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The initial presentation of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal is authorized with the bronze hourglass device denoting ten years of reserve service. At twenty years of service, the hourglass is upgraded to silver and at thirty years the hourglass becomes gold. For those who complete forty years of reserve service, a gold and bronze hourglass device are worn simultaneously. This is the only case where hourglasses are worn together; in all other cases the hourglass device is upgraded to the next higher award degree and is worn as a single device.

Prior to 1990, the hourglass device was presented only upon the second and subsequent awards of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, as in a bronze hourglass for twenty years of service, silver for thirty, and gold for forty. This was changed when the Armed Forces Reserve Medal was authorized for award, without a device, to those who had been mobilized to active duty. At that point, the hourglass device was presented for the initial ten year award to distinguish those who had received the award through years of service compared to those who had earned the decoration through mobilization.

In 1996, the Mobilization Device was authorized to the Armed Forces Reserve Medal which was worn beside the hourglass device for those who had completed both years of service and a recall mobilization.

See also: Awards and decorations of the United States military