ESTABLISHING AUTHORITY
The Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal was established by Secretary of the Navy Paul K. Spaulding on February 19, 1939 as the Fleet Marine Reserve Medal but was subsequently redesignated as the Organized Marine Corps Reserve Medal to conform to the provisions of the Naval Reserve Act of July 1, 1938, which changed the designation from Fleet Reserve to Organized Reserve. On September 4, 1984, General Paul X. Kelley, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, officially redesignated this award as the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal.
EFFECTIVE DATES
The Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal has been awarded for qualifying service from September 4, 1984 to the present.
CRITERIA
The Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal is awarded to members of the Marine Corps Reserve who, subsequent to July 1, 1925, have fulfilled certain designated military service requirements. Effective January 1, 1996, the qualifying period of eligibility is three years of service in the Marine Corps Reserve.
ORDER OF PRECEDENCE
The Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal is worn after the Good Conduct Medal and before the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal.
DEVICES
Additional awards of the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal are denoted by bronze stars.Subsequent awards of the Fleet Marine Reserve Medal were denoted by bronze stars.
DESIGNER
The design of the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal is derived from the original design of the Fleet Marine Corps Medal by John R. Sinnock.
Description and Symbolism
Obverse
In the center of a bronze medallion one and a quarter inches in diameter, two men (one in uniform and the other in civilian clothing) are depicted walking side by side. Above them, and following the contour of the medal, is the inscription MARINE CORPS RESERVE; in the exergue, the words FOR SERVICE. The two figures represent the citizen-soldier referring to the dual status of the members of the Marine Corps Reserve.
The two figures represent the citizen-soldier, referring to the dual status of the members of the Marine Corps Reserve
Reverse
In the center of a bronze medallion one and a quarter inches in diameter, a blank space is left for the engraving of the recipient's name. Around the inside rim of the medal, the words FIDELITY (on the left); OBEDIENCE (on the right), and ZEAL (at the bottom).
Ribbon
The ribbon to the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal consists of a central stripe of red bordered by gold and edged in pinstripes of red, white and blue (with the red forming the edge stripes of the ribbon). The red, white and blue edge stripes are the National colors, while the central stripes of red and gold are the colors of the Marine Corps. The suggestion for the colors of the ribbon was based "primarily on the fact that this award would be the only one worn by the majority of Reservists and the light color on the greater portion of the ribbon would afford a greater contrast to the color of the uniforms." The original width of the ribbon was set at the same size as the ribbon for the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal (one and a quarter inches); however at the time no one seemed to realize the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal had a narrow ribbon because it had to fit through the rifle hanger at the bottom and no such limitation existed for the Fleet Marine Reserve Medal.