Overseas service ribbon/stripes question, how to compute months

2014-01-05T12:23:31-05:00

My question is two part, so please bear with me (and thanks for the help, I've never gotten a solid answer on this):

1. Part one, eligibility:

So on the HRC website (https://www.hrc.army.mil/TAGD/Overseas%20Service%20Ribbon%20OSR) it says:

"How long do I have to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan to be awarded the OSR?

IAW AR 614-30, Soldiers who serve a minimum of 11 cumulative months (within a 24 month period) or 9 continuous months in a TCS/TDY status may receive overseas tour credit for a completed short tour."

My ERB shows a deployment from 201226 to 20130831 and calculates to 8 months.

I did NOT deploy within the 24 months, twice, so the 11 cumulative will not work. My BN S1 adjutant said I am NOT eligible for the OSR for this tour because I didn't hit the 9 months. Fine by me, I really don't care. So I took my photo and had my ERB say 1 OSR (for a 12 month Afghan deployment, I didn't get an OSR for my 3 month OIF I invasion deployment).

I actually can't find where in AR 614-30 it says that. The one from 2010 doesn't seem to have the chart that the old one said that basically said "if this, then that". And the words "9 continuous" as from HRC don't even exist in the document according to the search function.

The S1 told me it was based on how many months showed up on the ERB. So if it had said 9 months I would have been good, but it says 8 months.

And my total deployed time says 23 months on my ERB, so I can only wear 3 overseas bars on my sleeve as well (according to S1).

2. Now for part two:

So I validated my board record a couple weeks prior to the board with my ERB saying 1 OSR and my photo with only the OSR and no numerals.

I had CSM Maynard look at my record and he noticed my ERB said 2 OSR.

Someone, or HRC, automatically added my second OSR even though I don't appear to be eligible and was told I wasn't.

First, how bad does that look to the board (assuming my ERB was changed before the board convened), and second, is there a way to see what ERB the board pulled? When I click on my board file in OMPF, it says not available because the board already convened.

***

The argument I've been told is it isn't by day but by month, but I can't see where that's in writing. For example, if you went by month and not days, it would be December (2012), Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, July, Aug - nine months. But by days apparently they have something before the 15th or after or whatnot, which calculates to 8 months total, not nine.

And I've been told that for the stripes it's by months, for the OSR it's basically by days.

So to play it safe I just went with the ERB. ERB said 8 months for this deployment, so I didn't put an OSR on. ERB said 23 months total deployed, so I only wear 3 stripes on my sleeve.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2014 12:30 PM

2014-01-05T12:30:19-05:00

A minor error like that will not hurt you, many times people get that AAM or AGCM after they take their photo or while the board is being conducted. Small minor errors like those wont standout as much as the incoming soldier on your ERB or missing data. As in overseas tour credit the nine months tour credit was changed go to frequently asked questions for overseas service credit and it will explain it there. It recently had the question of if I am stationed in Germany but deploy to Iraq/Afghanistan do I get overseas credit for both and the answer is yes as per HRC's guidance.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2014 1:46 PM

2014-01-05T13:46:49-05:00

I can't answer your OSR question as my tours were not on the borderline so I didn't research it as much.

I do know that the Overseas Service Bar (Combat Stripe) is cumulative by month. If you are in the Mid east (or other combat zone) during a qualifying period for any part of the month, that month counts.

Add up all the months and divide by 6, that's how many Overseas Service Bars you have

Response by CSM Mike Maynard made Jan 6 at 2014 5:43 AM

2014-01-06T05:43:43-05:00

The only way to have any OSR show up in your awards section is for the S1 to go in and actually manually type in the dates of qualifying service.

Response by CSM Mike Maynard made Jan 6 at 2014 6:04 AM

2014-01-06T06:04:38-05:00

For the OSR, if your ERB shows 8 months in Section I, then it is not the 9 months required. Months are calculated in Section I by days and not under the same rules as OSBs.

For OSBs, the Total Months in Section I will normally not add up to your qualifying months for the OSB. According to 670-1, "The months of arrival to, and

departure from xxxxxx are counted as whole months." This is not the way that eMILPO calculates the "months" in Section I.

Hope that helps.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 12 at 2015 5:12 PM

2015-05-12T17:12:46-04:00

For the OSB it is cumulative by months, with whole months being counted, regardless of how many days of that calendar month you actually spent in theater. EXAMPLE: Arrive January 30th and depart 1 December. That credits 12 months (2 OSB's) as per the reg., because all of January and all of December are counted. But, it will only reflect as 10 months on a record brief.

