OTTAWA—His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, will present the first 50 Operational Service Medals. The inaugural ceremony will be held at Rideau Hall on Monday, December 6, 2010, at 2:30 p.m.
The Operational Service Medal will be awarded to Canadian military personnel, to civilians under the authority of the Canadian Forces, and to members of allied forces integrated within the Canadian Forces, as well as to Canadian police officers who have taken part in important missions overseas.
The creation of the Operational Service Medal was announced on September 8, 2010 (http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=13849&lan=eng). It is issued with a ribbon specific to the theatre or type of service being recognized, and each ribbon has its own criteria. At this time, six ribbons have been created: South-West Asia, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Sudan, HUMANITAS and EXPEDITION.
The list of recipients and additional information on the Operational Service Medal are attached.
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Media who would like to conduct interviews with the recipients are asked to contact the Department of National Defence or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Those wishing to cover the ceremony are asked to inform the Rideau Hall Press Office, and must arrive at the Princess Anne Entrance no later than 2:15 p.m.
For information on the ceremony:
Marie-Pierre Bélanger
Rideau Hall Press Office
613-998-9166
marie-pierre.belanger@gg.ca
www.gg.ca
For information on the Operational Service Medal and its military recipients:
Department of National Defence
Media Liaison Office
1-866-377-0811
613-996-2353
www.forces.gc.ca
For information on the police forces recipients:
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Media Relations
613-993-2999
www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca
The Operational Service Medal was created on July 5, 2010, to recognize members of the Canadian Forces, Canadian police officers, members of an allied force, or Canadian civilians working at the request of the Canadian government and under the authority of the Canadian Forces, who served in a theatre of operations, provided direct support on a full-time basis to operations conducted in such a theatre or served under dangerous circumstances outside Canada.
Commanding officers will submit applications through the usual military or police chain of command for eligible members of their unit.
The Medal shall be worn following the General Service Medal and before the Special Service Medal, in the order of precedence of the Canadian Honours System. If several OSMs are earned, they shall be worn in the proper sequence, according to the Order of Precedence, available on our Web site at www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=71.
The Medal, which is silver in colour, consists of a circular medallion that is 36 mm across, with a straight suspension bar.
The obverse of the Medal shows a contemporary effigy of Her Majesty The Queen of Canada with the inscriptions “Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina” and “CANADA,” separated by small maple leaves.
The reverse of the Medal shows, from top to bottom, the Royal Crown—on either side of which are three maple leaves joined on one stem—a representation of the globe, and crossed branches of laurel and oak leaves.
The ribbons are all 32 mm wide with a central stripe representative of the theatre or task (sand for South-West Asia, light green for Sierra Leone, royal blue for Haiti, dark green for Sudan, white for Humanitas and light grey for Expedition), on either side of which are stripes of white and red.
For a large-format image of the Operational Service Medal, please click on the following link: http://www.gg.ca/images/OSM_hi-res.jpg.
Related Information: For more information on military honours and the Operational Service Medal and its eligibility criteria, please visit the Department of National Defence Web site for Canadian Forces Honours and Awards: http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhr-ddhr/.
