Humanitarian medal approved for Samoa, Chile - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Humanitarian medal approved for Samoa, Chile

The Humanitarian Service Medal has been approved for soldiers who participated in the earthquake and tsunami relief operations in Samoa last fall and Chile this spring.

The qualifying period for Operation Pacific Wave, the earthquake and tsunami relief effort within American Samoa, is Sept. 29-Oct. 10, 2009.

Disaster struck the Samoa Islands on Sept. 29, killing 160 people, when an 8.4-magnitude earthquake caused 20-foot waves to cascade across the South Pacific archipelago, including parts of American Samoa, a U.S. territory.

Several hundred service members, many of them members of the Hawaii National Guard, delivered emergency supplies and services to the islands, according to U.S. Pacific Command, which coordinated the military relief effort.

The qualifying period for the Chile award is March 6-29, the three-week period following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Feb. 27 off the coast of the South American nation, killing more than 700 people and severely damaging several cities.

U.S. Southern Command, the Miami-based organization that coordinated the aid effort for the Defense Department, estimates that 150 service members participated in the relief operation.

Just one month earlier, more than 20,000 U.S. service members participated in Operation United Response, the Haiti earthquake relief operation.

That earthquake killed an estimated 250,000 people, and displaced 1.3 million more.

Service members who participated in the Haiti relief effort, Operation United Response, also are eligible for the Humanitarian Service Medal.

To qualify for the award of the HSM for participation in the Samoa and Chile operations, soldiers must meet the following criteria:

• Have been on active duty at the time of direct participation.

• Have directly participated in the humanitarian operation sometime during the dates of Sept. 29-Oct. 10, 2009, within the territory of American Samoa, and March 6-29 within the Chilean cities of Angol, Santiago and Talcahuano.

• Provide evidence that substantiates direct participation.

The approval authority for the award of the medal to serving soldiers for participation in Operation Pacific Wave is Pacific Command. The approval authority for award of the medal to serving soldiers for participation in the Chile operation is Southern Command.

The approval authority for Army retirees and veterans is the commander of Army Human Resources Command, Attn: AHRC-PDP-A, 1600 Spearhead Division Ave., Fort Knox, KY 40122.

ABOUT THE MEDAL

In awarding soldiers the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Army allows:

• One award of the HSM per soldier for any one humanitarian act or operation.

• A service star on the medal for a second or subsequent participation in humanitarian acts or operations.