The Iraq Commitment Medal was approved for award to US service members who served in Iraq between 2003 and 2011 by the Government of Iraq in June 2011. Nearly three year later, the Department of Defense (DoD) has still not authorized the award of this medal. In an April 2013 article in Military Times, the reason given by a DoD spokesperson is that Iraq has not sent an initial issue of the medal to the US. Current DoD policy (DoDM 1348.33-V3) does not require that foreign awards to US service-members be provided for by the nation authorizing that award.
The only award of this medal was to the Vice President in December 2011 in Baghdad, Iraq during the Commitment Ceremony where this medal was unveiled.