Appendix 1 – South-West Asia Service Medal (SWASM) regulations, 2009

(Reprint of Regulations as amended by the following Orders in Council P.C. 2002-1254, 2010-80, and 2011-237)

Interpretation

1. The definitions in this section apply in these Regulations.

• “AFGHANISTAN Bar” means the bar described in section 3. (Barrette AFGHANISTAN)
• “Medal” means the South-West Asia Service Medal (SWASM). (Médaille)
• “Rotation Bar” means the bar described in section 4. (Barrette de rotation)
• “theatre of operations” means a subset of the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility (USCENTCOM’s AOR) consisting of the political boundaries of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and those parts of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea that are west of sixty-eight degrees East longitude and north of five degrees South latitude, as well as the airspace above that subset. 
  (théâtre des opérations)

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Description

2. 1. The Medal shall be 36 mm across and shall consist of a circular medal made of cupro-nickel with a claw at the top of the medal, in the form of a cluster of olive leaves, being attached to a straight, slotted bar.
   2. On the obverse of the Medal shall appear the effigy of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada who is wearing the King George IV State Diadem and facing to the sinister, circumscribed with the inscriptions “ELIZABETH II”, “DEI GRATIA REGINA” and “CANADA”, which are separated by small maple leaves.
   3. On the reverse of the Medal shall appear a representation of a hydra, which is the many- headed creature of Greek mythology that is described as a multifarious evil not to be overcome by a single effort, transfixed by a Canadian sword, and over which shall appear the Latin phrase “ADVERSUS MALUM PUGNAMUS”, which means “we are fighting evil”.
   4. The Medal shall be suspended from a ribbon, 32 mm in width, with a 12 mm white stripe in the middle flanked by 4 mm black stripes, 2 mm red stripes and 4 mm sand stripes.
3. The Afghanistan Bar to the Medal shall be made of cupronickel with raised edges and shall bear the name “AFGHANISTAN”.
4. The Rotation Bars to the Medal shall be made of cupronickel with raised edges and shall bear either one or five maple leaves.

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Eligibility

5. Subject to section 8, the Medal may be awarded to any person who:
   1. is a member of the Canadian Forces, a member of an allied force who has worked as an integral part of the Canadian Forces, such as exchange personnel, a Canadian citizen in the employ of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a Canadian citizen under contract with the Government of Canada and
   2. has been deployed as part of a military mission outside Canada and participated in, or provided direct support on a full-time basis to, operations conducted in the theatre of operations against terrorism in South-West Asia for a period of at least 90 cumulative days during the period beginning on September 11, 2001 and ending on July 31, 2009, provided the service has not been recognized by another medal.
6. Subject to section 8, the Medal with the AFGHANISTAN Bar may be awarded to any person who:
   1. is a member of the Canadian Forces, a member of an allied force who has worked as an integral part of the Canadian Forces, such as exchange personnel, a Canadian citizen in the employ of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a Canadian citizen under contract with the Government of Canada; and
   2. has been deployed as part of a military mission for a period of at least 30 cumulative days in the theatre of operations during the period beginning on September 11, 2001 and ending on July 31, 2009, provided the service has not been recognized by another medal.
7. A recipient of the Medal with the Afghanistan Bar may be awarded a Rotation Bar if the person has served an additional 180 cumulative days of service after qualifying for that Medal or the last Rotation Bar that the person has earned.
8. The following do not constitute eligible service:
   1. visits and inspections for the purpose of leadership, command or familiarization;
   2. ceremonial or morale visits by civilian or military dignitaries;
   3. Staff assistance visits;
   4. Staff inspection visits;
   5. specialist visits for the conduct of summary, criminal or administrative investigations, courts martial, boards of inquiry, trial evaluations, academic studies, or surveys;
   6. work by embedded journalists or war artists; and
   7. any other similar activity.
9. 1. Any person who dies or is evacuated for medical reasons that are directly attributable to service is deemed to have completed the minimum service required under section 5 or 6.
   2. Any recipient of the Medal with the Afghanistan Bar who dies or is evacuated for medical reasons that are directly attributable to service shall be credited the entire period that they would have served in the theatre of operations had they completed their tour of duty for the purpose of calculating eligibility for Rotation Bars.
10. The service counted towards the Medal and Rotation Bars may not be counted towards any other Canadian or foreign service medal.
11. The service under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s International Security Assistance Force may not be counted towards the Medal or Rotation Bars.
12. The Medal, Afghanistan Bar and Rotation Bars shall be awarded for honourable service.

