The Army Service Ribbon (ASR) is a military award of the United States Army that was established by the Secretary of the Army on 10 April 1981 as announced in Department of the Army General Order 15, dated 10 October 1990.
Effective 1 August 1981, all members of the Army, Army National Guard, and United States Army Reserve in an active reserve status were eligible for the award. The Army Service Ribbon is awarded to members of the Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard for successful completion of initial-entry training, which for officers is considered to be successful completion of their basic/orientation or higher level course. Enlisted soldiers will be awarded the ribbon upon successful completion of their initial MOS producing course.
For those service members who completed initial entry training prior to 1981, the Army Service Ribbon is retroactively awarded, provided the service member was still on active duty after 1981. For those service members who enlist in the Army after serving with another service (and who may not be required to complete initial entry training) the Army Service Ribbon is awarded after four months of active service.
The Army Service Ribbon is presented as a one-time award only since it is not possible to earn it more than once. The United States Air Force equivalent of the Army Service Ribbon is the Air Force Training Ribbon. Instead of a ribbon, the United States Marine Corps awards the trademark Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem upon completion of recruit training or OCS.
The Army Service ribbon is a multi-colored (red, orange, yellow, green and blue) ribbon to represent the entire spectrum of military specialties in which officers and enlisted soldiers may enter upon completion of their initial training.
Famous quotes containing the words army, service and/or ribbon:
“Twenty or thirty years ago, in the army, we had a lot of obscure adventures, and years later we tell them at parties, and suddenly we realize that those two very difficult years of our lives have become lumped together into a few episodes that have lodged in our memory in a standardized form, and are always told in a standardized way, in the same words. But in fact that lump of memories has nothing whatsoever to do with our experience of those two years in the army and what it has made of us.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“You had to face your ends when young
‘Twas wine or women, or some curse
But never made a poorer song
That you might have a heavier purse,
Nor gave loud service to a cause
That you might have a troop of friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“I’ll tell you how the Sun rose—
A Ribbon at a time—”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)