This coin was awarded by the Commander (COL Walter Piatt) & CSM (CSM Anthony Morrero), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 'Bronco Brigade', 25th Infantry Division in Iraq during OIF 09-11 (2009).

Approximately 3,400 Soldiers of the Bronco Brigade deployed to northern Iraq in October, 2008 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 09-11. The Bronco Brigade initially had security support responsibilities in Kirkuk and Salah ad Din provinces with a total land area of approximately 14,000 square miles and a combined population of almost 2.5 million people. After three months, the brigade consolidated operations in Salah ad Din province, an area almost the size of the state of Vermont with 9,556 square miles and a population of 1.2 million people.