PDR Afghanistan: Medal for Service in the Armed Forces

[Ed_Haynes]

I think I may finally be getting these things sorted out.

For 25 years (no class indicated), on the two ribbons seen. I think the unbalanced red, blue, and white one (that has a "Cuban" feel to it) is the first ribbon (perhaps 1980-87?) with the red, black, and green ribbon being later (maybe 1987-92?).

Edited October 30, 2007 by Ed_Haynes

[Ed_Haynes]

The reverse. The medal is the same, regardless of ribbon.

[Ed_Haynes]

The first class, for 20 years.

[Ed_Haynes]

The second class, for 15 years.

[Ed_Haynes]

The third class, for 10 years.

The one showing the reverse is, of course, on the earlier (?) ribbon.

[Ed_Haynes]

A variant third class which, to be honest, I cannot place within my current understanding of the award.

[Ed_Haynes]

And, finally, the fourth class, for 5 years.

This second (?), red-black-green ribbon was an incredibly common PDR Afghan ribbon and, so, it shows up on all sorts of things (both in Afghanistan and beyond) on which it does not belong. Glance at dealers' sites.

[IVB]

Here medal for 5 years on another ribbon:

[Ed_Haynes]

I, too, have seen this ribbon used. I haven't been able to determine if it is legitimate or is just one more of those fantastic medal and ribbon mis-matches that infest Afghan awards.

Unfortunately, the number of "liberations" that Kabul has had to endure over the last few decades means (among other things) that little survives of the archives and libraries that once contained the information we need to sort these out.

Edited November 1, 2007 by Ed_Haynes