Context
This general service award has been created as a means to recognize - in a timelier manner - those who serve in operations in the presence of an armed enemy. Rather than creating a new honour for each new Canadian Forces operation as it arises, the General Campaign Star and General Service Medal - with their theatre or service specific ribbons - can be awarded in future to honour participation in any operation that meets the criteria.
Eligibility and Criteria
The General Campaign Star (GCS) is awarded to members of the Canadian Forces and members of allied forces working with the Canadian Forces who deploy into a defined theatre of operations to take part in operations in the presence of an armed enemy.
The GCS is always issued with a ribbon specific to the theatre or type of service being recognized, and each ribbon has its own criteria.
The GCS with South-West Asia ribbon is awarded to Canadian Forces members and members of allied forces working with the Canadian Forces who served either:
- with the Canadian contribution to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan for at least 30 days cumulative between 24 April 2003 and 31 July 2009, in the theatre of operations which consisted of the political boundaries and airspace of Afghanistan; and/or
- in the theatre of operations consisting of 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, as well as the airspace above those areas for at least 30 cumulative days commencing on August 1, 2009, provided that the service has not been recognized by another service medal.
Canadian civilians under contract with the CF and Canadian Police Officers serving under the authority of the CF in Afghanistan with units described at the link above and between the dates indicated qualify for the GSM with South-West Asia ribbon after 30 days of service.
The only members of allied forces eligible are those who serve in missions on behalf of Canada. They are usually exchange personnel who deploy with our units or personnel seconded to the CF specifically to serve in our missions. In all cases, they must be on the CFTPO filling a Canadian position and they are usually assigned a CF service number. Foreign personnel working in concert with the CF or reporting to a Canadian superior in an international context are not eligible for Canadian service medals.
Service in South-West Asia between 11 September 2001 and 31 July 2009 which was not under the NATO-led ISAF is not eligible for this award but may be eligible for the South-West Asia Service Medal, see the page for this medal for further details.
Aircrew flying into the theatre accumulate one day of service for the first sortie flown on any day, additional sorties flown on the same day receive no further credit.
The first and last days in theatre count as full days.
Visits and inspections do not constitute qualifying service. Specifically, visits for the purpose of leadership, familiarization, ceremonial, or morale by civilian or military VIPs as well as Staff Assistance Visits (SAVs), Staff Inspection Visits (SIVs), and specialist visits for the conduct of summary/criminal/administrative investigations, courts martial, Boards of Inquiry, trial evaluations, academic studies, surveys or other similar administrative activities are excluded from qualification.
Any person who dies or is evacuated because of injuries or medical reasons directly attributable to service is deemed to have satisfied the time criteria set out above. Any recipient of the Star who dies or is evacuated because of injuries or medical reasons directly attributable to service shall be credited the entire period the person would have served should the person have completed their tour of duty for the purpose of calculating eligibility towards Rotation Bars.
When a person meets the criteria for the GCS-SWA or a Bar to it and the GSM-SWA or a Bar to it within a period of 180 days, the person shall only be awarded the GCS or a Bar to it. In other words, one cannot earn both the GCS and the GSM for SWA (or bars to them) during a six months period.
The Star and Rotation Bars shall be awarded for honourable service.
For more details, consult the Eligible service list.
Description
The GCS is a gold-coloured four-pointed star, 44 mm across, representing the cardinal points of a compass bearing on the obverse, built-up in order from the back: a wreath of maple leaves terminating at the top with the Royal Crown, two crossed swords, the blades and hilts forming four additional points to the star, an anchor and a flying eagle. The wreath represents honour, the maple leaves represent Canada, the anchor, crossed swords and eagle represent the three services of the Canadian Forces and the Crown represents the Queen of Canada and her role as the fount of all honours. On the reverse appear within a raised circle, from top to bottom: the Royal Cypher ensigned by the Royal Crown, a plain space for engraving, and three maple leaves on one stem.
The ribbon passes through a ring attached to a small ball at the top point of the star.
The ribbon is 32 mm wide with a central stripe of green (12 mm), on either side of which are stripes of white (2 mm) and red (8 mm). Red and white are the official colours of Canada as appointed by King George V in 1921 and green represents service.
The rotations bars for the Star are gold in colour with a raised edge and bear either one or five maples leaves.
Bars
Rotation Bar
Rotation Bars are awarded to recognize a further 180 days of eligible service following qualification for the Star or the last Rotation Bar the person has earned. One bar bearing five maple leaves is worn in lieu of five bars bearing one maple leaf.
Wearing
The GCS-SWA shall be worn in the sequence prescribed in the Canadian Orders, Decorations and Medals Directive, and in the following manner:
On the left breast, suspended from the ribbon described above, between the General Campaign Star with ALLIED FORCE ribbon and the General Campaign Star with EXPEDITION ribbon;
- One bar is worn centred on the ribbon;
- If multiple bars have been awarded, they shall be evenly spaced on the ribbon in the order earned, with the first bar earned worn the closest to the Star; and
- When the undress ribbon is worn, a silver maple leaf shall be worn centred on the ribbon of the Medal to indicate the award of a Rotation Bar, a gold maple leaf shall be worn to indicate the award of a second Rotation Bar and a red maple leaf shall be worn to indicate the award of a third Rotation Bar. If more than three Rotation Bars have been awarded, those devices shall be worn in combination so as to indicate the total number of Bars awarded.
Postnomials
The use of a post-nominal is not authorized for this medal.
