Defense and national security

Executive Order 13289: Establishing the Global War on Terrorism Medals

President: George W. Bush

Established the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals for qualifying service in support of counterterrorism operations.

Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 13289 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 13289 remains in effect. See Federal Register record.

What does Executive Order 13289 do?

The order assigned these duties: Department of Defense, military departments and the service secretaries — Established the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals for qualifying service in support of counterterrorism operations.

Checked the expeditionary medal’s criteria and command implementation against the order and later medal authorities. The guide distinguishes the medal from the separate Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and notes later campaign-medal rules.

Administration position: The order’s policy rationale is described in its text and administration records. Implementation and legal observations below are based on the cited official sources.
SignedMarch 12, 2003
IssuerPresident George W. Bush
Lead agencies or officialsDepartment of Defense, military departments and the service secretaries
Express timingMedals established immediately; eligibility governed by Defense implementing rules

Before and after

Before the order

Service members received campaign and service recognition under existing awards, but no government-wide Global War on Terrorism medals existed.

After the order

Defense issued eligibility and award guidance, produced the medals and updated personnel records and decorations as operations continued.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Department of Defense, military departments and the service secretariesEstablished the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals for qualifying service in support of counterterrorism operations.Medals established immediately; eligibility governed by Defense implementing rules

What happened next

EO 13289 signed.

2003–present — Defense periodically revised eligibility periods and operations. Later campaign medals supplement rather than erase the original awards.