The Soviet Military Awards Page

Soviet Medals

Sitemap
 
Titles of Distinction
Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of Socialist Labor
Pilot-Cosmonaut of USSR
Dist. Military Pilot USSR
Dist. Military Navigator USSR
Dist. Test Pilot USSR
Dist. Test Navigator USSR
Distinguished Pilot USSR
Dist. Navigator USSR
  Orders
Order of Victory
Order of Lenin
Order of October Revolution
Order of the Red Banner
Order of Suvorov
Order of Ushakov
Order of Kutuzov
Order of Nakhimov
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky
Order of Alexander Nevsky
Order of the Patriotic War
Order of Red Banner of Labor
Order of Friendship
Order of the Red Star
Order Service to Motherland
Order of the Badge of Honor
Order of Honor
Order of Personal Courage
Order of Glory
Order of Labor Glory
Order of Mother Heroine
Order of Maternal Glory
  Medals
Medal of Ushakov
Medal of Nakhimov
20th Anniversary Red Army
Partisan of Patriotic War
Rescuing a Drowning Person
Maintaining Public Order
Military Cooperation
Safeguarding Frontiers
Bravery in Fire Fighting
For Bravery
Combat Service
Valiant Labor
Distinguished Labor
Restoration Donbass Mines
Res. Black Metal Enterprises
Development Virgin Lands
Dev. Non-Black Earth Region
Dev. Petro. of W. Siberia
Constr. Baikul-Amur Railroad
50 Years Soviet Militia
Defense of Odessa
Defense of Sevastopol
Defense of Soviet Arctic
Defense of Caucasus
Defense of Kiev
Defense of Leningrad
Defense of Moscow
Defense of Stalingrad
Capture of Vienna
Capture of Budapest
Capture of Koenigsberg
Capture of Berlin
Liberation of Belgrade
Liberation of Prague
Liberation of Warsaw
Victory over Germany
Victory over Japan
Valiant Labor Patriotic War
Distinguished Mil. Service
Armed Forces Veteran USSR
100th Ann. Lenin's Birth
Veteran of Labor
Victory Commem. Medals
Armed Forces Ann. Medals
City Jubilee Medals
Motherhood Medals
Irreproachable Svc. Medals
  Miscellaneous
- Links of Interest
- Contact

