First created in 1962 with retroactive presentation to 1958, it remained an active decoration in the U.S. Navy until its discontinuation in 2014. The Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal was considered the enlisted successor award to the previous
Naval Reserve Medal. From 1958 until 1996, the medal was awarded for four years of satisfactory enlisted reserve service as a drilling reservist in the Selected Reserve (SELRES) or Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), to include Volunteer Training Units (VTU). Full-time active duty enlisted personnel in the Naval Reserve's Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR) Program (renamed the Full Time Support (FTS) Program from 2005 to 2021), while also eligible for the Naval Reserve Medal, were not eligible for the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal and were awarded the
Navy Good Conduct Medal on par with active duty Regular Navy enlisted personnel. The years of service requirement for the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal dropped from four years of service to three years of service from 1997 until its discontinuation, synchronizing it with the reduction in the required service for the active duty Navy Good Conduct Medal, which replaced it entirely pursuant to a SECNAV directive in 2014. As a result of this SECNAV directive, all enlisted sailors in both the Active Component and the Reserve Component now receive the same good conduct medal for the same period of service. Additional awards of the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal are denoted by
service stars. This was strictly an enlisted service medal on par with
Navy Good Conduct Medal for active duty enlisted sailors, to include those active duty enlisted sailors in the renamed
U.S. Navy Reserve's Full Time Support (FTS) program, previously known as Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR) prior to 2005, with FTS redesignated again as TAR in 2021. Commissioned officers, to include chief warrant officers, were not eligible for award of the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal. ==Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal==