New Award for Mexican Border Service
Mexican Border Service Medal
Pentagon releases design for Mexican Border Defense Medal
The new award uses the same design and ribbon as the Mexican Border Service Medal from 1918.
Nicholas Slayton
Four days after confirming that it was creating a new medal for troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border, the Department of Defense released the first look for the award.
The Pentagon released the first look at the new Mexican Border Defense Medal today. The release follows the establishment of the new award, outlined in an Aug. 13 memo by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The award goes to troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border supporting operations by Customs and Border Protection. The new medal replaces the Armed Forces Service Medal, which had been authorized for the same mission in 2019.
The Aug. 13 memo was posted on military social media accounts last week but the Pentagon only confirmed its authenticity on Aug. 18. No design details or images of the award were released at the time. Hegseth posted on X on Aug. 22 that the new Mexico Border Defense Medal would be the “same mold, same ribbon” as the 1918 Mexican Border Service Medal.
Time to update the old ribbon rack.
Category: Big Pentagon
Ghey.
Should have made it a tab or at least higher than a Bronze Star!
In regards to the stack above: damn killer, save some strange for the rest of us.
There are a number of errors on that rack.
Heh. It’s from our SV archives.
I figured as much.
Now that the troopers are getting the 1918 style Mexican ribbon, at night they could sit around the table in their tent and play a record called Mexico by the Rocketones 1957 on the Melba label and play the record on an RCA Victrola record player with the hand crank to start the music.
Jeff, don’t forget (1959) “Mexico” instrumental by Bob Moore
I like the drunk Vs and stars.
Surprised no V on the SS Medal for Extra Valor!
But 8 PH’s? I mean six maybe, but 8 is a bridge too far.
If close counts, I could have had about 10.
Some people are just lucky I guess?
4 is the highest I’ve seen in the wild. (And those were earned PHs!)
Can’t say I knew him, but my brigade had had a guy with three PHs, and at least one BSM/V (I think he had two–he had the V device and two OLCs). He was on an SFAT, and I stumbled across his ERB on the share drive. What caught my eye at first was the fact that he had both a CIB and CAB, possibly due to PSD service for the brigade commander, or maybe the SFAT.
I looked him up a couple of years ago and I guess he was medically retired not long after our 2013 deployment. He lives in the NE and got in some trouble for a “high capacity” mag a few years back, so if I’m not mistaken, he’s now prohibited from owning firearms. Damned shame, and why I’ll never live in an anti-gun state.
Do they get tacos with that?
Naw. Just apocalyptic diarrhea
No Shit.
Nach yet.
I expected the ribbon itself to be more of a serape pattern.
I read somewhere that subsequent awards of this medal will be denoted by a 3/8-inch Bronze Sombrero. /s
I was looking at the list of award “devices”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_award_devices
So many to choose from….
And that doesn’t even list individual state National Guard devices !
Can you earn and get a Chancla Combat Action Device??
I’m gonna take a bit of a contrarian view here. With 35 years of active service, I just tried to count how much of the junk I was presented was “I was there” versus “wow, you individually did great things!” Depending on how you count it, it’s probably 80-90 percent “I was there.” Probably many of you look the same.
Did I feel a bit self conscious about looking like the leader of a South American junta? Yes. Did I switch to wearing the top six ribbons? Yes. Did I have to buy new stuff and rearrange my rack periodically? Yes.
But,
Is it too much to ask the nation to create and present a campaign medal to those of us it has routinely asked to go and do stuff, sometimes hard stuff, sometimes at a moment’s notice, in recognition of shared sacrifice? I personally have no problems with the award of campaign or expeditionary service medals: especially for those who might only go and do one thing. What’s worse? Picture a nation which valued your service so little they didn’t do it at all.
I’m looking forward to seeing the first SV called out for “there I was, knee deep in illegal immigrant bodies, popping claymores and the M240 barrels were a’smokin’” but there’s no “Pancho Villa Medal” on the DD214.
Let us not forget the non-expeditionary GWOT. That is a tough one to explain how you somehow managed to not deploy for however long.
Nice! I think some people got stars and oak leaf clusters next to their numerals and knots on the GWOTSM…. Definitely an “I was there”….
Or campaign stars on the ISM/ASM.
Truth be told, never wore’m. The guidance sucked, I was in As/Blues about once a quarter, so the only time anyone noticed was at a Ball when I showed up late(r) so everyone was plastered. After they ribbon checked me at the bar I told my 1SG and Squad Leader to eat dick, “They’re my ribbons and devices and I’ll wear them if I want”.
Also, they weren’t on my ERB, so…
Oops. C, not S.
I guess they were/are ‘campaigns’.
We at the Department of Alternative Misinformation and Constant Unintentional aNnoying Typos would regert this error but the staff at the Misfiling Office have deposited any fucks in their respective, unknown location.
DAM-n-CUaNTs should no betterer but we no care.
More of a “I wasn’t there” award.
I had my GWOT-E removed from my records. It was a grey area award at first–we deployed to Kuwait with orders stating, “on or about 18 FEB 03” and were awarded the GWOT-E upon returning from Iraq in January 2004. When the ICM was authorized, a lot of guys wore both. My 1SG even told me that we were allowed to wear both so long as the GWOT-E was awarded first.
Me being me, I dug through HRC’s website and finally found the following buried in a FAQ (I forget the exact verbiage): “Soldiers who spent 30 days or longer in Kuwait prior to 19 MAR 2003 are authorized the GWOT-E for that period, and the ICM for subsequent service in Iraq.” From what I recall, we got to Kuwait on 23 February. Regardless, I kept it on my rack for years but never updated my medal rack (which I normally wore in TOG) with the ICM. I finally asked S1 to take it off my records sometime in the mid-2010s.
I don’t feel like looking through my records, but I think I retired with 14 ribbons, of which only four were decorations (MSM, ARCOM, JSAM, AAM). If you count subsequent awards, I had more of those than service and campaign medals and ribbons, but when the Tropical Class A uniform was authorized in 2010 or whenever, I only wore my top three ribbons anyway.
It should have Speedy Gonzalez hopping a fence on the reverse
Speedy Gonzalez sung by Pat Boone, 1962.
Here ya go Jeff:
https://youtu.be/ajEkzwf7WNY
Thanks, I forgot to say where are you Beans before I hit the send button to RCAF
My 1962 Navy Blue Jacket Manual has the Mexican Service ribon listed which I believe is the 1918 medal. My Uncle and his Brooklyn NYC Guard company went down Mexico way to relieve BlackJack and eventualy took their horses over to France in WW1.
Can’t wait to see the one for “Sailing Past the Coast of Vietnam”.
Used to down to San Luis Rey and get my 4 cases of beer while in Yuma. Me and a buddy actually made it out of Boy’s Town at midnight, and didnt get beat up. I should look like a Nork General after all that.
Saw a screenshot from a Reddit post about this where “actual servicemen” are claiming they would refuse to wear it or accept it.
Is this retroactive and does liberty in Tijuana in the 80’s count?
I do have to respect the DOD’s practicality here. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Now, will they reuse the China Service Medal if you ever go toe to toe over Taiwan?
Meanwhile in Washington DC (typewriters clacking) , there is an area that need beautification.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/aug/27/national-guard-troops-deployed-in-dc-add-sanitatio/