It is not to be confused with the Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal which is a different award that was discontinued on 1 January 2014.

To be awarded the decoration, a service member was required to perform ten years of continuous service in one of the aforementioned components in either an active duty, drilling reservist, or inactive status.

The Naval Reserve Medal originally held precedence just below that of the Navy Good Conduct Medal which, in turn, held precedence just below unit awards.

Additionally, with World War II (WW II) pulling the vast majority of Naval Reservists into active duty the Regular Navy, the number of sailors to receive two NRMs is very low, with all two-time recipients having had to serve a total of 20 years in the Naval Reserve between September 1938 and September 1958, e.g., before, during and after WW II.

Therefore, most one-time recipients served in the USNR after WW II in the 1946-1958 window.