National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal ( NDSM ) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces originally commissioned by President Dwight D . Eisenhower . Created in 1953 , the National Defense Service Medal was intended to be a " blanket campaign medal " awarded to any member of the United States Armed Forces who served honorably during a designated time period of which a " national emergency " had been declared . As of 2010 , with an issuance span of sixty years , the National Defense Service Medal is the oldest service medal still being awarded by the United States Armed Forces , followed second by the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal which has been awarded since 1961 . Combat and meritorious decorations ( such as the Medal of Honor , Silver Star , Purple Heart and Commendation Medal s ) are older still , but are considered personal decorations and are classified under separate award criteria from service medal s . Eligible periods . In the years since the creation of the National Defense Service Medal , it is authorized only for the following time periods : Award criteria . The National Defense Service Medal is awarded to anyone who serves on active duty in the United States military during the above time periods . For service in the Gulf War , members of the military Reserve ( in good standing ) or National Guard were initially awarded the NDSM when called to active duty service , but this was later expanded to include all members of the Reserve or National Guard in good standing on the Reserve Active Status List ( or equivalent ) during the eligibility period . For service in the War on Terrorism , Selected Reserve and National Guard members need only to have been in good standing to receive the NDSM , and no active duty service is required . Inactive Ready Reserve and Retired Reserve are not eligible to be awarded the NDSM unless called to active duty . The National Defense Service Medal is authorized to Cadets and Midshipmen at the service academies after they are sworn into service , as well as pre - commission officer candidates / trainees at the Officer Candidate School s or Officer Training School s of the various U . S . services ; but is not granted to discharged or retired veterans who did not serve in one of the above time periods ; nor is it authorized for Reserve Officer Training Corps ( ROTC ) Cadets and Midshipmen at colleges and universities who enlisted in the inactive reserve ( i . e . , Obligated Reserve Section or ORS ) during qualifying periods . The National Defense Service Medal ranks eleventh out of twenty - nine in the order of precedence of service medals . There is no time requirement for the medal ' s issuance , meaning that someone who joins the military for simply a few days , and then receives an entry level discharge , would technically be entitled to the NDSM ; in practice , however , military clerks will not add the NDSM on a DD Form 214 if the service member performed duty for less than 90 days from the completion of their initial entry training . This accounts for the medal ' s omission from a large number of " uncharacterized " and " entry level " separation documents . Veterans who have this medal so omitted may apply to the military service departments to have the NDSM added to records via a DD Form 215 . Multiple awards . Multiple awards of the National Defense Service Medal are authorized for members of the military who served in more than one of the eligible time periods ; such additional awards are denoted by service stars . A second award of the medal is not granted for reenlisting during the same time period or transferring between branches of service .