Interested AUS-MILITARY Mailing List subscribers, For your information, excerpts from the 'AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MEDAL - FACT SHEET' read as follows: "" ELIGIBILITY It is estimated that over one million serving and ex-serving ADF members will be eligible for the medal. * Ex-serving personnel who have served for four years [or have completed a lesser initial enlistment period] either as an ADF Regular or Reserve member since the end of World War ll [3 September 1945] are eligible for the medal. Eligibility for the medal has been extended to those personnel who: >> have died in service; or >> have been medically discharged with a compensatory impairment at the time >> of their discharge, rendering them unable to serve the minimum qualifying >> period; or >> have honourably served but, due to some Defence workplace enlistment >> policies of the time [as determined by the Chief of the Defence Force], >> were unable to serve the minimum qualifying period. ** National Servicemen will also be eligible for the ADM, as the completion of their National Service obligation will be considered as completion of an initial enlistment period of service. "" Personally, I find above paragraphs identified as * and ** somewhat ambiguous and in need of urgent and exact clarification by the Minister for Veteran Affairs'. This I am endeavouring to accomplish through my local Federal Government MP and the Minister for Veteran Affairs'. Any tangible replies will be posted to the AUS-MILITARY Mailing List immediately they come to hand. Ubique Eldon Bryant...........

Eldon R. J. Bryant wrote that there was an ambiguity in the following paragraphs: * Ex-serving personnel who have served for four years [or have completed a lesser initial enlistment period] either as an ADF Regular or Reserve member since the end of World War II [3 September 1945] are eligible for the medal. ** National Servicemen will also be eligible for the ADM, as the completion of their National Service obligation will be considered as completion of an initial enlistment period of service. "" The first paragraph states you get the medal if you served a) four years or b) have completed a lesser initial enlistment period. The second paragraph is giving an example of b) in the first paragraph. I am not sure what the other interpretations are. By the way, the Minister assisting the Minister for Defence is the minister responsible for Defence personnel matters including honours and awards. He happens to be the same person as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs but it will be medal experts from the Defence Department rather than Veterans Affairs who draft the reply. Anthony Staunton