British Armed Forces War. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers. Today, the British Armed Forces consist of: the Royal Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 74 commissioned ships, together with the Royal Marines, a highly specialised amphibious light infantry force; the British Army, the UK's principal land warfare branch; and the Royal Air Force, a technologically sophisticated air force with a diverse operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The British Armed Forces include standing forces, Regular Reserve, Volunteer Reserves and Sponsored Reserves. Its
Armed Forces Service Medal is the inscription "ARMED FORCES SERVICE MEDAL". The reverse bears the eagle found on the United States Department of Defense seal. Below is a laurel wreath with the inscription "IN PURSUIT OF DEMOCRACY" at the top. The suspension and ribbon of the medal are wide and consists of the following edge stripes from outside edge to the center: goldenlight, jungle green, green, mosstone green, and goldenlight. The center stripe is wide in bluebird. The Armed Forces Service Medal is the non-combat parallel of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal which is normally awarded for combat operations and other combat support missions.