Service members are now authorized to wear service stars on their Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medals, according to a Feb. 9 Pentagon release. The stars represent deployments in support of Operations Enduring Freedom (Sept. 11, 2001-TBD), Iraqi Freedom (March 19, 2003-Aug. 31, 2010), Nomad Shadow—surveillance operations based from Turkey— (Nov. 5, 2007-TBD), New Dawn (Sept. 1, 2010-Dec. 31, 2011), and Inherent Resolve (June 15, 2014-TBD), states the release. Only one GWOT-EM can be awarded for each operation, so if a service member receives a second award for another approved operation, he or she would wear a single service star on the GWOT-EM to represent both medals. The change does not adjust criteria for either the Afghanistan Campaign Medal or the Iraq Campaign Medal.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.