the Department of Defense has told the military services to sharply restrict the award of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal beginning Sept. 11, according to a memo obtained by Military Times.

In a June 18 memo, Assistant Secretary ... the Defense Department restricted the award further to service members who "directly served in a designated military [counter-terrorism] operation ...

being in the military. In a memorandum signed on Aug. 30, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the Pentagon will no longer award the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) to service ...