A new medal just dropped for border support. Do you qualify?

The Marine Corps officially published implementation guidance for a brand-new award. If you've supported Customs and Border Protection operations on the southern border since January 20, 2025, this applies to you.

This isn't a minor administrative tweak. It's a new medal, a new precedence slot on your uniform, and a retroactive exchange opportunity if you already received a different award for the same service.

Read this before your next uniform inspection. Or before your S-1 asks you why your ribbons are wrong.

Reference: MARADMIN 233/26, signed 20 May 2026. Implementing guidance from ALNAV 023/26 and the Secretary of War memorandum dated 13 August 2025. Underlying awards authority: SECNAVINST 1650.1J, Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual.

The old problem

Before August 2025, Marines supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the southern border received the Armed Forces Service Medal for that service.

That's over now.

The Secretary of War created a dedicated award specifically for this mission. The AFSM is no longer authorized for CBP border support as of August 13, 2025.

If you earned an AFSM for border support, you may be wearing the wrong ribbon.

The new rule, in one line

The Mexican Border Defense Medal replaces the Armed Forces Service Medal for qualifying border support service starting January 20, 2025.

What the medal actually covers

Who qualifies:

✦ You must have been permanently assigned, attached, or detailed to a unit that deployed in support of CBP operations on the Mexican border

✦ You must have served 30 days in the area, either consecutive or cumulative, during the qualifying period

✦ The qualifying period opened January 20, 2025, and remains open until a future termination date is announced

Where counts (the Area of Eligibility):

✦ U.S. land within 100 nautical miles of the Mexican border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California

✦ That includes the city of San Antonio specifically

✦ Adjacent waters north of the border extending to 24 nautical miles

What the award looks like:

✦ Full-size medal with suspension ribbon and service ribbon

✦ No certificate or citation is issued

✦ Only one award per person, ever, regardless of how many qualifying deployments you complete

✦ No devices for subsequent awards

Where it sits on your rack:

Immediately after the Korea Defense Service Medal.

(Yes, they specified that exactly.)

The retroactive exchange: what you need to know

This is the part most people will miss.

If you received an AFSM for CBP border support between January 20, 2025 and August 13, 2025, you can request the MBDM instead.

Here's the catch: you cannot keep both.

You elect the MBDM in place of the AFSM for that service period
The exchange gets documented with a Page 11 entry
AFSM awards earned for CBP support before January 20, 2025 stay as they are. Those are not eligible for exchange.

(So if you deployed in 2024 for CBP support, your AFSM is fine. Leave it alone.)

Who approves it

Any Commanding Officer with delegated authority to award the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal can approve the MBDM.

This is a relatively low approval threshold. Your CO likely already has that authority.

What documentation you need

Your unit commander is responsible for verifying qualifying service. When you submit for this award, gather:

✦ Deployment orders or TAD/PCS orders showing the duty location

✦ Muster rosters or command certification confirming qualifying dates

✦ Anything that establishes you were in the Area of Eligibility for the required 30 days

Local Reporting Units will process this award in Marine Corps Total Force System using entry code BD.

HQMC will publish additional processing guidance for retroactive updates to MCTFS and Official Military Personnel Files.

Why this is a big deal

A new service medal is genuinely rare.

This one signals something larger: the southern border mission has grown significant enough that the Department of War created a dedicated award for it. It is no longer treated as a generic contingency operation worthy of the catch-all AFSM.

For Reserve Marines, this matters more than it might seem. Many reservists who mobilized or were called up to support border operations in early 2025 received the AFSM and moved on. They may not know an exchange is available. Their S-1s may not have flagged it yet.

If you served in this window and nobody has talked to you about this, start asking questions now.

A smaller note for active-duty Marines

This MARADMIN applies to the Total Force, so active-duty Marines who served in qualifying border support roles are equally eligible. If you're active-duty with a CBP deployment between January 20, 2025 and today, run through the same eligibility criteria above and work with your unit S-1 on documentation.

The bottom line

A new medal exists for southern border support. It replaces the AFSM for service starting January 20, 2025. If you already have an AFSM for that service, you can swap it, but you cannot keep both. One award per Marine, total. It sits after the Korea Defense Service Medal on your rack.

What to do with this

If you deployed to the border on or after January 20, 2025:

Check whether you served 30 days (consecutive or cumulative) in the Area of Eligibility
Pull your deployment orders and muster documentation
Contact your unit S-1 and ask about submitting for the MBDM

If you already received an AFSM for CBP support in the January 20 to August 13, 2025 window:

Decide whether you want to exchange it for the MBDM
Talk to your S-1 about initiating the exchange
Ensure the Page 11 entry is completed correctly

If you're a unit S-1 or admin chief:

Identify any Marines in your unit who deployed to the border during the qualifying period
Confirm entry code BD is set up in MCTFS for this award
Watch for HQMC's follow-on guidance on retroactive MCTFS and OMPF updates
Reach out to the POC directly with questions: Zenon J. Kelly, HQMC MMPB-30, 703-784-9206, Zenon.J.Kelly.civ@usmc.mil

If you're in the IRR and had a border deployment:

Your path runs through your gaining command or the nearest MARFORRES support element. Contact them directly. Do not assume this will happen automatically.

This is written by a reservist, for reservists. It is not an official publication of HQMC or MARFORRES. Always verify guidance with your command or unit S-1 before acting on any article or summary.

Need a shorter version of this? A one-paragraph summary exists. Need a deeper dive into the exchange process or how to document cumulative service days? That can be expanded. Just ask.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MEXICAN BORDER DEFENSE MEDAL