SADF Champion Shot Medal | |
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Awarded by the State President and, from 1994, the President | |
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Type | Military marksmanship medal |
Eligibility | All Ranks |
Awarded for | Champion shots of the annual SADF Shooting Championships |
Status | Discontinued in 2003 |
Statistics | |
Established | 1975 |
First awarded | 1975 |
SADF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear | |
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SADF precedence:
SANDF precedence:
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SADF succession:
SANDF succession:
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The SADF Champion Shot Medal is a military medal which was instituted by the Republic of South Africa in 1975. It was awarded to the champion shots of the annual South African Defence Force Shooting Championships in the categories of full-bore, small-bore, service shooting and pistol. The medal could be won multiple times, with each subsequent award indicated by a bar.
The Union Defence Forces (UDF) were established in 1912 and renamed the South African Defence Force (SADF) in 1958. On 27 April 1994, it was integrated with six other independent forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
The SADF Champion Shot Medal, which replaced the Commandant General's Medal, was instituted by the State President by Warrant dated 1 October 1975, published in Government Gazette no. 4874 dated 17 October 1975.
From 1976, four medals were awarded annually to the champion shots of the South African Defence Force Shooting Championships in the categories of full-bore, small-bore, service shooting and pistol respectively. The medal could be won multiple times and each subsequent award was indicated by the addition of a Bar. Champions who had already been awarded the defunct Commandant General's Medal were awarded Bars to add to their existing medal.
The position of the SADF Champion Shot Medal in the official order of precedence was revised three times after 1975, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first upon the integration into the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, again in April 1996 when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again upon the institution of a new set of awards on 27 April 2003, but it remained unchanged on all three occasions.