Post-Gulf War: 1991
The first large-scale conflict the U.S. Merchant Marine was called on to support after the Vietnam Conflict was Operations Desert Shield & Desert Storm. Some 230 vessels under charter with or owned by the United States government moved over 12 million tons of war matériel. Given the appreciation of the military establishment, the U. S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) honored Merchant Mariners with the first medal (not ribbon bar) created for the U. S. Merchant Marine since the close of the Second World War; given the support role the U. S. Merchant Marine provided for the breadth of the conflict, the medal was named “Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal.” About a decade after the Gulf War, MARAD pivoted its system of honors to recognize mariners through the creation of the “Merchant Marine Medal for Outstanding Achievement.”
Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal
Background
The Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal (MMEM) is awarded to U.S. merchant seamen who serve on U.S.-flag ships in direct support of operations involving American and allied military forces. The medal is not specific to a certain military operation or conflict, rather the award citation would give such details. Like the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, it is a catch-all decoration for various, defined operations. It has been presented to individuals for service in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Restore Hope, and Operation United Shield. It has also been presented to Merchant Mariners sailing in support of Naval Operations with the U. S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC), including Midshipman at the United States Merchant Marine Academy assigned to MSC vessels. A policy announcement published in 2015 stated the medal was established in 1990, its first actual award came on 22 May 1991 (National Maritime Day, 1991).
Although not specifically legislated for by Congress, unlike awards and decorations of the Second World War, the Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal’s creation was wholly an administrative matter. Justification came under 46 USC § 51901: Awards for individual acts or service b(3), where the Secretary of Transportation has the authority to establish and award “a decoration or medal to an individual for service […] during operations by the Armed Forces of the United States outside the continental United States under conditions of danger to life and property.” Thus, the MMEM was created under this authority as a multi-purpose award.
Design
The medal was designed by staff at TIOH (U. S. Army “The Institute of Heraldry”) in 1991. The obverse of the medal has an anchor flanked by two sea horses; the former symbolizes naval prowess, and the latter maritime service in the support of the armed forces. The reverse has the common design as found on the other medals contracted at the time by the United States Maritime Administration.
Merchant Marine Medal for Outstanding Achievement Medal
Background
The origins of the Merchant Marine Medal for Outstanding Achievement Medal (MMMOA) are murky. It was the first medal created under the explicit de jure approval of MARAD to award decorations and medals effective 20 September 1995 without prior consultation of Congress nor Executive permission per “Organization and Delegation of Powers and Duties Delegations of Authority to the Maritime Administrator” Federal Register Vol. 60 No. 182, 20 September 1995. Hence, as the military services came to honor stellar work in the ranks with achievement medals, so too did the United States Maritime Administration; no longer was merit encapsulated the Merchant Mariner Meritorious Service Medal – which often had the risk of loss of life as a qualifier for award. Like the MMEM, this medal’s creation was an administrative action and went unnoticed by the maritime community and was not publicized in the United States Maritime Administration’s Annual Report to Congress for the year of its creation, 2002. MARAD published the specifics for medal nomination:
[The medal is] awarded to recognize merchant mariners who have participated in an act or operation of humanitarian nature directly to an individual or groups of individuals. This medal may be awarded to those leaders in the maritime industry who have dedicated years of service or achievement and/or given an extraordinary valuable contribution or work to the maritime industry. This medal requires the Maritime Administrator’s approval for award.
In 2015, the qualifications were broadened:
The Merchant Marine Medal for Outstanding Achievement is an award given to mariners or other individuals making a significant contribution to the U.S. Merchant Marine or the maritime industry of the United States. The medal may be awarded by the Maritime Administrator for any activities that he/she finds to be an outstanding maritime achievement. For example, the medal may be awarded to recognize mariners or other individuals for maritime activities of a humanitarian nature. The medal also may be awarded to recognize those individuals in the maritime industry and educational community for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the U.S. Merchant Marine or the maritime industry of the United States. Individuals making significant contributions to fostering, developing and promoting the U.S. Merchant Marine or the maritime industries of the United States also are eligible for the award.
The expansion of qualifications enabled MMMOA to be awarded for a breadth of achievements in the maritime field: from leading in education to humanitarian efforts; the latter including being rescuers in a maritime emergency or natural disaster. The first public announcement of the award of the medal came on 30 January 2006, and for it to be awarded “to the crews and operating companies of the agency’s ships that supported recovery efforts from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita [in 2005].” The award ceremony took place on 22 May 2006 (National Maritime Day, 2006); over 100 medals were disbursed at the time.
Design
The designers of the medal are unknown to the writer. The obverse of the medal depicts a ship underway superimposed upon a ship’s wheel with four stars. Along the top rim of the medal are the words, “Outstanding Achievement.” At the bottom rim are stylized laurels taken from the cap device of the United States Maritime Service; they are bisected by a federal shield charged with an anchor. The symbolism of the elements is unknown. The reverse has the common design as found on the other medals as contracted by MARAD in 1991. Some individuals have received more than one MMMOA; however, the Federal Register is silent on the matter of appurtenances.