The exception is for tours of less than 180 days. For these short deployments you do not count month of arrival and month of departure as whole months. If that is the case add of the days of your (less than 180 day) tours and divide by 30. That is how many months they total up to.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 21 at 2015 2:32 PM

2015-12-21T14:32:35-05:00

maybe it's different for NCOs, but I don't know if the board even really looks at your DA photo when you are an officer, other than to make sure you are not a total fat-ass. I know a guy whose packet went before the O4 board and he didn't even have his name-tag on his ASU in his DA photo, still got selected.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 5 at 2016 4:46 PM

2016-02-05T16:46:33-05:00

I know this is reactivating an old thread, but I received a completed combat tour with the ACM. I ran into a SSG that assured me that I also should receive the OSR due to a completion of a short tour. I have looked on HRC, 614-30, 600-8-22, and spoke to my S1 and my buddy whose a S1 NCOIC in SOCSOUTH. They cannot give me a determination since we cant find it within the regulation. Can someone give me guidance here. My ERB states 7 months.

Response by SFC Lance Asher made Feb 14 at 2016 3:41 PM

2016-02-14T15:41:53-05:00

I hope this thread is still active, because I am more confused now than ever. I have been overseas quite a bit in my 19 1/2 years of service, and I still have no idea how many OSR I should have. I am going to post my overseas service dates in the hope that someone smarter than I can figure it out in time for me to update my records for the upcoming MSG board.

1) 20 [login to see] 0702 35 Months Germany (Accompanied)
2) 20 [login to see] 1014 15 Months Iraq (Deployment - Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger)
3) 20 [login to see] 0615 36 Months Hawaii (Unaccompanied)
4) 20 [login to see] 0107 12 Months Iraq (Deployment- Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger)
5) 20 [login to see] 0714 6 Months Iraq (Deployment- Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger)
6) 20 [login to see] 0911 8 Months Saudi Arabia (Deployment- Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger)
7) 20 [login to see] 1001 12 Months Korea (Unaccompanied - IPCOT)
8) 19 [login to see] 1018 12 Months Korea (Unaccompanied)

By my calculations, 1,2,3,4,7,8 each count as a completed tour, which would give me 6 OSR. However, the two tours 5,6 could go either way.
Option 1 is that they add up to 14 months of cumulative service within a 24 month period, which would earn me another OSR for a total of 7.
Option 2 is that tour 5 was within the 24 month period that includes tour 4, which I have already been credited for, and therefore tour 6 does not meet the criteria for an OSR, thus leaving me with the original 6 OSR.

Now for the really confusing part: My ERB only shows 5 OSR. Did I do my math wrong? Who is right? I just want my records and uniform to match for the FY16 MSG board.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Response by SGT Robert McEachern made Jul 30 at 2017 9:43 PM

2017-07-30T21:43:29-04:00

I received an Overseas Service Ribbon for my time in Alaska. Am I entitled to wear the sleeve stripe

Response by SSG David Harper made Nov 22 at 2017 12:27 PM

2017-11-22T12:27:38-05:00

As a secondary question, I've been out since '07, but as a reservist deployed to Iraq 04-05 (11 mos, x days). Where in my records (I think I have my ERB completely copied, some pieces might be missing) would I find info on eligibility for OSR and service stripes for that deployment?
Thanks very much!

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 14 at 2018 8:56 PM

2018-10-14T20:56:38-04:00

Do overseas strips count for combat tours or just doing a normal overseas tour. I spent 2.5 years in Germany

Response by LTC Ryon Adams made Apr 19 at 2021 3:51 PM

2021-04-19T15:51:25-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am a retired LTC, and I have an awards/uniform question. Although I am retired, in the event that I ever have to put on my Class A uniform for an appropriate function, I'd like to know how many Overseas Service Bars I should wear.

I have the following OIF or OEF deployment dates, according to my DD-214:

Kuwait OIF: 9/3/03 - 11/28/03 (3 months?)
Kuwait OIF: 10/28/06 - 2/4/07 (5 months?)
Afghanistan OEF: 3/31/11 - 3/30/12 (13 months?)
Afghanistan OEF: 10/16/13 - 8/16/14 (11 months?)

Does this mean that I receive credit for 3 months, 5 months, 13 months, and 11 months towards Overseas Service Bar calculations? Does this mean that I have 32 total months of credit, entitling me to wear FIVE overseas service bars?

I currently have four on my uniform, but looking at the regs, this may be incorrect.

Please let me know the EXACT number of Overseas Service Bars that I am entitled to. Thank you for your assistance!

V/R

LTC(R) Ryon F. Adams
US Army Retired