Canadian Special Service Medal, NATO/OTAN Bar The General Campaign Star (GCS)

The General Campaign Star (GCS) is awarded to members of the Canadian Forces and members of allied forces working with the Canadian Forces who deploy into a defined theatre of operations to take part in operations in the presence of an armed enemy

Only time spent under NATO command is eligible - transit time does not count

the qualifying period of service was standardized worldwide to ten years for the Service Medal and fifty years for the ULS extension in 2020

and having applied the 180-day break period

Canadian Special Service Medal, NATO/OTAN Bar The General Campaign Star (GCS)NATO service between 1951 and 2004: An aggregate of 180 days of honourable service within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) area of responsibility between 1 January 1951 and 19 October 2004. Qualifying service is service while posted to a NATO unit, or to a Canadian Forces or allied formation or unit outside territorial limits of Canada under the operational control of a NATO headquarters, or in Canada on an operational staff directly