These are the four medals that all soldiers deployed to Iraq get. I think they are in order of precedence from left to right, although I'm not exactly sure. From left to right they are: Armed Forces Reserve Achievement Medal; Global War on Terrorism Meda; Iraqi Campaign Medal; and National Defense medal. I had 3 or 4 of the AFRAMs, and this is my third ND medal, though many reservists got it for the first time on deployment. It is pretty much an active duty medal.
Medals became a very charged issue in my unit. The scuttlebutt was that because the 42 ID was a NG division, it had an unrealistically stiff standard for medals and combat badges.
