[ExGeeEye]

It went away sometime in the 1980s

Really? I got mine in 1986 and saw it consistently to, through and beyond Desert Storm.

And never with an OLC.

Doesn't mean it didn't happen...

[GreyFriar]

Here is a Department of Defense press release from 2002 giving the requirement to be awarded the National Defense Service Medal and earlier periods of service during which it was awarded to serving members of the US armed forces:

https://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=44101

[GreyFriar]

Gentlemen,

My apologies, I confused the “Army Service Ribbon” with the older “National Defense Service Medal.”

Here are the conditions and history of the Army Service Ribbon (ASR): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_Service_Ribbon

And here is a Department of Defense press release from 2002 giving the requirement to be awarded the National Defense Service Medal (NSDM) and earlier periods of service during which it was awarded to serving members of the US armed forces:

https://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=44101

At some point I would have added it to my bar of ribbons, but the first one on the bottom left, for me, is the NSDM, followed by the ASR, & etc.