My EUFOR RD Congo Medal

[Troy Tempest]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EUFOR_RD_Congo

[Troy Tempest]

[Troy Tempest]

[Troy Tempest]

[Troy Tempest]

[Troy Tempest]

[Owen]

Hello Troy, well done on your medal (I am sure you earned it out there in the Congo) and thanks for posting the pictures. Out of interest, did you get a miniature medal issued with it? The reason I ask is that I have got two of the same EU medals (although the boxes are far less impressive!) - one for the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo EULEX (Kosovo) and one for the EU Policing mission in Palestine EUPOL COPPS - the one from Palestine (issued in 2009) came with a miniature (and a small EUPOL COPPS ribbon clasp), but the more recent EULEX medal (last August) did not. When I asked in the mission about a EULEX miniature, they looked at me as if I had two heads and had said the most ridiculous thing ever! Also, it seems that the medals for all the EU missions are exactly the same and it is just the clasps that vary....I wonder why they don't just issue the clasp for subsequent missions (ah well, I must stop trying to apply any logic to EU Missions!).

[Troy Tempest]

Hello Monkey

I'm sorry if this is going to disappoint you, but I did not earn my EU set in the Congo, I bought mine on the net Are you a member of those EU missions you mentioned?

[Laurence Strong]

Hello Troy

That's a nice score :cheers:

Edited April 9, 2012 by Laurence Strong

[Owen]

Hello Monkey

I'm sorry if this is going to disappoint you, but I did not earn my EU set in the Congo, I bought mine on the net Are you a member of those EU missions you mentioned?

Ah, sorry forgive me...I just assumed (so, I guess the 'joke' about logic got a bit lost too!)....anyway, its good to see the DRC medal. Yes, I was in both those missions - I seem to have spent my life bouncing around the dodgy parts of the world (I spent time in the DR Congo ....many years ago). Owen

[kapitein]

Nice medal, would indeed be bit awkward if a non European soldier would be in the EU force contigent and getting the ESDP medal or it would be a liaison function?

I got 2 of these EU medals: EU RDC Congo for "Eusec"-mission bar and one for BiH "Althea" bar. ( "EUFOR Congo" was in 2006)

Have understood that although they have a bar and the same type of ribbon they are considered as 2 different medals and should be worn next to each other when mounted. So you should not mount different ESDP clasps on one medal. This is what I have been told.

Can anybody also confirm this ?

If you did 2 of same mission you can add a number on the ribbon.

(The NATO medels now also have a number behind the bar as many soldiers do multiple tours such as ISAF.

In the past one would just place a number above the bar for multiple tours)

Kapitein

[kapitein]

Here is a nice identification chart of al UN and ESDP medals with all the different bars and ribbons

http://www.vredesmissies.nl/medailles.htm

Kapitein

[Owen]

Nice medal, would indeed be bit awkward if a non European soldier would be in the EU force contigent and getting the ESDP medal or it would be a liaison function?

I got 2 of these EU medals: EU RDC Congo for "Eusec"-mission bar and one for BiH "Althea" bar. ( "EUFOR Congo" was in 2006)

Have understood that although they have a bar and the same type of ribbon they are considered as 2 different medals and should be worn next to each other when mounted. So you should not mount different ESDP clasps on one medal. This is what I have been told.

Can anybody also confirm this ?

If you did 2 of same mission you can add a number on the ribbon.

(The NATO medels now also have a number behind the bar as many soldiers do multiple tours such as ISAF.

In the past one would just place a number above the bar for multiple tours)

Kapitein

With ref to non EU mission members, we had officers from what the EU terms '3rd Member States' with us in both EUPOL COPPS (Palestine) and in Kosovo (EULEX). In Palestine, we had Canadian and American police officers. In Kosovo, we had American police officers. Other non EU countries who have provided police officers to the EU missions I was in are Norway and Switzerland.

You are right on the clasps - each medal stands alone and you can't put different clasps onto the one medal. In these days of austerity, it seems a bit of madness as all the medals/ribbons are exactly the same....only the clasps differ. Unlike the UN medals - I have a UN medal for Bosnia - the EU medals have not adopted a number system, for when you serve in the same mission more than once. I may be going back to Palestine (EUPOL COPPS) shortly, so I will let you know if this has changed since I left Kosovo last August.

[Owen]

Just to add to my post above.

