What qualifications are needed to be awarded the Overseas Service Ribbon?

I got sidetracked in a few of the threads here however, I am back to the point of the topic:

For the Overseas Service Ribbon, an established tour length must be in place....which as I last checked was not possible in the current Afganistan/Iraq/Kuwait trifecta.

But once upon a time I was told the magic number is 9 months for them. That being said there are caveats in the regulation for tons of variables.

Of note: if the tour is shortened at the convenience of the government; also, you can add it to your record within 60 days of "normal tour completion"

Hope it helps!

The short answer is, to be awarded an overseas service ribbon you must complete a minimum of 3/4 of that tour. Europe, for instance, is 2 years unaccompanied or 3 years accompanied... You would have to complete 3/4 of the appropriate time to receive the ribbon.

Either finish your tour of duty at an OCONUS station or 6 months combat deployment.

There is also an overseas training ribbon for reserve and national guard units that trail overseas for annual training or for other exercises.

basically having an overseas orders and completing your time.

You used to get them when you were stationed in Alaska or Hawaii.

For active duty eligibility begins 90 days after reporting overseas with a minimum of 180 days overseas consecutive, additional stars are awarded for periods of 12 consecutive months (not to include leave less than 30 days, or TDY less than 180 days), for SELRES you need 45 cumulative days overseas (non consecutive or consecutive). What's it's worth? Most VFW'S will accept either a campaign ribbon or medal, or an overseas service ribbon as eligibility, that's about all.

From the IG Desk: It's already been established that AR 614-30 drives this award. As far as the process itself is concerned, it's only an entry on your record by a Unit Clerk...at least that's all that was required in my Unit when I was notified of such. But I want to address another aspect for ALLCON by bursting a very important bubble: The civilian world, for the most part, has no clue as to the significance of military awards nor should they. An accolade by itself does not translate into a viable job skill. On my resume, I simply wrote, "Numerous military accolades and awards" and left it at that. During my lifetime civilian career, I was never asked by any Interviewer to speak to my military awards. As far as a military career is concerned, ribbons tell a full story as to where a service member has traveled and been exposed to. I want everyone out there to understand one very simple rule locked in stone...the is NO great clerk in the sky watching out for you or the completeness of your military record for any entry whatsoever. It falls to YOU personally to stay on top of any and all personnel issues including awards, promotions, travel, retirement points and everything else having to do with your career. My office fought a continuous battle of constant complaints regarding lost service records, last-second retirement point audits, "where's the goody I shoulda got" and numerous other issues that would never had seen the light of day if the service member had done their job in the first place to stay ahead of such things. If nothing else, toss a copy of every sheet of paper the military ever gives you into a box and keep it. I did. During the 30 years I was in the Army, I was able to produce accurate copies of items that units failed to maintain and came out ahead each and every time.

When stationed overseas and you have completed 2/3 of your tour is when you become eligible for the overseas service ribbon.

I was awarded the RC overseas service ribbon for Team Spirit '87