The Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal was considered the enlisted successor award to the previous Naval Reserve Medal. From its creation until 1996, the medal was awarded for four years of satisfactory enlisted reserve service, which dropped to three years of service from 1997 until its discontinuation, synchronizing it with the same required service for the active duty Navy Good Conduct Medal, which replaced it entirely pursuant to a SECNAV directive in 2014. As a result of this SECNAV directive, all enlisted sailors in both the Active Component and the Reserve Component now receive the same good conduct medal for the same period of service.
Additional awards of the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal are denoted by service stars. This is strictly an enlisted service medal on par with Navy Good Conduct Medal for active duty enlisted sailors, to include active duty enlisted sailors in the now-renamed U.S. Navy Reserve's Full Time Support (FTS) program, previously known as Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR). Commissioned officers, to include chief warrant officers, are not eligible for award of the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal.
