In June, the Defense Department authorized the wear of the new medal for service members supporting the NATO advising mission in Iraq, according to military officials.
Service members eligible to wear the NATO Mission Iraq medal are those who supported or served as enablers in force protection, rotary wing support or members of the Operational Liaison Reconnaissance Team for the NATO mission, among other criteria, a NATO document detailed.
The NATO document outlining award criteria for the NATO Mission Iraq medal was obtained by Military Times from the DoD upon request.
It’s unclear how many U.S. service members would be eligible for the NATO Mission Iraq medal, but the mission is only comprised of several hundred troops.
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According to a U.S. Army administrative message, the Iraq NATO medal is approved for soldiers who "have met NATO Medal eligibility criteria and been awarded the medal by NATO Headquarters or a NATO Theater Commander who has been delegated award authority.”
A forcewide Marine message posted on Aug. 16 noted that assistant secretary of defense had authorized the medal for NATO mission Iraq for wear by U.S. service members and DoD civilian employees.
The eligibility period for the medal covers Sept. 25, 2018, to a future date to determined, as the NATO advisory mission in Iraq is still ongoing, according to the DoD.
The award was authorized for wear by the DoD following a request from the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, according to Jessica Maxwell, a DoD spokeswoman.
The NATO Military Committee serves as a link between political decision making and translates policy into military directives.
“NATO medals are considered foreign awards from a multinational organization and associated award criteria falls under the purview of NATO, not DoD," Maxwell told Military Times.
The NATO mission in Iraq is a noncombat advisory mission designed to support Iraqi security forces and military education institutions in the country as part of the broader effort to defeat ISIS militants.
“NATO Mission Iraq will advise and train in the Baghdad area and in Iraqi military areas in Taji and Besmaya, and will not deploy its personnel alongside Iraqi forces during combat operations,” a NATO fact sheet reads.
The mission mission only supports Iraqi forces under the direct control of the Iraqi government.
Iraq has a number of Iranian-backed proxies and militias across the countryside that are not always under the direct supervision of Baghdad. Some of those groups’ allegiances are more aligned with Tehran than Baghdad.
The mission was launched at the request of the Iraqi government following the NATO Summit in Brussels in July 2018, according to a NATO fact sheet.
The goal, according to NATO, is to strengthen training and educational institutions so that Iraqi forces can eventually train themselves without the need for foreign troops.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Iraq on Sept. 17 to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to discuss ISIS, security and progress of the NATO mission, according to a news release.
Stoltenberg highlighted training initiatives that are helping build Iraqi trainers in the fields of counter IED, military medicine and communications, according to the release.
The mission includes about several hundred troops from NATO countries. Several non-NATO members, such as Australia, Sweden and Finland are also supporting the NATO training endeavor.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