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Award

13. An award of the Medal, the AFGHANISTAN Bar and the Rotation Bars shall be made:
    1. on the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Staff who shall make a list of all persons, military and civilian, who are eligible to be awarded the Medal, the Afghanistan Bar or the Rotation Bars and shall forward the list to the Governor General; and
    2. by an instrument signed by the Governor General.
14. The Medal, the AFGHANISTAN Bar and the Rotation Bars may be awarded posthumously.

Presentation

15. Unless the Governor General otherwise directs, the Medal, the Afghanistan Bar and the Rotation Bars shall be presented to the recipient, as arranged by the Chief of the Defence Staff.

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Wearing of medal and bars

16. 1. The Medal shall be worn after the Somalia Medal on the left breast.
    2. One bar shall be worn centred on the ribbon that is described in subsection 2(4).
    3. One Rotation Bar bearing five maple leaves shall be worn instead of five single maple leaf Rotation Bars.
    4. When several bars have been awarded, they shall be spaced evenly on the ribbon in the order that they were earned. The Afghanistan Bar shall be worn closest to the Medal.
    5. When the undress ribbon is worn, a small silver shield bearing three maple leaves conjoined on one stem shall be worn on the ribbon to indicate the award of the Afghanistan Bar.
    6. When the undress ribbon is worn, a silver maple leaf shall be worn centred on the ribbon of the Medal to indicate the award of a Rotation Bar, a gold maple leaf shall be worn to indicate the award of a second Rotation Bar and a red maple leaf shall be worn to indicate the award of a third Rotation Bar. If more than three Rotation Bars have been awarded, the maple leaves shall be worn in combination so as to indicate the total number of Rotation Bars awarded.
    7. When multiple ribbon devices are worn on the undress ribbon, they shall be spaced evenly on the ribbon, with the shield device taking precedence over the maple leaves and being worn closest to the centre of the chest.
17. A recipient of the Medal may wear a miniature medal, which is one-half the size of the Medal, on all occasions when the wearing of miniature medals is customary.

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Cancellation and reinstatement

18. 1. The Governor General may, on the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Staff:
       1. cancel or annul the award of the Medal, Afghanistan Bar or a Rotation Bar to any person; and
       2. restore the award of a Medal, Afghanistan Bar or Rotation Bar that has been cancelled or annulled.
    2. If the award of a Medal, Afghanistan Bar or Rotation Bar is cancelled or annulled, the recipient’s name shall be deleted from the register referred to in paragraph 19(c).

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Administration

19. The Director, Honours, Chancellery of Honours shall:
    1. acquire the Medals, the Afghanistan Bars and the Rotation Bars;
    2. provide the Medals, the Afghanistan Bars and the Rotation Bars to the Chief of the Defence Staff;
    3. maintain a register containing the names of recipients and any other records that relate to the award of the Medal, the Afghanistan Bar and the Rotation Bars that the Director considers necessary; and
    4. perform any other functions in respect of awards of the Medal, the Afghanistan Bar and the Rotation Bars that the Governor General may require the Director to perform.

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General

20. Nothing in these Regulations limits the right of the Governor General to exercise all of the powers and authorities of Her Majesty in respect of the Medal, the Afghanistan Bar and the Rotation Bars.

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