Technical Service Medal

The Technical Service Medal (Vietnamese: Kỹ-Thuật Bội-Tinh) was a military award of South Vietnam established in 1964. The medal was awarded in two classes and was awarded for outstanding initiative and devotion an individuals assigned staff duty.

Also known as the Republic of Vietnam Technical Service Honors Medal, the Technical Service Medal was bestowed in two classes, one for issuance to commissioned officers and the other class for warrant officers and enlisted personnel. The award appeared as a propellered disc suspended from a blue-grey ribbon. The second class version contained two vertical red lines while the first class medal displayed an additional set of thin red lines down the center of the award ribbon.

The award of the Technical Service Medal was open to both civilians and military personnel who had performed duties “as technicians or of a technical nature” and had demonstrated “outstanding professional capacity, initiative, and devotion to duty”. The decoration was therefore a “behind-the-lines” type of award, mainly awarded to those who were engaged in support and upkeep duties for units deployed to the front lines of the Vietnam War.