Firstly, I was wrong...the medals are not identical...having just looked properly at mine, there are slight differences in design and size, The EULEX medal measures 36mm in diameter and has a vey thin border, whilst the EUPOL COPPS medal is 30mm in diameter with a broader border. Also, the suspension clips are slightly different. There is also a difference in the sizes of the clasps. The medal ribbons are the same width (34mm).

Also, I am still not certain which of the EU medals they also issue miniatures for. I received a miniature with my EUPOL COPPS medal, but not with my EULEX Kosovo medal. Did anyone else get a miniature with their EU medal?

Also, the ID chart (link kindly provided at #12) is great to have. However, I see that the medal & clasp they show for the EU mission in Palestine is only for the former name (i.e. EU COPPS). The medal I have (from 2008/9) is for EUPOL COPPS....i.e. the name of the mission changed from EU Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support to EU Police Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support.

Here are some pictures of the medals, including the EUPOL COPPS mini on my own medal minis bar, but I obviously can't add the EULEX Kosovo mini...because there isn't one!

[kapitein]

Nice medal too bad there is not a mini made, go to www.eekelers-centini.be and get any ESDP miniature and just buy and put a "kosovo" UN bar on it! BTW the Eeklers firm supplies these medals to the EU, you can purchase replacement directly from them.

I would say your EULEX Kosovo police medal is a bit crudely made and not from this company, probably locally aquired? Also the medal box is different than the Belgian cheaper plastic one. You only get one ribbon aswell.

Be assured that the medal is the same only a maker variation in size and quality. I wuild get the nicer Belgian made one for your full dress bar and swap the bar, my 2 cents...

Kapitein.

[kapitein]

Nice medal too bad there is not a mini made, go to www.eekelers-centini.be and get any ESDP miniature and just buy and put a "kosovo" UN bar on it! BTW the Eeklers firm supplies these medals to the EU, you can purchase replacement directly from them.

I would say your EULEX Kosovo police medal is a bit crudely made and not from this company, probably locally aquired? Also the medal box is different than the Belgian cheaper plastic one. You only get one ribbon aswell.

Be assured that the medal is the same only a maker variation in size and quality. I wuild get the nicer Belgian made one for your full dress bar and swap the bar, my 2 cents...

Kapitein.

[kapitein]

Ps: be assured that the EU battlegroup durinf EUFORCE mission which assisted UN MONUC during elections in Congo in 2006 was under German command including also Dutch soldiers and all boots on the ground were EU.

Could be that some EU police mission contigents would also consist of other non EU nationalities.

Kapitein

[kapitein]

Monkey

BTW You have 2 "Eulex Kosovo" ribbonbars, just put one of those bars on an Eekeler genetic mini ESDP medal and you are done!

thats probably why you go two of those ribbons! one bar for a mini medal you'll have to purchase and one for yr ribbonbar!

Kapitein

[Owen]

Hi, you are right...the EULEX medal does seem to be a much cheaper version (I have no idea where it was made, or who by).

Thanks for the www.eekelers-centini.be link - perfect. It had never come up on my searches for the EU medals, but I definitely get a miniature from them and follow your suggestion of using the spare ribbon bar.

Thanks again, Owen

[peter monahan]

Monkey

Just read this thread - a day late and a shilling short, as usual - but I did get the joke! "EU" and "logic" in the same sentence. Same same like "military intelligence".

Over here in snowy Canada -temperature outside my window a frigid 32 degrees Celsius as I type this - we began issuing numbers, not even bars, for some of the UN missions our guys were on. Cyprus, for example, had Canadians doing signals/communications for many many years so if you served in our Signal Corps or had that speciality in another unit and were willing to go, you could go a whole bunch of times. The numerals '5', '6', '8' exist and have been issued and one hears rumours of '10' and even '15'! Nice cheap way to reward our boys for sticking their necks out!

Peter

[Owen]

Hello Peter, my turn to apologise now - missed your post. I will put it down to the Olympic fever which has been gripping Blighty and chez nous. Glad you got the contradiction joke! Hope things are cooling down a bit for you over there...if I could box up some of the rain we have been having through (and here is another contracdiction in terms) our 'British summer', then you would be very welcome to it! I hear what you say about numbers etc, but the ESDP medal would lend itself to multiple bars on the same ribbon - I lose track of how many different ESDP missions there are now, but the number is beginning to stack up.

This evening, I finally got around to ordering a mini ESDP medal from Eekelers (thanks Kapitein). As Kapitein suggested, I will swap the given bar for the spare EULEX Kosovo bar and get it mounted with the other miniatures (courtesy of our local military tailor) and hopefully 'Bob's your uncle'.

Owen