The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a senior United States military decoration of the Department of Defense, awarded to members of the United States armed forces who perform "superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility."
The decoration is most often presented to senior officers in the flag and general officer grades. The medal is presented in the name of the Secretary of Defense and was established by President Gerald R. Ford on February 6, 1976 in Executive Order 11904. It is somewhat analogous to the Legion of Merit, albeit awarded for service in a "joint" duty capacity.
Read more about Defense Superior Service Medal: Criteria, Appearance, Notable Recipients
Famous quotes containing the words defense, superior and/or service:
“Of all my Russian books, The Defense contains and diffuses the greatest “warmth”Mwhich may seem odd seeing how supremely abstract chess is supposed to be.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“The State never intentionally confronts a man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)