The Restricted Duty Ribbon is a decoration of the United States Coast Guard which was created on March 3, 1984. The award recognizes those Coast Guard personnel who have completed a permanent tour of duty at specific shore units where accompanying dependents are not authorized. Where a service member is assigned without his or her dependent family members, the duty status is known as “unaccompanied.” Standard unaccompanied duty tours are normally one to two years in length and occur in remote duty locations such as Greenland and the Arctic, and in combat areas. The Restricted Duty Ribbon is awarded at the conclusion of the unaccompanied tour. In the case of overseas restricted duty stations, personnel who are eligible to receive the Restricted Duty Ribbon are not eligible to receive the Coast Guard Overseas Service Ribbon for the same period.