The Palm Tree attachment is designed for wear with the Kuwait Liberation Medal – Saudi Arabia (KLM-SA), an award created by the government of Saudi Arabia for members of the Armed Forces of the United States that served in a select number of areas during the period January 17—February 29, 1991. It was authorized for wear by the Department of Defense on January 3, 1992, less than eleven months after a ceasefire was declared in the Gulf War.
The Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the part of the Arabian Sea that is north of 10 degrees north latitude and west of 68 degrees east longitude comprise the bodies of water for actions that qualify servicemembers for the medal. Qualifying surface areas include the total land area of the nations of Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. These geographic requirements, as well as the eligibility period, were specified by Saudi Arabia and cannot be waived.
Servicemembers who meet the geographic and time-period requirements must have been attached to or serving regularly for at least one day with an organization taking part in ground or shore ops or aboard a naval vessel that operated in direct support of military operations. Additionally, those servicemembers who participated actively as a crewmember in at least one aerial flight supporting military operations are deemed eligible for the KLM-SA. Those servicemembers serving on temporary duty (TD) must have spent at least 30 consecutive TDY days between the qualifying dates, although the limit can be waived by the Commander of the U.S. Army Human Resource Command for those who took part in actual combat operations.