All three services are consulted about the award and eligibility criteria for any campaign medal, including the delineation of the theatre of operations.
Once a proposal is drafted it goes before the Honours and Decorations committee, who in turn pass it on to the Cabinet office. Finally it is submitted to the Queen for approval and then laid before Parliament. Historically, this process can take up to two years.
The qualifying criteria for Second World War medals, for instance, were not finally agreed until 1948. The apparent tardiness was for good reason, it allowed time to ensure all aspects of a particular campaign were recognised.
So it was that the Iraq medal did not receive clearance to be issued until April 2004. By which time a great number of service personnel had completed their tour of duty and returned home, which can cause some problems when it comes to the issuing of the medal. In the case of Augmentees and Reservists they returned to their parent unit or civilian occupation as the case may be. Some service personnel have been posted, retired, or simply left the service.
The advice to those still waiting for a medal who have since left the service is to call the Enquiry Centre to either check that that their former unit submitted a claim on their behalf, or to advise of a change of address so that, when ready, the medal can be sent to the correct place. Serving and Reserve personnel should contact their unit admin staff.