Medal "For Impeccable Service"

Recorded constituent parts are Medal "For Impeccable Service", 1st class, Medal "For Impeccable Service", 2nd class and Medal "For Impeccable Service", 3rd class. It is associated with Soviet Union. The record gives 1958 as its date of establishment or first appearance.

• Name — Medal "For Impeccable Service" • Presenter — USSR • Type — Long service medal • Eligibility — Citizens of the Soviet Union • Awarded For — Long service in the Soviet Armed Forces • Status — No longer awarded • Established — January 25, 1958 • Image2 — 1st class 2nd class 3rd class • Caption2 — Ribbons of the Medal "For Impeccable Service" • Illustration — Obverse of the KGB 2nd variant Medal "For Impeccable Service" 1st class

Prior to the establishment of the Medal "For Impeccable Service", existing state Orders meant for feats of valour or for extraordinary services to the state were conferred to military personnel for long service. An Order of Lenin for twenty-five years of service, the Order of the Red Banner for twenty, the Order of the Red Star for fifteen, hundreds of thousands of such awards seriously devaluated the awards of the same Orders earned for their original criteria. The intent to encourage the establishment of a ministerial/departmental level medal "For Impeccable Service" was stated in decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 14, 1957 emphasising the then devaluation of certain Soviet high military Orders used as long service awards instead of their originally intended criteria. This led to the joint January 25, 1958 decree of the Ministers of Defence, of Internal Affairs and of the Chairman of the Committee on State Security of the USSR establishing the Medal "For Impeccable Service". The medal was not held in high regard by the troops and the KGB and Interior Ministry of the USSR. The servicemen themselves often called it "For unsuccessful service". The medal was colloquially called "sand" or "Medal for Sand", referring to the natural ageing process of the recipient.

• Illustration — Russian Air Force commander Colonel General Alexander Zelin, a recipient of the Soviet medals "For Impeccable Service" 2nd and 3rd classes, pictured in company of President Vladimir Putin. • Illustration — Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov, a recipient of all three classes of the Soviet medal "For Impeccable Service". The individuals below were all recipients of the Medal "For Impeccable Service". • Colonel Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin • Major Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev • Major General Vladimir Sergeyevich Ilyushin • Lieutenant General Ruslan Sultanovich Aushev • Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Fyodorovich Akhromeyev • MVD Army General Rashid Gumarovich Nurgaliyev • Admiral Vladimir Grigor'evich Yegorov • Colonel General Gennady Nikolayevich Troshev • Lieutenant General Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov • Army General Viktor Germanovich Kazantsev • Marshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Vasilyevich Ogarkov • Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Leonidovich Sokolov • Major General Timur Avtandilovich Apakidze • Colonel General Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov • Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Ivanovich Kuroyedov • Army General Mukhtar Altynbayev • Colonel General Nikolay Nikolayevich Bordyuzha • Colonel General Alexander Nikolayevich Zelin • Colonel Vladimir Vasilievich Kvachkov • Colonel Volodymyr Mykolaiovych Melnykov • MVD Army General Anatoly Sergeevich Kulikov • Army General Anatoly Mikhaïlovich Kornukov • Colonel General Arkady Viktotovich Bakhin • Vladimir Nesterov, Director of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center • Colonel General Mikhail Ivanovich Barsukov • Colonel Ivan Fedorovich Ladyga • Army General Sagadat Kozhahmetovich Nurmagambetov • Major General Igor Dmitrievich Sergun • Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Vyacheslavovich Lebed • Brigadier General Victor Gaiciuc