Coast Guard Unit Commendation — Military Decorations

Coast Guard Unit Commendation

Coast Guard Unit Commendation

Coast Guard Unit Commendation Medal and Ribbon Design Images

What is the Coast Guard Unit Commendation Decoration?

The Coast Guard Unit Commendation is identical to the Navy Commendation Medal except it also contains a central silver stripe.

Otherwise, it bears the same colour scheme of hunter green with bands of royal blue, Spanish yellow, and scarlet. In the ribbon, a large green central stripe is flanked by three stripes of royal blue, Spanish yellow and scarlet on the edges.

The royal blue, Spanish yellow, and scarlet create a border on the pennant and the streamer follows suit to the design of the ribbon.

The United States military sorts decorations into categories called Classes and Types. The Coast Guard Unit Commendation medal is classified as a Unit Award of the type Presidential Unit Citation.

How Do You Earn the Coast Guard Unit Commendation?

The Coast Guard Unit Commendation is the highest peacetime unit award that may be awarded to military commands of the United States Coast Guard. It is presented to members of any Coast Guard unit that distinguishes itself by valorous or extremely meritorious service, not involving combat, but in support of Coast Guard operations.

It may also be awarded to units and personnel of the other U.S. armed forces, typically when in support of operations where the Coast Guard is the lead service. One example was the award of the commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device to rescue squadrons of the U.S. Air Force and maritime patrol squadrons and helicopter squadrons of the U.S. Navy, when said units assisted the Coast Guard during search and recovery operations following the January 1986 loss of the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger.

Displaying the Coast Guard Unit Commendation

The Order of Precedence of the Coast Guard Unit Commendation is 47, and this precedence is used when placing the associated service ribbon on your uniform ribbon rack. You can see a full list of decorations in the order of precedence on the Decorations homepage.

All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they personally participated in the acts for which the unit was cited. Only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award.

Additional awards of the Coast Guard Unit Commendation are denoted by award stars. The Operational Distinguishing Device, a 5/16 inch silver letter "O" centered on the unit of the uniform ribbon, is also authorized for units which are presented the decoration for field operations and conditions.

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