Anchor Emblem of the Argentinean Navy. Surrounding the Anchor Is the Inscription OP~RACIONES INTER- NACIONALES A.R.A

Volume 51 Number 5

recipients. In the center of the obverse is the fouled- anchor emblem of the Argentinean Navy. Surrounding the anchor is the inscription OP~RACIONES INTER- NACIONALES A.R.A. (International Operations Argen- tina Republica Armada). Except for a small wreath of two laurel branches, the reverse is blank to provide space for the engraved name of the recipient.

Former Yugoslavia

Republic of Croatia

Croatian Defense Force Medal

On 25 June 1991, the Yugoslavian Republics of Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence. Serbia, which together with Montenegro now comprises the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), unleashed the powerful Yugoslavian National Arnay (JNA) against Slovenia. In a surprising result, the Slovene Defense Forces quickly routed the ill-prepared JNA. After recognizing Slo- venia’s independence on 18 July 1991, the FRY turned Navy Medal for International its attention to Croatia. A better-prepared JNA attacked Operations - Obv. (Photo cour- Croatia; and with the aid of ethnic Serbians living in the tesy of the Argentinean Military Krajina region, the JNA was able to occupy one-third of Attach~ in Washington, DC) Croatia. Facing the JNA was the Hrvatske Obrambene Snage (HOS) or Croatian Defense Force, an all-volunteer Persico (Small Ribbon Granted to the Navy for the Cam- paign in the Persian Gulf). The ribbon was issued to Navy personnel and to others serving under the command and control of the Argentinean Navy.

The service ribbon was subsequently revoked and re- placed by a Navy general service medal for international operations called the Medalla OpOraciones Inter- nacionales (International Operations Medal), with a slide-on clasp inscribed G.PERSICO to indicate participation in the Gulf War. Like the service ribbon, the medal with the Persian Gulf clasp was awarded only to Navy personnel and to those serving under the Navy. The Argentineans also received the Kuwaiti Order of the Liberation of Kuwait.

The medal consists of the badge, dark blue suspension ribbon with a narrow light blue (outside) and white stripe (inside) inset from each edge, and a decorative slotted brooch. The finish of the badge, clasp, and brooch is sil- ver in color. The medal was produced commercially.

The badge of the medal is circular and is 40ram in diam- Croatian Defense Force Medal - Obv. eter for Navy personnel and 30mm in diameter for other

20 The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America militia. Stiff’resistance mounted by the HOS brought the JNA assault to a standstill, and until the initial cease fire in January 1992 Croatia was the scene of intense fighting. By 1995, Croatia had recovered all of its lost territory with the assistance of the U.S. and NATO.

Croatia subsequently issued a medal to recognize the members of the HOS who fought so valiantly against the JNA. The medal is a circular badge, 35mm in diameter, that is suspended from an ornate brooch instead of ribbon. In the center of the obverse are the initials HOS superimposed over a Croatian chess-board shield framed by Croatian swirls. The initials are encircled by the inscriptions PIlIPADNIK (Member) at the top and POSTROJ-BE (Militia Unit) at the bottom and on each Dutch Kosovo Medal side by an olive branch between the inscriptions. Left - Obverse, Right - Reverse

The brooch consists of a rectangular upper half and a ¯ Joint Guardian triangular lower half with the apex pointed downward. ¯ Provide Shelter Overall dimensions are 41mm in width by 31mm in height. The upper half is inscribed 1991 - 1992 between Perhaps the most prominent of these operations to date two horizontal ropes of Croatian swirls, while the con- are Allied Force and the ongoing Joint Guardian. Allied cave left and right sides of the lower half are bordered by Force was the most intensive bombing campaign since an olive branch. the Gulf War. For more than 77 days, NATO conducted an uninterrupted air assault against military targets in the The reverse of the badge and brooch is blank except for FRY. The campaign was prosecuted by air assets from an impressed serial number in the center of the badge and thirteen nations, including The Netherlands. Joint Guard- an impressed maker’s mark in the center of the brooch. ian is the continuing occupation of Kosovo by a Kosovo The mark is "TROLST" with a Croatian cross occupying Force (KFOR). KFOR presently consists of some 50,000 the space between the "L" and "S." The medal is military personnel from 34 nations who are posted among attached to clothing by two prongs on the reverse of the five operational areas within Kosovo. brooch and secured by clutch-backs. Both the badge and brooch are struck in a white metal and have a lightly The circular, dark bronze badge of the Dutch Kosovo burnished finish. Medal is 30ram in diameter. On the obverse are four crossed broad swords, blades pointing upward, on a plain Kosovo field. The swords are joined in the center by a small wreath of two laurel branches. In the center of the reverse The Netherlands is the inscription KOSOVO within the semicircular inscriptions UIT ERKENTELIJKI-IEID (In Gratitude) Kosovo Medal above and DE MINISTER VAN DEFENSIE (The Min- ister of Defense) below. Surrounding the inscriptions is By Ministerial Decree of 9 February 2000, The Nether- a laurel wreath wrapped in ribbon. The suspension rib- lands established a medal for members of the Dutch bon is divided into stripes of purple, white, purple, white, Armed Forces who participated in the following Kosovo- and purple, each stripe approximately 5.4mm in width. related operations. No time limits were prescribed to Some 6,000 medals were initially issued during April qualify for the medal: 2000.

