Air Force Combat Action Medal


The Air Force Combat Action Medal is a relatively new medal created for the United States Air Force in March 2007 to recognize Air Force members for active participation in ground or air combat.
The AFCAM was first awarded on June 12, 2007 to six Air Force members who were engaged in air or ground combat off base in a combat zone during Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. The medal is retroactive from September 11, 2001 to a date to be determined and may be awarded posthumously.

Criteria

For an airman to wear the AFCAM, members must provide proper documentation to their commander which includes a narrative explanation of the airman's involvement in combat activities to the first O-6 in their operational chain of command on an AF Form 3994. The application will be processed through the chain of command and eventually be approved or disapproved by the Commander of Air Force Forces.
Nomination of the award of the AFCAM will be restricted to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who on or after September 11, 2001 were under any of the following conditions:
Retroactive awards prior to September 11, 2001 are not authorized.
The AFCAM has no patch or badge equivalent for wear on the Airman Battle Uniform and other functional uniforms that are worn for daily duties and deployments. It is worn after the Air Force Achievement Medal and before the Air Force Presidential Unit Citation.
The AFCAM may be awarded to members from the other Armed Forces and foreign military members serving in a U.S. Air Force unit, provided they meet the criteria for the award.

Ribbon devices

According to USAF Memo, June 25, 2015, Air Force Instruction 36-2803, December 18, 2013 : AFCAM, Authorized Device: A gold star will be worn to recognize subsequent operations when approved by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. However, in AFI36-2903, gold stars are not included in the AF list of authorized ribbon devices ; service/campaign stars are the only star devices authorized for wear.
Also, no ribbon device is authorized for wear in AFI36-2803 to denote subsequent awards of the AFCAM, which normally would be oak leaf clusters. The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard authorizes a " gold star to denote subsequent awards of specific decorations and a " bronze service star is worn on the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal to denote a subsequent operation.
Note: This may be the beginning of a first time wearing of a gold star device by a member of the Air Force on any one of their awards: General Tod Wolters, U.S.A.F., publicly wears a " gold star on an AFCAM service ribbon on his uniform since at least September 2013. Wolters has fought in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Medal design

In conjunction with the Army Institute of Heraldry, the medal was designed by Susan Gamble, a professional artist and Master Designer for the U.S. Mint, and wife of Mike Gamble, an Air Force colonel. She was quoted by The Washington Post as saying, "It was just a real pleasure to give this back to the Air Force that's been part of my life."
Gamble based the silver medal's design and ribbon color from the circular insignia painted on planes which were piloted by Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, including a French-built SPAD XVI fighter aircraft he piloted in France during World War I. His SPAD 16 is currently displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Mitchell is generally known as the father of the U.S. Air Force.
A laurel wreath surrounds the medal's eagle emblem executed in a simple, linear Art Deco style. The eagle with a national flag shield with thirteen perpendicular stripes on its breast faces right, over the right talon clutching arrows, to reflect that this is a combat medal. The left talon clutches an olive branch. The eagle which symbolizes Mitchell's military rank insignia of colonel, has above it a five-pointed star which represents Mitchell's wartime promotion to the temporary rank of brigadier general in October, 1918. The reverse side of the medal contains two rows of words written on a scroll at the center of the eagle, "U.S. Air Force" and "Combat Action".
The ribbon's diagonal stripes at first could not be manufactured in the United States; but military medals cannot be manufactured outside the U.S. This design problem was resolved when a mill in Bally, Pennsylvania, Bally Ribbon Mills, bought a new loom specifically to weave the diagonal stripe. A Rhode Island firm, Ira Green Inc. in Providence, made the metal parts. The AFCAM is the only U.S. military award to have a diagonally patterned ribbon, much like the British Distinguished Flying Cross and Netherlands Airman's Cross. The AFCAM service ribbon has five stripes.

First recipients

First award - June 12, 2007

The AFCAM was presented for the first time to six Airmen by the Air Force Chief of Staff, General T. Michael Moseley, at the U.S. Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia:
The AFCAM was presented posthumously for the first time to: