Navy "E" Ribbon

The Navy "E" Ribbon is an award that recognizes personnel who serve on ships or in squadrons that have achieved excellence in Battle Efficiency competitions. It was authorized by the Secretary of the Navy in a letter dated March 31, 1976, and is retroactively effective from July 1, 1974.

The eligibility criteria for the Navy "E" Ribbon include: - Personnel must be permanently attached to and serving with a ship or unit during the competitive cycle for which the award was given. This includes members of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. - Marine Corps personnel are eligible if assigned on Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders as part of the ship’s Marine detachment or if they are in other billets considered part of the “ship’s company.” However, personnel assigned to embarked units, such as aircraft squadrons or battalion landing teams, do not qualify. - Selected Reserve personnel attached to mobilization augmentation units during the competitive cycle are also eligible if they perform active duty training aboard during that cycle. - Reservists who are not part of the dedicated Reserve units and transients or temporary duty personnel are not eligible.

Award elements for the Navy "E" Ribbon consist only of the ribbon itself; there is no accompanying medal, citation, or certificate. Subsequent awards are denoted by the silver "E" device worn on the ribbon. The first three awards are represented by a silver "E," and for four or more awards, the silver "E" is replaced with a single silver wreathed "E," with only one wreathed "E" worn regardless of the number of awards beyond four.

Notable recipients of the Navy "E" Ribbon include ships of the U.S. Navy that have demonstrated exceptional performance in naval operations, but specific individual recipients are not typically highlighted as the award is unit-based.