The Order of Saint Martin is a prestigious award for Quartermaster Personnel in the U.S. Army. The award was created in 1997 as a way to recognize service members (and civilians) serving in the Quartermaster Corps for their dedicated service to the Corps. To be eligible for the award you can be Active Duty, Reserves, National Guard or a civilian.
In all, there are three different levels of awards, depending upon your rank, service achievements, and time in service with the Quartermaster Corps.
- Ancient Order of Saint Martin (Gold Medallion) is for personnel with long-term service to the Quartermaster Corps
- Distinguished Order of Saint Martin (Silver Medallion) is for senior Field Grade Officers, CSMs, and DA Civilians who have made a significant contribution to the Quartermaster Corps
- Honorable Order of Saint Martin (Bronze Medallion) is typically reserved for successful Company Commanders, First Sergeants and Platoon Sergeants
Typically the award is approved by the Quartermaster General. If you have Quartermaster Civilians, Soldiers or Officers working for you who go above and beyond what is expected of them, this is a great award to recognize their service.
How to Submit Someone for the Order of Saint Martin
Step 1: Visit their website
Step 2: Sign the Person up for a two year membership in the Association of Quartermasters
Step 3: Purchase the award
Step 4: Nominate the person and have the first O6 Commander in your chain of command sign the application
Step 5: Submit the application for approval to the Quartermaster General
Even though it will cost you some money out of your pocket to do this, I still think it’s worth it.
How to Wear the Order of Saint Martin
In most cases you will wear your medal and ribbon around your neck, outside of your shirt collar and inside your coat collar. For specific instructions, visit this website. In most cases you only wear the award at Quartermaster Functions and/or formal events.
Final Thoughts
In summary, I believe this award is a great way to recognize outstanding Quartermaster Corps soldiers, NCOs and personnel. It is part of a time-honored tradition in the Quartermaster Corps. As a recipient of the Honorable Order of Saint Martin Award myself, I am very proud to be affiliated with this select group of Quartermaster Personnel.
To learn more about the Honorable Order of Saint Martin, just click on the link to visit the Association of Quartermaster’s Website. Also, if you have received the award yourself, I would love to hear your thoughts about it. Just leave a comment to this post to share your story. If you have any questions about this award, you can also post those below. Thank you Quartermasters!
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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I have a question? Why don’t they give veteran retired QM”s the Order of St Martin for their 20yrs of dedicated service to the QM corps?
If you read the post Fred, a person in the service must submit you. Why not reach out to a current member of the Quartermasters to have this done?
Let’s say you have 17 years in.. that’s 3 years shy of 20 years which is one of the criteria’s for the ancient award.
Therefore, the person at that time ould receive the honorable one.
When they hit 20 years could they get nominated for the ancient award??? If so, would the process be the same or different???
From what I understand, it would be the same. Please let us know if you discover anything different. Thank you.
Is there a certain way to present this award to a soldier?
I think it’s best to do it at a dining in, dining out, or some type of formal ceremony.
I am trying to do the write up for a E7 could you please assist me in allowing me to read your write up to know what all is needed?
Hi, I thought this article was excellent. I have been tasked with preparing an award packet for one of our retirees. The website is very cumbersome… there is conflicting information on the site (2 year membership vs. 3) and the information you provided was very concise. Would you happen to have an example of a writeup? I have never seen one so I am not even sure what needs to be on it. I read that I will also need to provide the individual’s bio.
Any help you can provide would be much appreciated!
I do not have any sample bios for this award, Barb. Maybe you can Google it and find one.
It’s wonderful to hear about these types of honors within the military, and of course congratulations for receiving this award! These types of award are definitely worth being proud of seeing as how they are not distributed lightly or overly often. There are plenty of people who don’t even know they exist, which makes them that much more special.
Thanks Laura. I’m proud of my Order of St. Martin. It’s my favorite award from my time in the military.
Thanks for the comment.
Chuck
As a recipient of the Honorable Order of St. Martin, I’m also very proud of it. However I must admit, its a bit disappointing that you can only wear it to events that don’t occur very often in most quartermasters career. I’m sure others whom were awarded it, would like to be able to wear it more often than we can considering its not known as much as others. Is there a reason why we cant wear it on our ASU’s as every other award we get?
I always wore it to social events like the Dining In and Dining Out. But that was about it. We can’t wear it day to day because of the policies the QM Corps has given it.
Congratulations on having won The Order of Saint Martin! It certainly is a very prestigious award. Must make you very proud every time you put the medal and ribbon around your neck. I like the idea of nominating someone for the award as well. Even though it would cost money, it would be worth it for the feeling it would give the recipient.
Thanks. I am very proud of my Saint Martin award. It hangs on the wall in my office at home and I look at it every day.
Every so often it seems I learn about another of these awards. Last year I was introduced to the Order of St. George (cavalry) and the Order of St. Maurice (infantry). I’m glad to see that other branches have similar recognition available for those of long service and substantial contributions. Standard military awards are nice, but recognition from an organization that represents what a person has done for most (or all) of their career is a step above.
Whenever I presented a Soldier with one of these specialty awards they really appreciated it. It does wonders with morale and esprit de corps and shows your Soldiers that you recognize their contributions and achievements.
The Honorable Order of Saint Martin sounds like a really neat award. I’m not sure if any civilian organizations or professions do anything similar, but this sounds like a great way to reward people who spend their entire career in one area of expertise. You should be proud of yourself for receiving this award, Chuck.
Thanks, Benavente. I am proud of my Honorable Order of Saint Martin award. Just so you know, just about every specialty in the Army has their own award, equivalent to the Order of Saint Martin. These are all very prestigious awards reserved for a select few who go above and beyond what is expected of them.
Chuck