US MILITARY LEGION OF MERIT OFFICER MEDAL AWARD FOR US ARMY, NAVY & AIR FORCE

Offered is a genuine full sized US Legion Of Merit (officer grade) medal. This unique medal features an all enamel face, with fine gold plating and silken ribbon with bracket mount to rear. Maker makred G-27 to rear.

Legion of Merit is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the seven uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments.

The Legion of Merit (Commander degree) is one of only two United States military decorations to be issued as a neck order (the other being the Medal of Honor) and the only United States decoration which may be issued in award degrees (much like an order of chivalry or certain Orders of Merit).

The Legion of Merit is seventh in the order of precedence of U.S. Military awards and is worn before the Defense Superior Service Medal and after the Distinguished Flying Cross. In contemporary use in the U.S. Armed Forces, the Legion of Merit is typically awarded to Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force general officers and colonels, and Navy and Coast Guard flag officers and captains occupying command or very senior staff positions in their respective services. It may also be awarded to officers of lesser rank and to very senior enlisted personnel, but these instances are less frequent and circumstances vary by branch of service. As such, the medal can be considered as "points" in some enlisted promotion systems, such as the Air Force, where it is counted as seven points (out of a possible 25 points for decorations). However, since the rare enlisted recipients are typically at the pinnacle of the enlisted pay grades (i.e., E-9), the utility of such points is marginal to nil.