The General Service Medal is awarded to members of the
Canadian Armed Forces as well as members of allied forces who serve with the Canadian Armed Forces on deployments outside of Canada. These deployments need not necessarily be into a theatre of operations, but must provide full-time direct support to operations in the presence of an armed enemy. Canadian citizens who are not members of the armed forces may also be awarded the medal. Civilians must have deployed outside of Canada and worked with the CF to provide full-time direct support to operations in the presence of an armed enemy. The GSM is always awarded with a ribbon specific to the theatre or type of service being recognized. Each ribbon has its own criteria.
Allied Force The General Service Medal with Allied Force ribbon is awarded to personnel who served at least 30 days' cumulative service in direct support of
Operation Allied Force in
Aviano or
Vicenza, Italy, or in
Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, from 24 March to 10 June 1999. Some recipients may have to exchange their previously awarded
NATO Medal for the GSM-Allied Force.
South-West Asia The General Service Medal with South-West Asia ribbon is awarded to Canadian Armed Forces personnel who provided 30 cumulative days of direct support outside the theatre for operations within South-West Asia. The first eligible period of service was from 24 April 2003 to 31 July 2009 for direct support of Canadian participation in the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The next period of service from 1 August 2009 to a date yet to be determined for 30 cumulative days of direct support, provided outside the theatre of operations. The theatre is defined as the political boundaries of Afghanistan, the
Persian Gulf, the
Gulf of Oman, the
Gulf of Aden, the
Red Sea, the
Suez Canal, and those parts of the Indian Ocean and the
Arabian Sea that are west of sixty-eight degrees East longitude and north of five degrees South latitude. Canadian citizens who are not members of the military are eligible for the GSM South-West Asia for completing the same amount of service, during the same time frames, and in the same areas, but must have been deployed inside the theatre of operations. The only civilians eligible for this medal are members of the
Public Service of Canada working for the Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian civilians under contract with the Canadian Armed Forces, and Canadian police officers serving under the authority of the Canadian Armed Forces. For service in Kuwait in support of
Operation Impact against
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria from 5 October 2015. ==Appearance==