Quartermaster (QM)

Quartermaster From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wojciech Kossak , quartering (Quartermaster) about 1893. Quartermaster is one of two different military occupations. On land armies , especially U.S. units, a quartermaster is either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior unit, post or base supply officer is customarily referred to as "the quartermaster". Often the quartermaster serves as the S-4 in U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps units and NATO units. In the British Army , it is an appointment held by a Late Entry Officer (commissioned from the ranks). They normally control the Quartermaster's Department of a unit's Headquarters company. In many navies, quartermaster is a non-commissioned officer ( petty officer ) rank for personnel responsible for their ship's navigation . In the U.S. Navy, the quartermaster is responsible for the ship's navigation and maintenance of nautical charts and maps. Aboard merchant ships , quartermasters are usually the Able Seamen assigned to bridge watches . A naval quartermaster's main task is to steer the ship and apply the helm orders given by the Captain or watch officers . Contents 1 Land armies 1.1 British Army 1.2 Canadian Army 1.3 Imperial Russian Army 1.4 United States Army 1.5 Swiss Army 1.6 Israel Defense Forces 2 Navies 2.1 Royal Navy 2.2 Belgian Navy 2.3 French Navy 2.4 Norwegian Navy 2.5 United States 2.5.1 U.S. Navy 2.5.2 U.S. Coast Guard 3 Pirate quartermasters 4 Scouting 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Land armies For land armies, the term was first coined in Germany as Quartiermeister and initially denoted a court official with the duty of preparing the monarch's sleeping quarters. In the 17th century, it started to be used in various militaries in the sense of organizing supplies. British Army In the British Army , the Quartermaster (QM) is the officer in a battalion or regiment responsible for supply. By longstanding tradition, he or she is always commissioned from the ranks (and is usually a former Regimental Sergeant Major ) and holds the rank of captain or major . Some units also have a Technical Quartermaster, who is in charge of technical stores. The Quartermaster is assisted by the Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (RQMS) and a staff of storemen . The QM, RQMS and storemen are drawn from the regiment or corps in which they work, not from the Royal Logistic Corps , which is responsible for issuing and transporting supplies to them. Units which specialize in supply are known as "supply" units, not "quartermaster" units, and their personnel as "log specs". From at least the English Civil War period until 1813, the Quartermaster was the senior NCO in a British cavalry troop (in which context he had nothing to do with supply). In that year, the position was replaced by the new appointment of Troop Sergeant Major , with the cavalry adopting commissioned, regimental Quartermasters as described above. Canadian Army From Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Standing Orders: For many centuries – indeed perhaps as long as there have been organized military units – the appointment of quartermaster has been significant in armies. Until recent times, the British Army almost invariably rewarded an outstanding RSM by appointing him quartermaster of his battalion, thus ensuring the unit an experienced officer who knew the unit thoroughly and would prove difficult to mislead or beguile. [The past tense is in fact incorrect, as the British Army still has this policy.] As the complexities of the Army and its material increased, an officer with greater professional technical knowledge of the problems that surround stores management was required for the Quartermaster's duties. Under authority of Canadian Army Order 201 – 16 dated 8 February 1954, the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps assumed these responsibilities and undertook to train and provide unit quartermasters and staff for all Corps of the Canadian Army (Regular) except the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and Royal Canadian Dental Corps. In recent years, the Quartermaster has been a specially trained officer of the Logistics Branch , though CFR (Commissioned From Ranks) officers have been known to accept regimental appointments such as quartermaster. Imperial Russian Army The Quartermaster was responsible for intelligence operations in the Imperial Russian Army . United States Army In the United States Army , the term is used to describe all supply personnel and units that are part of the Quartermaster Corps . Swiss Army In the Swiss Army , a Quartermaster (Qm) is an Officer (from 2 Lt. to Colonel) in charge with the coordination of the "Kommissariatsdienst" (accountancy, post-service, fuel resupply, "all sort of food" resupply and others) of a Battalion , Regiment and Brigade / Division . His function is more a control and supervision function: a staff officer for the respective commander. The Qm has a direct sub