If you’ve pulled duty along the southwest border this year, there’s a new piece of hardware in the pipeline with your name on it. The Pentagon has established the Mexican Border Defense Medal (MBDM) to recognize troops supporting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the current border mission. The order came down in an Aug. 13 memorandum from SECDEF Hegseth , confirming that border deployments will be recognized with a dedicated award instead of being lumped into generic “other-than-war” categories.

What It’s For — And Who Rates It

The MBDM covers Defense Department personnel deployed to the U.S.–Mexico border in support of CBP. According to Pentagon-based reporting, eligibility ties to service on or after January 20, 2025, aligning with the expanded joint task force

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