Air Force Overseas Short Tour Service Ribbon

The Air Force Overseas Service Ribbon was approved in 1980 by order of General Lew Allen, Air Force Chief of Staff. The award is issued in two grades, being that of "short tour" and "long tour."
The Air Force Overseas Short Tour Service Ribbon is awarded for less than two years of duty or as directed by Air Force policies. Normally, the Short Tour Service Ribbon is awarded for a permanent duty assignment of at least 300 days within an 18-month time span; such assignments are generally served unaccompanied by family members, though a short tour assignment need not be unaccompanied. Historically, most Short Tour Service Ribbons were awarded for service in South Korea, by far the most common short tour assignment in the USAF.
Additional awards of the Air Force Overseas Service Ribbon are denoted by oak leaf clusters and Air Force regulations permit the receipt and wear of both the short and long tour ribbons simultaneously, wherein the short tour ribbon takes a higher precedence by being worn to the wearer's right of the long tour ribbon. The "A" device is authorized only on the short tour ribbon to any service member who performs a tour of duty at an arctic based Air Force facility; most commonly Thule Air Base in Greenland.