Awards on this page:
search this site
Google
 
Web www.soviet-awards.com
Medals for Irreproachable Service

Established 25 January 1958, by the Ministry of Defense, USSR Minister of Internal Affairs (MVD), and Chairman of the USSR State Security Committee (KGB). Originally, Soviet awards such as the Order of the Red Star were given to commemorate length of service. These medals were established to reinforce the significance and importance of a length of service award, while keeping the higher awards reserved for uncommon deeds of valor. These medals were departmental, each having issued their own length of service award, with different legends on the reverse.
NOTE: there are several conflicting sources of information regarding the metal content changing over time. Apparently, the Irreproachable service medals underwent changes in metal content several times. Early versions appear to have been made of solid silver, then sometime in the 1960's, silver plated brass, and then finally to solid german silver (this is an alloy of cheap metals) Information below adheres to Paul McDaniel's book "The Comprehensive Guide to Soviet Orders and Medals", and he acknowledges that his book was published after this information was discovered.
Irreproachable Service in the Armed Forces of the USSR (Ministry of Defense)
20 Years Variation 1                           R2             
Silver. Star in center is red-enameled.
detail pic
20 Years Variation 2                           R2             
Silver-plated brass. Star in center is red-enameled.
full obverse pic
detail pic
20 Years Variation 3                           R4             
Silver. Star in center is NOT enameled. VERY RARE.
15 Years                                      R1   
Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated.
full obverse pic
detail pic
10 Years                                      C   
Gold-plated brass.
full obverse pic
detail pic
Irreproachable Service in the Armed Forces of the USSR (KGB)
20 Years Type 1 Variation 1                  R2                  
Silver. Star in the center is red-enameled.
20 Years Type 1 Variation 2                  R2                  
Silver-plated brass. Star in center is red-enameled.
full obverse pic
detail pic
15 Years Type 1                                R2        
Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated.
full obverse pic
detail pic
10 Years Type 1                                R2        
Gold-plated brass.
full obverse pic
detail pic
20 Years Type 2 Variation 1                  R3               
Roman numeral "XX" on front. Silver. Star in the center is red-enameled.
full obverse pic
detail pic
20 Years Type 2 Variation 2                   R3               
Roman numeral "XX" on front. Silver-plated brass. Star in the center is red-enameled.
full obverse pic
detail pic
15 Years Type 2                                R3        
Roman numeral "XV" on front. Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated.
full obverse pic
detail pic
10 Years Type 2                                R3        
Roman numeral "X" on front. Gold-plated brass.
full obverse pic
detail pic
Irreproachable Service in the Armed Forces of the USSR (MVD & MOOP) Note: in 1962, MVD name was changed to MOOP.
20 Years Type 1 Variation 1                  R2                  
MVD USSR on reverse. Silver. Star in center is red-enameled.
full obverse pic
detail pic
20 Years Type 1 Variation 2                  R2                  
MVD USSR on reverse. Silver-plated brass. Star in center is red-enameled.
full obverse pic
detail pic
15 Years Type 1                                R2        
MVD USSR on reverse. Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated.
full obverse pic
detail pic
10 Years Type 1                                R2        
MVD USSR on reverse. Gold-plated brass.
full obverse pic
detail pic
20 Years Type 2                                R3        
Letters MVD and abbreviation of one of 15 Soviet Republics stamped on reverse. Silver. Star in center is red-enameled. (RSFSR shown)
detail pic
15 Years Type 2                                R3        
Letters MVD and abbreviation of one of 15 Soviet Republics stamped on reverse. Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated.
(RSFSR shown)
full obverse pic
detail pic
10 Years Type 2                                R3        
Letters MVD and abbreviation of one of 15 Soviet Republics stamped on reverse. Gold-plated brass.
(RSFSR shown)
detail pic
20 Years Type 3                                R3        
Letters MOOP and abbreviation of one of 15 Soviet Republics stamped on reverse. Silver. Star in center is red-enameled.
(Republic of Moldova shown)
full obverse pic
detail pic
Ukraine - full detail Estonia - full detail Latvia - full detail
Uzbekistan - detail RSFSR - detail
15 Years Type 3                                R3        
Letters MOOP and abbreviation of one of 15 Soviet Republics stamped on reverse. Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated. (Republic of Moldova shown)
full obverse pic
detail pic
Ukraine - full detail Uzbekistan - detail
10 Years Type 3                               R3        
Letters MOOP and abbreviation of one of 15 Soviet Republics stamped on reverse. Gold-plated brass. (Republic of Ukraine shown )
full obverse pic
detail pic
Ukraine - full detail Uzbekistan - detail
20 Years Type 4 Variation 1                   R3                
Has MOOP USSR at 6 o'clock position. Silver. Star in center is red-enameled.
20 Years Type 4 Variation 2                   R3                
MOOP Version. Same as variation 1 except has Cyrillic letters for MOOP only at 6 o'clock position. Silver. Star in center is red-enameled.
full obverse pic
detail pic
15 Years Type 4 Variation 1                   R3                
Has MOOP USSR at 6 o'clock position. Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated.
15 Years Type 4 Variation 2                   R3                
Same as variation 1 except has Cyrillic letters for MOOP only at 6 o'clock position. Silver-plated brass. Star in center is gold-plated.
full obverse pic
detail pic
10 Years Type 4 Variation 1                   R3                
Has letters for MOOP USSR at 6 o'clock position. Gold-plated brass.
10 Years Type 4 Variation 2                   R3               
Has letters for MOOP only at 6 o'clock position. Gold-plated brass.
full obverse pic
detail pic
RARITY KEY:
A-Abundant, readily available, often in wholesale quantities.
C-Common, always available. Occasionally in quantity.
R1-Usually available without a long delay. Difficult to find in quantity.
R2-Scarce to rare, less seldom available.
R3-Rare. Difficult to find.
R4-Very rare. Demand outstrips supply, and specimens, when
available are often eagerly sought.
R5-Extremely rare and seldom available. Collector may have to
search for a few years to locate one.
R6-Of the highest rarity. Very difficult to obtain.
R7-Almost never available. Most collectors will not have a chance to acquire these pieces.
R8-Never been on the market. Almost impossible to obtain.
R*-Not available for collections.
Copyright ©2007 Arthur G. Bates III. All Rights Reserved.
Best viewed using IE6+ 1024x768x32 Bit Color.
Please read the terms of use policy applicable to this site.