The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service is the highest award that is presented by the Secretary of Defense, to a private citizen, politician, non-career federal employee, or foreign national. It is presented for exceptionally distinguished service of significance to the Department of Defense as a whole, or a DoD Component or function, where recognition at the component level would not be sufficient for the service rendered.
Eligibility
To be eligible for consideration the individual must have rendered exceptionally distinguished service of significance to the Department of Defense as a whole. Recognition may also be given for distinguished service of such exceptional significance to a Department of Defense Component or Function that recognition at the Component level would be insufficient. The service or assistance may have been rendered at considerable personal sacrifice and inconvenience and should be motivated by patriotism, good citizenship, and a sense of public responsibility.
Normally, it is required that nominees have a direct working relationship with the most senior officials in the Federal government, e.g., Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State.
An individual may receive this award more than once with subsequent awards consisting of a bronze, silver, or gold palm, respectively.
Description
The award consists of a gold medal, a miniature medal, a rosette, and a citation signed by the Secretary of Defense.
The obverse of the medal depicts an eagle facing to the right clutching three arrows, below the eagle is a half laurel wreath. Above the eagle are thirteen stars with rays between the stars. This imagery is identical to the seal of the Department of Defense. The reverse contains the inscription "TO...FOR DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE". The edge of the medallion is surrounded by a laurel wreath on both the obverse and reverse. The medal is suspended from ribbon containing one central strip in maroon, with a white stripe on each side separating it from two blue stripes, with a thin white stripe at each edge.
Notable recipients
Madeleine Korbel Albright, 2016
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, 2021
Avi Berkowitz, 2021
Ehud Barak, 2012
Zbigniew Brzezinski, 2016
George W. Bush, 2009
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Ash Carter, 2013
Bill Clinton, 2001
Hillary Clinton, 2013
Kristin Krohn Devold, 2006
Eric Fanning, 2017
Michèle Flournoy, 2012
Bob Hope, 1971
Robert Hunter, 1995
Jim Inhofe, 2022
Deborah Lee James, 2017
Jeh Johnson, 2016
Frank Kendall III, 2017
Henry Kissinger, 2016
Shigeru Kitamura, 2020
Michael Kratsios
Jared Kushner, 2021
Marcel Lettre, 2017
Michael J. McCord, 2017
John M. McHugh, 2015
Brian P. McKeon, 2017
Judith A. Miller
Ernest Moniz, 2016
Jamie M. Morin, 2017
Robert O'Brien
Barack Obama, 2017
Zohar Palti, 2022
DJ Patil, 2016
Edward Angus Powell Jr. Ronald Reagan, 1989 Paul Ryan, 2018 Dan Scavino, 2021 Eric Schmidt, 2017 Brent Scowcroft, 2016 Javier Solana, 1999 Steven Spielberg, 1999 John Warner, 2016 Manfred Woerner, 1993 Albert Wohlstetter Robert O. Work, 2017