Joint Service Achievement MedalService: All Services
Instituted: 1983
Criteria: Meritorious service or achievement while serving with a Joint Activity
Devices: Bronze, Silver Oak Leaf Cluster
The Joint Service Achievement Medal was established in 1983 specifically to complete the Department of Defense awards hierarchy and thereby provide a system of decorations for meritorious achievement comparable to those of the separate services. In so doing, the integrity of the more senior Joint Service medals was protected and the opportunity to earn recognition while assigned to a Joint Activity was provided.
It is awarded for meritorious service or achievement while serving in a Joint Activity after August 3, 1983 to military personnel below the rank of colonel. Oak leaf clusters denote additional awards.
The medal features an American eagle with the United States coat of arms on its breast holding three arrows in the center of the bronze medal which consists of a star of twelve points chosen to make it distinctive. The eagle was taken from the Seal designed for the National Military Establishment in 1947 by the President and the arrows were adapted from the seal of the Department of Defense. This is the same design seen on the Army and Navy Commendation Medals.
The reverse of the medal contains the inscriptions, “JOINT SERVICE” and “ACHIEVEMENT AWARD” in a circle. There is space in the center for inscribing the recipient’s name. The ribbon consists of a center stripe of red flanked on either side by stripes of light blue, white, green, white and blue.
The Joint Service Achievement Medal was designed by Jay Morris and sculpted by Donald Borja, both of the Institute of Heraldry.