Advisory Military Sub-Committee - Recommendations (2022)
Updated 16 November 2023
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1. Recommendation of the Advisory Military Sub-Committee
The independent Advisory Military Sub-Committee (AMSC), which has an independent Chair and independent Membership, offers advice to the Committee on the Grant of Honours Decorations and Medals (the HD Committee) on historic military medals claims, including cases which may not have been previously considered or where new evidence has emerged. The HD Committee is the principal body with responsibility for making recommendations on honours, awards, and medals.
The AMSC have made a recommendation on the following case:
- Request that the qualification criteria for the Accumulated Campaign Service Medal (ACSM) 1994 and 2011 be harmonised to remove the requirement to still be serving in the Armed Forces to qualify for the 2011 version of the medal.
The AMSC noted the differences between the qualifying criteria for both versions of the medal and considered the rationale for introducing the ACSM 11, which the AMSC agreed was a new medal that had its own, specific eligibility criteria to reflect the changing operational environment at the time. The AMSC concluded that there was no basis to recommend the qualification criteria for the medals be harmonised, so that the requirement to still be serving in the Armed Forces was removed for the ACSM 11.
This was the AMSC’s recommendation to the HD Committee, which was accepted. The outcome of the AMSC’s consideration of this case in no way diminishes the service of veterans who did not qualify for the ACSM 11.
The AMSC recognises the commitment of campaign groups, and individuals, to ensuring that cases such as this are considered through a formal process and for the evidence provided to the Sub-Committee. More information regarding the role of the AMSC and the process of evaluation can be found in the Sub-Committee’s Terms of Reference.