¯ Joint Guarantor/Extraction Force The Kosovo Medal is a radical departure from the pre- ¯ Eagle Eye/Noble Anvil vious practice of the Dutch Government to recognize ¯ Allied Force service such as in Kosovo by awarding the Commemor- ¯ Allied Harvest ative Medal for Multinational Peacekeeping Operations.

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This medal was originally established to recognize providing an interim govemment in war-ravaged Kosovo. service during the Gulf War, but it has been awarded with A large component of UNMIK is the UNMIK Police, a a modified ribbon for participation in a number of force of 3,110 policemen from 43 countries. The ulti- subsequent multinational operations.~ mate objective of UNMIK is the creation of a self- autonomous government for the province. Its efforts are NATO closely coordinated with NATO’s KFOR, the European Union, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Kosovo Medal Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

NATO has established a Kosovo Medal that utilizes the The obverse of the standard UN peacekeeping badge same badge as the NATO medal for service in the Former features the kin emblem of an equidistant globe from the Yugoslavia but with a different ribbon and clasp. For north polar azimuth surrounded by a stylized wreath of service in K_FOR, NATO originally intended to simply two olive branches with the initials UN at the top. The award its earlier medal with a "KOSOVO" clasp; how- reverse is inscribed IN THE SERVICE/OF PEACE on ever, the Canadian contingent to KFOR persuaded two lines. NATO Headquarters that a separate medal was war- ranted. The 34mm-wide kiN ribbon for service in UNMIK is distinguished by stripes of light blue (9mm), white The circular badge of the medal is struck in bronze and is (2ram), dark blue (12mm), white (2ram), and light blue la/8 inches in diameter. On the obverse is the NATO (9mm). The outer light blue stripes indicate the presence emblem, a four-pointed star emitting a ray from each of the kiN, the white stripes symbolize UNMIK’s goal of point that is superimposed over an annulet. Encircling promoting peace for all the people of Kosovo, and the the sides and bottom of the emblem is a wreath of two dark blue center stripe represents the international secu- olive branches. The reverse bears the inscriptions IN rity presence in Kosovo and the cooperation and support SERVICE/OF PEACE/AND FREEDOM above and AU that it provides. SERVICE/DE LA PAIX/ET DE LA/LIBERTE below which are separated by two olive sprigs. Bordering the East Timor reverse is a band that contains the inscriptions NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION in the upper East Timor, which occupies an area of 7,330 square miles half and ORGANISATION DU TRAITE DE EATLAN- and has a population of 800,000, is about one-half of a TIQUE NORD in the lower half. The suspension ribbon 300 mile-long impoverished island in southeast end of the is "Yale" blue (dark blue) with narrow white edge stripes Malay archipelago. It was a Portuguese colony from the and a broad white center stripe. A bronze slide-on type 16th century until late 1975 when a revolution in Portugal clasp inscribed KOSOVO is attached to the ribbon. allowed the East Timorese to unilaterally declare independence. Almost immediately, Indonesia invaded and United Nations annexed the former Portuguese colony.

UNMIK Medal For the next 24 years, the Indonesian Army attempted to suppress popular resistance to its presence, including In September 1999, the UN approved the award of the attacks by guerilla groups operating from the mountains. standard bronze UN peacekeeping badge with a new On 12 November 1991, the Army killed more than 250 suspension ribbon combination for personnel who served youths who were demonstrating in a cemetery in Dili, as part of the UN Interim Administration Mission in East Timor’s capital. The massacre at Dili drew world Kosovo (UNMIK) for at least six months. UNMIK was attention to the deteriorating situation in East Timor, established on 10 June 1999 with the immediate goal of which finally culminated in 1999. On 30 August 1999, the East Timorese overwhelmingly voted for independence in a UN-sponsored referendum administered by the 1 UN Assistance Mission to East Timor (UNAMET). See the author’s article "Dutch Multinational Service Medals" in the Following the referendum, the Indonesian Army and pro- September-October issue of the Journal for further information about Indonesian militia groups launched a campaign of vio- the Commemorative Medal for Multinational Peaeekeeping Oper- lence against the East Timorese. Bowing to international ations.