the member:
     1. is absent without authority for 30 days; or
     2. is sent to a psychiatric hospital on release. When a medal is forwarded to DH&R, the CO shall notify DH&R of the date of release and the name and address of the institution; or
     3. has died while serving in which case the medal becomes part of the service estate.

(Refer to KR&O, 18-09 and 25.08)

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