UN Operation Somalia (UNOSOM)

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Description:

1. United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I) was the first part of a United Nations (UN) sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali Civil War conflict in the early 1990s.
2. The operation was established in April 1992 and ran until its duties were assumed by the UNITAF mission in December 1992. Following the dissolution of UNITAF in May 1993, the subsequent UN mission in Somalia was known as UNOSOM II.
3. In accordance with the agreements reached with the two main Somali factions in Mogadishu, the cease-fire in the capital was to be monitored by a group of 50 unarmed, uniformed United Nations military observers. The observers were to be deployed along the demarcation line separating Mogadishu into two zones. Regarded as humanitarian assistance, the security personnel envisaged in the agreements were to provide protection and security for United Nations personnel, equipment, and supplies at the port of Mogadishu and escort deliveries of humanitarian supplies from there to distribution centres in the city and its immediate environs. They were also to provide security for United Nations personnel, equipment, and supplies at the airport in Mogadishu. They were to provide the United Nations’ convoys of relief supplies with a sufficiently strong military escort to deter attack; they were authorized to fire in self-defence as a last resort if deterrence should not prove effective.
4. On 28 August, the Security Council authorized an increase in strength of UNOSOM by four additional UN security units for the protection of the humanitarian convoys and distribution centres throughout Somalia. Several of the Somali de facto authorities refused to agree to the deployment of United Nations troops and only one battalion and military observers were deployed to Mogadishu. Relief ships were blocked from docking and even shelled. Air and seaports came under fire resulting in the non-delivery of relief supplies to areas where the need was most acute.
5. On 3 December 1992, the Security Council authorized the use of all necessary means to establish, as soon as possible, a secure environment for humanitarian and relief operations in Somalia. The first elements of the Unified Task Force, spearheaded by the United States of America, were deployed in Mogadishu on 9 December 1992.
6. UNOSOM ended on the 30 April 1993.
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8. Each United Nations mission for which an UNM is awarded is commemorated by a suspension and service ribbon of unique colors and design. The ribbon and medallion combination take on the name of the specific operation for which the combination was created. For example, the operation in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia is the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), yielding the UNPROFOR Medal. Service members who are awarded an UNM may wear the first UNM with unique suspension and service ribbon for which they qualify. A bronze service star will denote subsequent awards of the UNM for service in a different United Nations mission. Only one United Nations ribbon is authorized for wear.

Background:

1. Presentation. The Senior Representative of the Secretary-General who makes the award normally makes presentation of the UNM in the field. Approval authority to accept and wear the UNM to member of the Armed Forces of the United States is the Secretary of Defense. When presentation is not so accomplished, any person who believes he or she is eligible for award may submit to Commander, USA HRC, (see CFR paragraph 578.3(c) for address) and a request for such award with copy of any substantiating documents. Commander, AHRC will forward each such request through the Office of Internal Administration, Office of the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, to the United Nations for consideration.
2. Medal. The medal is bronze, 13/8 inches in diameter, with a top view of the globe enclosed at sides and bottom by a wreath and the letters “UN” at the top of the medal. On the reverse side is the inscription “IN THE SERVICE OF PEACE”. The United Nations Service Medal Korea is the same design, except the obverse does not include the letters “UN” and the medal has a hanger bar with the inscription “KOREA”. On the reverse side of the United Nations Service Medal Korea is the inscription “FOR SERVICE IN DEFENCE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS”.
3. Ribbon. Each United Nations mission for which a UNM is awarded is commemorated by a suspension and service ribbon of unique colors and design. The ribbon and medallion combination take on the name of the specific operation for which the combination was created. For example, the operation in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia is the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), yielding the UNPROFOR Medal. Service members who are awarded a UNM may wear the first UNM with unique suspension and service ribbon for which they qualify. A bronze service star will be worn to denote subsequent awards of the UNM for service in a different United Nations mission. Only one United Nations ribbon is authorized for wear.

The Office of the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness maintains a list of "Approved Military Decorations and Awards" which is a roster of the approved Joint DoD awards and/or operations for which the medal is authorized.
This is the DoD Approved U.N. Missions and Actions approved award/operations. as of the date shown in the document. You may want to verify if it has been updated at The Office of the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness (linked above)