# 2018-006 Careers, Honours and Awards

Case summary

F&R Date: 2018-11-29

The grievor argued that he had completed two successive postings in two different countries while holding two different positions with a stay in Canada between the two deployments while he was on leave. One of the postings made him eligible for the General Service Medal and the other, the General Campaign Star (GCS EXP) because he had completed a tour of duty of more than six months.

The Committee concluded that because the grievor had earned two honours within 180 days, according to subsection 13(2) of the Order in Council (PC 2010 79), he could not receive both honours.

However, in accordance with the General Campaign Star and General Service Medal (GCS and GSM) Regulations (2009) and the Canadian Forces General Message 072/10, the Committee concluded that the grievor was eligible for the highest honour only, that is, GCS EXP.

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) not grant the grievor redress.

FA decision summary

The Director - Canadian Forces Grievance Authority, as the FA in this file, agreed with the Committee's findings and its recommendation to deny redress. The FA noted that the eligibility criteria for the General Campaign Star - EXPEDITION (GCS - EXP) and the General Service Medal - EXPEDITION (GSM - EXP), were amended by Order in Council (O.C. 2010-79) on 14 January 2010 and that Canadian Forces General Message 071/10 detailed the related administrative procedures. Accordingly, a Canadian Armed Forces member may not be awarded these two honorary distinctions for a same period of service in the same theatre of operations. Given the grievor's service record, the FA found that he was only eligible to receive the GCS - EXP which he was awarded and denied the redress measure sought.