The Space Force is currently the only military branch without its own version of the Good Conduct Medal, awarded to service members who have completed three consecutive years of “honorable and faithful service.”
That could change in the near future, and a recent social media post shows what the medal might look like.
A user on the Space Force’s official Reddit page uploaded a photo of a Space Force Good Conduct Medal in late January, seemingly already physically produced.
On the front, it shows a modified version of the Space Force seal, with the service’s trademark Delta in front of a Globe, encircled by an Elliptical Orbit and with the Polaris Star to its upper left. The seal is surrounded by “United States Space Force” and the motto “Semper Supra.”
The back has the same three words in a ring—Efficiency, Honor, Fidelity—that are on the Army and Air Force’s versions of the medal. It also contains the phrase “For Good Conduct.”
The ribbon is tan on its outer edges, with parallel stripes of black, dark blue, and light blue around a single white stripe in the middle.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger A. Towberman regularly responds to posts on the Space Force subreddit, and in a comment on the post showing the Good Conduct medal, he confirmed that “this is the design that’s been submitted for approval.”
Towberman didn’t specify to whom the design had been submitted, but the Army’s Institute of Heraldry is responsible for the “design of unit insignia, awards, decorations, badges, and flags” for the entire military—the official Guide to Air Force Heraldry directs emblem packages to be submitted to the Institute of Heraldry. Air Force Magazine has submitted an inquiry to the Space Force seeking clarification.
“We tried hard to make it distinct yet congruent with the other services (aka same philosophy you’re used to hearing from me on many things),” Towberman wrote of the Good Conduct Medal.
Towberman added that the medal will be awarded after three consecutive years of service, same as the other branches. For transfers from other services to the Space Force, “I’m told the dates will align with the last one from whichever service one came from,” Towberman wrote, though he cautioned that was not yet finalized.
But while the design and the rules governing the medal seem mostly ironed out, there is still one significant hurdle remaining—the Good Conduct Medal was established by an executive order of the President, last amended by Dwight D. Eisenhower, which didn’t mention the Space Force. So President Joe Biden will have to sign off on any changes, Towberman indicated, and he had “no guesses on timeline.”
The Space Force has no service-specific medals to date, but Guardians can still wear ribbons they’ve earned while serving in other services.