ARLINGTON, Va. — Airmen who see combat both in the air and on the ground will soon be eligible for the new Air Force Combat Action Medal, the Air Force has announced.

The new medal will be available in April for airmen who have “directly participated in active combat” in the air or on the ground since Sept. 11, 2001, the Air Force announced Friday in a news release.

The Air Force did not have an estimate Monday of how many airmen would be eligible for the award, said Maj. Randall Smith, chief of the Air Force uniforms and recognition branch.

Since the Iraq war began, airmen have been performing duties beyond their traditional skill sets, such as driving convoys and acting as security forces. At any given time, about 5,000 airmen are performing such duties in the U.S. Central Command theater of operations, according to the Air Force.

“There are people coming under enemy fire, but we do not have an Air Force way to recognize the reality of their experience,” Lt. Gen. Roger Brady said in the release.

Therefore, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley asked the Air Force to give such airmen the recognition they deserve, Brady said in the release.

“Airmen serving as a crew member on a C-130 providing key support to Coalition forces or Airmen [serving] as a convoy escort operation that takes fire, for instance, would be eligible to apply for the award,” the release says.

Airmen may also be eligible for the new medal if they encounter roadside bombs, depending on the circumstances and how they respond to the incident, Smith said Monday.

Smith stressed that not all airmen serving on the ground as “in-lieu-of” forces will get this new award.

Meanwhile, airmen injured by a mortar attack while on base would not be eligible for the new medal, but they may be eligible for the Purple Heart or Bronze Star, depending on their actions, Brady said.

On Monday, Brady said the Air Force expects to deal with a six-month backlog when it begins to accept applications for the award, but eventually it should take three months for the medal to be awarded.

Unlike other awards, the Air Force Combat Action Medal will not carry points that count toward promotion, officials said.

Brady said Monday that awards normally resulting in promotion points deal with meritorious or extraordinary service, while the Combat Action Medal recognizes service, not a level of performance.

“It is not about, ‘I was a hero,’ ” he said. “It’s not about, ‘I did something extraordinary.’ … It means, ‘I did my job within the rules of engagement and performed honorably,’ ” Brady said.

He said airmen who are awarded the medal may also be eligible for awards that count toward promotion, such as the Bronze Star.

To apply for the Combat Action Medal, airmen must submit a narrative of their combat experience “by a person with first-hand knowledge of the incident,” such as a witness to the event, officials said. The application will be processed through the chain of command and eventually go to the Commander of Air Force Forces to be approved or not.

Airmen who are awarded the Air Force Combat Medal can wear the award on their mess dress uniforms, and the accompanying ribbons can be worn on their blue or service dress uniforms.

“There will be no patch or badge equivalent for wear on the utility uniforms worn for daily duties and deployments; the emphasis in these cases is better placed on the mission and the team, above self,” the release says.