"V" Device - Criteria and Wear

Criteria and Wear

The criteria vary between the services:

• Army – the device is worn solely to denote "participation in acts of heroism involving conflict with an armed enemy".
• Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard – the device is worn to denote combat heroism or to recognize individuals who are "exposed to personal hazard during direct participation in combat operations".
• Air Force – the device is worn on the Bronze Star Medal to denote heroism in combat, on the Commendation Medal and Achievement Medal to denote heroism or being "placed in harms' way" during contingency deployment operations, and on the Outstanding Unit Award and Organizational Excellence Award to indicate the unit participated in direct combat support actions.

Though a service member may be cited for valor and heroism in combat many times and be awarded several awards authorizing the "V" device, only one may be worn on the same award. For example, if a soldier was awarded a Bronze Star Medal on three occasions, twice with the "V" device, he would wear one "V" device with two bronze oak leaf clusters on the suspension and service ribbon of the medal. Similarly, in the Navy, Marines, or Coast Guard, the Combat "V" would be worn with two gold 5⁄₁₆ stars. In such cases, the "V" is worn in the position of honor to the right of the other devices on the ribbon from the wearer's perspective.