How to Properly Wear Military Service Awards
Military service has a long and glorified history in many parts of the world. Few awards can bring as much honor and respect to a person as a service award from the military. Like many other aspects of military culture, there are strict rules and regulations regarding the proper wear and display of military service awards on a soldier's uniform, and these rules vary depending on what type of award you display and what uniform you wear.
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Instructions
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Full-size Awards
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Wear full-size awards on dress uniforms, but not on mess or evening mess uniforms.
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Attach service awards to a male soldier's uniform just above the left breast pocket of the dress uniform. Medals are worn in order of precedence from the wearer's right to left. If more than one row is needed to display service awards, 1/8 inch of space should be kept between rows. The number of medals worn per row varies depending on the coat size; however, the second row and each to follow will not have more medals than the ones below.
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Attach service awards to a female soldier's uniform centered on the left side of the coat, with the bottom row of awards parallel to the soldier's name tag (which is located on the right side of the coat). Medals are worn in order of precedence from the wearer's right to left. If more than one row is needed to display service awards, 1/8 inch of space should be kept between rows. The number of medals worn per row varies depending on the coat size; however, the second row and each to follow will not have more medals than the ones below.
Miniature Service Awards
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Wear miniatures of your service awards on mess and evening mess uniforms and on formal civilian dress when wearing your uniform is not appropriate or authorized.
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Attach miniature service awards to a male soldier's uniform centered on the left side of the lapel, ½ inch from the notch of the mess uniforms or above the left breast pocket of uniforms that have those, in the same place as the full-size awards. Medals are worn in order of precedence from the wearer's right to left. If awards overlap, they should not overlap by more than half, and the overlap should be the same on each award.
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Attach miniature service awards to a female soldier's uniform centered on the left lapel or centered on the left side of the coat, depending on the uniform. The bottom line of medals should be parallel with the top edge of the top button of the uniform. Medals are worn in order of precedence from the wearer's right to left. If awards overlap, they should not overlap by more than half, and the overlap should be the same on each award.
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Tips & Warnings
Full-size service awards cannot be worn with miniatures.
The only military service award that does not have a miniature version is the Medal of Honor, which is always worn the same way. The Medal of Honor is always worn around the neck, with the ribbon outside the shirt collar but inside the coat collar. It is worn when the other full-size service awards are worn.
