The Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon is a military award of the United States Air Force which was first created in June 2003. The ribbon is awarded to any member of the Air Force who completes a standard contingency deployment. The regulations of the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon define a deployment as either forty-five consecutive days or ninety non-consecutive days in a deployed status. Temporary duty orders also qualify towards the ninety-day time requirement. For deployments exceeding 45–90 days, a single Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon will be awarded for the entire time frame rather than issuing multiple awards for the same period of deployed service.
Gold frame
As a quasi combat ribbon, for those service members who serve in designated combat zones, who participate in combat operations, a gold frame, which the Air Force refers to as a gold border, may be attached to the AFESR basic ribbon. However, it can also be awarded to those who serve in areas where the service member receives hostile fire pay and supports combat operations. The gold border is issued as a one-time award only, regardless of the number of combat operations in which a service member serves. The Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border may also be awarded to certain "over-the horizon" combat assignments, such as remotely piloted vehicle operators for employing a long-range weapon into a combat zone. It is therefore possible to earn the gold border even when stationed at a secure military installation in the United States geographically separated from the battlefield by thousands of miles. Such personnel, however, must have first earned the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon before the ribbon can be upgraded with a gold border. Additional awards of the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon are denoted by oak leaf clusters and the award is retroactive to October 1, 1999.
Symbolism
The center stripe is light blue and stands for Air Force capability. From this center stripe outward on each side, the narrow white stripe stands for integrity; ultramarine blue represents worldwide deployment; Air Force yellow stands for excellence, and the last two stripes stand for the United States.
