Non-Article 5 NATO Vigilance Medal Approved and Accepted

His Majesty’s Canadian Government has approved the acceptance and wear of the Non-Article 5 NATO Vigilance Medal, according to a recent military directive.

The approval marks a significant update in operational honours for deployed personnel.

“The Non-Article 5 NATO Vigilance Medal shall follow the Non-Article 5 NATO Medal for service on NATO Operation SEA GUARDIAN in the Canadian Order of Precedence for Orders, Decorations and Medals,” states CANFORGEN (Canadian Forces General Message) 063/24.

Additionally, the medal’s ribbon and device “will be available in the CAF supply system at a later date.” Importantly, “service credited towards this medal cannot be counted towards any other service medal.”

Eligibility Criteria

The CANFORGEN highlights two primary conditions that determine a member’s eligibility for the new medal, as emphasized by NATO:

1. “Being operationally deployed in SACEUR’s AOO, meaning that posted personnel are excluded from eligibility,” and
2. “Being under NATO command or control, meaning the organizations supporting NATO Ops but remaining under Canadian national command are excluded from eligibility and will continue to be recognized by the SSM-NATO where applicable.”

Units transitioning to the Medal

According to the CANFORGEN, the following organizations, excluding posted personnel, will now be recognized with the NATO Vigilance Medal instead of the SSM-NATO:

• Forward Land Forces (FLF) Multinational Brigade-Latvia (MNB-LVA) and all subordinate units and sub-units
• Multinational Medical Unit (MMU)
• Multinational Logistics Unit (MLU)
• Health Service Support (HSS) – Role 2B Medical Facility
• Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)
• Latvian Allied Augmentation Team (LAAT) under the Latvian Mechanized Infantry Brigade (LVA MI BDE), itself under Multi-National Division-North (MND-N)
• Air Task Force (ATF) Latvia / Tactical Air Detachment (TAD)
• HMC Ships under SNMG 1 or 2 and SNMCMG 1 or 2, “and their associated Forward Logistic Sites (FLS) only when the FLS are under NATO command or control.”

Not all personnel or units will qualify for the new medal. According to the message, the following organizations “do not meet the aforementioned NATO criteria and will continue to qualify for the SSM-NATO where applicable”:

• OUTCAN posted personnel on OP REASSURANCE, including those under the LAAT
• Task Force Latvia Headquarters (TFL HQ)
• Theatre Signals Unit (TSU)
• National Support Element (NSE)
• OP REASSURANCE Black Sea Mine Counter-Measures (Black Sea MCM) Clearance Diver Team (CDT)
• Other OP REASSURANCE organizations or personnel remaining under national command and control, including “liaison officers, counter-intel positions, FLS in support of ships (except when the FLS falls under NATO command or control) and other similar positions.”

Non-Article 5

Non-Article 5 refers to NATO operations, missions, or activities that do not involve the collective defence commitment under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

Examples of Non-Article 5 operations include:

• Peacekeeping (e.g., NATO’s mission in Kosovo – KFOR)
• Training and capacity building (e.g., NATO Mission Iraq)
• Maritime security (e.g., Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean)
• Humanitarian support or crisis response (e.g., disaster relief).

Established in 1949, Article 5 is the cornerstone of the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty), according to NATO.

Article 5 states that an attack against one NATO member is considered an attack against all members. Specifically, it commits each member to take “such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force,” to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. It has been invoked only once, which was after the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

For more information, refer to the Canadian Forces Honours Policy Manual and the Canadian Medals Chart here.