Typo,.Do I wear my medals or my ribbons on my dress whites? Depends on what the reason was that I had to wear dress whites. Sometimes it was medals (and ribbons, medals go on one side, awards with ribbons only go on the other side). Same goes for dress blues. If we were told dress whites, then it was ribbons only, if we were told full dress whites, then it was ribbons and medals. By the way, ALL medals have a ribbon form (even that highest award, the CMH, which is a very noticeable ribbon as it is all blue with little white stars), but the proper name for the National Defense award is the National Defense Service MEDAL, not National Defense Service ribbon as you keep mistakenly referring to it.
BTW.................what award is the CMA? Are you referring to the CMH, which is the Congressional Medal of Honor? I've never heard of a CMA, except for the Country Music Awards.