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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§1135 Replacement of military decorations

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 57— - DECORATIONS AND AWARDS › § 1135

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary in charge must replace a military award one time for free if the person who got it asks or if the person's immediate next of kin asks after they die. This is in addition to any other ways the Secretary can replace awards. When a request is made under this rule or the related rules, the Secretary must finish all required steps, including checking the recipient’s service record, within one year. Once the record is verified, the replacement must be mailed within 90 days. Decoration — any award given by the President or the service Secretary to a member of the armed forces, except the Medal of Honor.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §1135

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In addition to other authorities available to the Secretary concerned to replace a military decoration, the Secretary concerned shall replace, on a one-time basis and without charge, a military decoration upon the request of the recipient of the military decoration or the immediate next of kin of a deceased recipient.
(b)When a request for the replacement of a military decoration is received under this section or section 7277, 7281, 8303, 9277, or 9281 of this title, the Secretary concerned shall ensure that—
(1)all actions to be taken with respect to the request, including verification of the service record of the recipient of the military decoration, are completed within one year; and
(2)the replacement military decoration is mailed to the person requesting the replacement military decoration within 90 days after verification of the service record.
(c)In this section, the term “decoration” means any decoration or award (other than the medal of honor) that may be presented or awarded by the President or the Secretary concerned to a member of the armed forces.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–232 substituted “section 7277, 7281, 8303, 9277, or 9281” for “section 3747, 3751, 6253, 8747, or 8751” in introductory provisions. 2013—Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 113–66 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of

Amendments

and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 1135

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73