The Texas Cavalry Service Medal is a military decoration

Awards and decorations of the United States military

Awards and decorations of the United States Military are military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces...

 of the Texas National Guard

United States National Guard

The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...

 which was created by an act on the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 on April 16, 1924. The decoration was intended to recognize the service of the Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 cavalry which had performed Mexican border patrol duty during the years of the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

The Texas Cavalry Service Medal was awarded to members of the first two brigades of the Texas National Guard cavalry who were federalized for United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 service in 1917. Qualifying dates of the Texas Cavalry Service Medal are from December 8, 1917 to November 11, 1918. Only 840 medals were awarded for this time period.

Since the Texas Cavalry Service Medal was created by Congress to commemorate federal service, the award has a dual status as both a federal military decoration and an award of the National Guard

Awards and decorations of the National Guard

Awards and decorations of the National Guard are presented to members of the United States National Guard and sometimes to members of the State Defense Forces in addition to regular United States military decorations...

. For this reason, the Texas Cavalry Service Medal was authorized for wear on active duty United States military uniforms, yet did not appear as an authorized decoration in Army regulations.

State Bill 955, an amendment to Texas Government Code § 431.134, was passed in the Texas Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 and signed by Governor Perry on June 17, 2005 and was effective on September 1, 2005. This medal is a State award, unlike the original medal, which was a Federal award. The Texas Cavalry Medal is awarded to personnel who served on or after September 11, 2001, in the 124th Cavalry, Texas Army National Guard and who served in a hostile fire zone as designated by the United States Secretary of Defense. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/tlo/textframe.cmd?LEG=79&SESS=R&CHAMBER=S&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=00955&VERSION=5&TYPE=B. As passed, the medal is considered a separate award from the original Texas Cavalry Service Medal. This medal is a one time award and there is no provision for subsequent awards. The first 182 cavalry troopers eligible for the award completed their tour of duty in Iraq on February 11, 2005. Carrying the same unit heraldry as the 1st Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment, members of the Texas National Guard's Brigade Reconnaissance Troops mobilized for OIF

OIF

-Geoengineering:*Ocean Iron Fertilization, the practice of adding iron or iron compounds to the ocean to stimulate phytoplankton growth-Formats:*Object Interchange Format, a database management protocol developed by the Object Data Management Group-Foundations:...

III were also eligible for this award.

Order of precedence for this new award has it falling between the Texas Combat Service Ribbon and the Texas Faithful Service Medal.

State Bill 955 also introduced the Texas Combat Service Ribbon and the Texas Purple Heart Medal.