Like many of the awards that were established to recognize the service and achievements of the officers in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), the Foreign Duty Award was issued as a ribbon-only decoration for more than ten years. Following a USPHS review of the Commissioned Officer’s Award Program, a recommendation was made that it and many other awards should be revised to include a medal. The new policy was put into place in 1988.
The Foreign Duty Award is issued to any officer in the Commissioned Corps who serves outside the United States for 30 consecutive or 90 cumulative non-training days at foreign posts on either temporary or permanent assignment. (Note that the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and areas that were once included in the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands are considered part of the United States for purposes of this award.) Officers who are assigned to a specific ship for 30 or more consecutive days are also eligible if the ship transits international waters with stops international ports.
Officers may earn a Foreign Duty Award for each foreign-duty tour lasting more than 30 consecutive days if they return to the United States at the conclusion of a temporary or permanent assignment. Consecutive days, however, are calculated as a single unit, so any days beyond those needed to qualify for the award cannot be separated and “redistributed” toward the calculation of a subsequent award.