The detailed eligibility criteria for the Wider Service Medal (WSM) and full list of operations approved so far have now been published by the Ministry of Defence.
The Wider Service Medal was originally announced in March 2024 when the first tranche of operations that had been approved for the medal were announced.
Following that announcement, it was recognised that considerable work would be required to refine the eligibility criteria for the medal, and to assess the large number of ongoing operations that could be eligible.
That initial work has now completed and 16 operations, together with a number of subordinate operations, have been approved for the Wider Service Medal. This is in addition to the eight operations that were announced in March 2024.
What is the Wider Service Medal?
The Wider Service Medal, which has been approved by HM The King, recognises Armed Forces personnel and civilians working outside the traditional criteria of existing operational medals.
It will provide recognition to those who are engaged on operations which make a significant contribution to UK objectives in rigorous circumstances but where the physical risk to life, traditionally required for the award of an operational medal, is lower.
The medal has been designed to encompass the changing nature of conflict, and to reflect the new ways in which the Armed Forces are utilised to deliver operational effect in support of HMG strategic objectives.
The Wider Service Medal
It is estimated that up to 30,000 qualifying deployments, including by veterans, will fall under the new criteria, meaning thousands of personnel will now be eligible for medallic recognition.
This is precisely what the medal was designed for, to recognise personnel for operational activity that was previously not eligible for medallic recognition.
Eligible operations must have been ongoing as of 5 March 2024, or have commenced after this date; this is the date the Wider Service Medal was approved by His Majesty The King. Activity approved may be backdated to no earlier than 11 December 2018, when the initial concept of the new medal was first endorsed by Her Late Majesty The Queen.
The overarching eligibility criteria for the medal are defined as follows:
• Personnel must have accrued 180 days service on eligible operations.
• Reckonable service may be aggregated across multiple deployments and/or operations.
• Subsequent periods of service of 180 days will result in the award of bars to the medal.
All personnel who qualify will be notified
The process of identifying eligible personnel and the issuing of medals will commence from July 2025 and is expected to take seven months to complete. All personnel who qualify for the medal will be notified in the usual manner.
Veterans who believe they are eligible for the medal can submit an application from the end of January 2026.
