Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service

Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service
Obverse and reverse of the medal
Type	Civilian public service award
Awarded for	Exceptionally distinguished service of significance to a DoD Component or function, or Department of Defense as a whole.
Country	United States
Presented by	U.S. Secretary of Defense
Eligibility	Non-career federal employees, private citizens, and foreign nationals.
Established	1947
Ribbon bar of the medal
Precedence
Next (lower)	Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service

The Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service is the highest award that is presented by the Secretary of Defense, to a private citizen, politician, non-career federal employee, or foreign national. It is presented for exceptionally distinguished service of significance to the Department of Defense as a whole, or a DoD Component or function, where recognition at the component level would not be sufficient for the service rendered.^[1]