Historical Notes
The following is a list of Canadian Forces members who have died while performing service eligible for this award:
Allard J.P.G.M. Cpl
Anderson J. Cpl
Arnal J.H. Cpl
Arndt R.F. MCpl
Arnold G.H. Cpl
Audet P.Y. MCpl
Baker J.C. Cpl
Bartsch C.D. Cpl
Bason C.S.F. MCpl
Beauchamp N.R. Cpl
Beerenfenger R.C. Cpl
Blais K.M.N. Cpl
Blake C. PO2
Bobbitt C. Cpl
Bouthillier J. Pte
Bouzane S.F. Cpl
Boyes J.G. Lt
Boyes J.J. Sgt
Braun D.R. Cpl
Brown D.R. WO
Bulger N.A. Cpl
Byers D.R.J. Pte
Caswell D.J. Pte
Chidley G.W. Pte
Collier B.J. Pte
Costall R.H. Pte
Courcy S.J.G. Pte
Couturier J.J.S. Cpl
Crooks T.K.G. Pte
Curwin J.M.R. Pte
Cushley W.J.J. Pte
Dallaire K.Y.R. Pte
Dawe M.J. Capt
Diab M.H. Pte
Dion J.J. Pte
Diplaros D. Pte
Doyle E.M. MCpl
Drouin J.F. Cpl
Dubé J.R.M. Cpl
Duchesne C.J.T.A MCpl
Eades S.A. Sgt
Eykelenboom A.J. Cpl
Faught J. Sgt
Fitzpatrick D.J. Cpl
Fortin J.D.O. Cpl
Francis J.C. Capt
Freeman M.B. Pte
Giesebrecht K. MCpl
Gillam C.P. Sgt
Girouard R.M.J. CWO
Gonthier J.F.E. Pte
Good B.R. Pte
Goudreault M. Sgt
Graham M.A. Pte
Greenfield S.D. Pte
Greenslade D.R. Pte
Greff B.G. MCpl
Grenon A.P. Cpl
Hamilton T.J. Cpl
Hayakaze M.Y. Pte
Hayes C.J. Pte
Horn C.J. Pte
Hornburg N. Cpl
Ingram V. Sgt
Joannette M.M. Cpl
Jones J.P. Pte
Karigiannis C. Sgt
Keating S.P. Cpl
Keller B.J. Cpl
Kennedy K.V. Pte
Klukie J.J. Pte
Kruse G.J. Sgt
Labbé E.B. Pte
Leary R.S. Capt
Levesque M. Pte
Longtin J.M.S.S. Pte
Lormand P.J. Pte
Lucas D.J. Sgt
MacNeil J. Sgt
Marshall S.J. Pte
Martin J.L.S. Cpl
Massouh H. WO
McCormack Z. Cpl
McCully M.J.C. Cpl
McKay K.T. Pte
McLaren M.R. Cpl
Megeney R.K. Cpl
Mellish F.R. WO
Mendes M.L. Maj
Mercier J.C.M.M. MWO
Michaud C.P. MCpl
Miller A. Pte
Miok G. Sgt
Mitchell R.T.J. Cpl
Morley K.I. Cpl
Murphy J.B. Cpl
Nolan R.F. WO
Nuttall A.R. Lt
O'Quinn K.C. Cpl
Ouellet J. Cpl
Parker G. Col
Paul F.C. Capt
Péloquin A.J. Pte
Pentland P.J. Pte
Pépin J.Y.F.S. Maj
Pinksen B.N.C.R. Cpl
Poland B.D. Cpl
Priede D.J. MCpl
Reid C.J. Cpl
Renaud J.M.G.R Pte
Roberge J.M.F.G. WO
Roberts J.B. MCpl
Ruckpaul R.M. Maj
Rudd L. Pte
Scherrer M.A.Y. Cpl
Seggie M.J.A. Cpl
Shipway P. Sgt
Short R.A. Sgt
Snyder J.S. Capt
Stachnik S.H. Sgt
Stannix C.P. Cpl
Starker M.G. Cpl
Stewart A.M.J. MCpl
Stock S.J. Pte
Storm A.H. Cpl
Street T.J. Pte
Taylor K. Sgt
Tedford D.S. Sgt
Todd T.W. Pte
Vernelli S.F. MCpl
Walsh J.S. MCpl
Wasden D.R.R.J. Cpl
Watkins L.W.T. Pte
Wiebe J.V. Pte
Williams A.E. Cpl
Williamson B.N. Pte
Wilmot C.W. Pte
Wilson M.A. Pte
Wilson R.J. WO
The GCS and GSM were created by Her Majesty The Queen in March 2004. Initially both medals were issued each with only one ribbon (those currently used for South-West Asia) with bars specifying the operation being recognized. Two bars were created, namely ALLIED FORCE and ISAF+FIAS.
The inaugural ceremony took place on 29 November 2004 in the ballroom of Rideau Hall in Ottawa. On this occasion, Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, CC, CMM, COM, CD, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, presented the Star to 28 representative recipients (8 with ALLIED FORCE bar and 20 with ISAF+FIAS bar), including the families of three of the casualties listed above. The first presentations of the General Service Medal were also made during that event.
In 2009, the GCS and GSM were modified so that the existing bars were abolished, being replaced with theatre or service-specific ribbons thus allowing the use of bars to recognize multiple rotations where appropriate. As a result, recipients of the original GCS with ISAF+FIAS bar must have their medal remounted without the bar but using the same ribbon. The ISAF+FIAS bars shall be returned to DH&R. Moreover, because the provision that no one could earn both the GCS and the GSM for ISAF service has been modified, some recipients who had to relinquish their GSM in order to receive the GCS will be able to claim it back provided they did not meet the criteria for both awards within the same period of six months.
Captain Carl Gauthier of the Directorate of History and Heritage, DND, designed the award. The Canadian Heraldic Authority at the Chancellery of Honours, Rideau Hall, completed the final artwork.
The Star is engraved on the reverse with the service number, abbreviated substantive rank, initials and name of the recipient.
As of 1 June 2012, 30 114 awards had been made.
