How can one acquire the citation that comes with a service medal?

2018-08-23T15:11:46-04:00

Looking to create a wall of fame for all the service members in my wife's and my own family - about 12. I was going to display a picture, rank as well interesting award with the citation. In going through my father's war chest I found an old National Security Medal. As such I was wanting to get the citation for the award. Looking for advice in how to go about getting the citation.

Response by LCDR Robert S. made Aug 23 at 2018 4:07 PM

2018-08-23T16:07:19-04:00

Contact the public affairs officer for the agency he was working for when he got it. They can certainly put you in touch with the right point of contact.

If they don't, another possibility would be a FOIA request to the same agency.

One thing to keep in mind though is that, given the nature of what some National Security Medals are awarded for, they might not be able to give you a copy of the citation, or might have to redact enough of it to render it pointless.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 23 at 2018 7:32 PM

2018-08-23T19:32:31-04:00

You probably won't find a citation for a medal unless comments were required to justify the award. A lot of service medals are simply awarded for complying with certain criteria. GWOT, GCM, Southwest Asia, are examples of that. Even some "participation" awards don't get citiations. One example is Humanitarian Service. If you were involved in a larger effort, like disaster relief, that participation is enough to justify without any written description of your specific effort.

If you can't find a specific citation document for your board, perhaps you can, instead, write your own summary of the event that lead to the metal. For example, "while deployed for Operation Provide Comfort, SGT Snuffy was involved in the effort to improve an airfield needed to bring in valuable aid and supplies to the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq