Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations. In land armies, it is a term referring to a military individual, or unit, who specializes in supplying and provisioning troops. In naval usage it means a navigator on a ship. A navigator is the person onboard a ship or aircraft responsible for its Navigation. The equivalent naval occupation to the land army Quartermaster is purser. A ship's purser (also purser or pusser) is the person on a Ship responsible for the handling of Money on board

Army

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. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. In the 17th century, it started to be used in various militaries in the sense of organising supplies. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar

British Army

In the British Army, the Quartermaster (QM) is the officer in a battalion or regiment responsible for supply. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. A battalion is a Military unit of around 500-1500 men usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel A regiment is a Military unit, composed of a variable number of Battalions – commanded by a Colonel. 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. An officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority Regimental Sergeant Major ( RSM) is an appointment held by Warrant Officers Class 1 (WO1 in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in Major is a Military rank the use of which varies according to country 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. Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant is a Military rank in some militaries and an appointment in others 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. This article is about a military unit For alternative meanings see Corps (disambiguation. Royal Logistic Corps is the British Army Corps that provides the logistic support for the Army Units which specialise in supply are known as "supply" units, not "quartermaster" units, and their personnel as "suppliers".

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). The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. In that year, the position was replaced by the new appointment of Troop Sergeant Major, the cavalry adopting commissioned, regimental Quartermasters as described above. In the British Army, the Troop Sergeant Major (TSM is the senior NCO in a Royal Artillery Troop, usually a Warrant Officer Class

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. The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. 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.

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. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities.

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 subordinated at company level: it is the Company Quartermaster Seargent (QMS - the English definition for international engagement and also a new grade insignia = see "Gradstrukturen der Armee XXI_revidiert" since 2001 on Swiss army ranks). Swiss army ranks have changed little over the centuries except for the introduction in 2001 of a new set of Warrant officers. The Company quartermaster seargent is known since the 18th Century as Fourier or Einheits-Fourier and has the rank equivalent of a Senior Non-Commissioned-Officer like the Company Sergeant Major (since 2001 Company Chief Sergeant Major, CMS) and they are ranked (for better understanding in NATO-ranks even Switzerland, as a neutral State is not part of NATO) OR-7 in the Senior NCO's category (in German: Höhere Unteroffiziere). For technical questions the QMS is subordinated to the Qm officer (Qm 2 Lt, Qm 1 lt or Qm Captain incorporated in the Staff of a Battalion/Group). The tasks of resupply are assigned at company level to the two SNCO's (CSM and QMS). The QMS is the material executor of the Qm tasks at company level and for the command chain together with the CSM, directly subordinated to the Company Commander (Captain) as Staff NCO's. The "Fourier" is also the substitute of the Chief Sergeant Major (Hauptfeldweibel), if considering the Command Platoon by itself.

Israel Defence Forces

CWO Yitshak Taito, Quartermaster of IDF Officers Academy

In the IDF the Quartermaster is defined mostly as "camp commander" who is in charge of logistic issues, ceremonies and parades and above all of discipline. These duties differ slightly in the Air Force and Navy. The ranks of IDF Quartermasters vary from Sergeant Major to CWO, depending on the size of the camp. However, most soldiers refer to him as "Rasar" (the Hebrew acronym for the rank of 2WO) without regarding his actual rank. Quartermasters are identified (in all IDF branches) by wearing a blue-white aiguillette on their left shoulder. An aiguillette is an ornamental braided cord most often worn on Uniforms but may also be observed on other costumes such as Academic dress, where it will

Naval forces

French Navy

In the French Navy, Quartermaster (Quartier-maître) is a junior rank equivalent to a French Army Corporal. The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre (Land Army is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and also by some police forces or other uniformed organizations The French rank has nothing to do with supplies. This rank is also used by many other navies based on the French Navy. Quartermaster was similarly a junior naval rank in the German navy.

United States Navy

Navy Quartermasters have many diverse responsibilities

The quartermaster is the enlisted member in charge of the watch-to-watch navigation and the maintenance, correction, and preparation of nautical charts and navigation publications. He is also responsible for navigational instruments and clocks and the training of ship's lookouts and helmsmen. He performs these duties under the control of the ship's navigator or other officer if there was no officer navigator. In the modern navy, a quartermaster is a petty officer who specializes in navigation. A Petty Officer is a noncommissioned officer or equivalent in many navies. The rating abbreviation is QM. Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below --> United States Navy ratings

On US Navy submarines, the job of a quartermaster is done by a navigation electronics technician (NAV-ET). Along with the job of a Navy surface QM, NAV-ET's are also responsible for electronic systems that deal with navigation, internal communications, atmosphere monitoring, and remote valve indication or manipulation.

After 2004 the US Navy disestablished the Signalman rating (SM) who were responsible for visual communications and incorporated many of the personnel and their responsibilities in the QM rating. The US Navy rating dealing with supply and logistics is Storekeeper (SK) which would be equivalent to the Army quartermaster.

United States Coast Guard

The structure of ranks and job specialties of the United States Coast Guard is similar to the that of the United States Navy. The Coast Guard used a Quartermaster rating until the summer of 2003, when the rating was merged into the Boatswain's Mate rating. ^[1]

The Coast Guard's Quartermasters had the same duties as the Navy's, with the exception that -- at some point after World War II -- the Coast Guard folded the duties of its Signalman rating into the Quartermaster rating. Also, in recent decades, Quartermaster was one of the only two Coast Guard ratings permitted to hold command of a cutter or small boat station (command otherwise being reserved for officers), the other "command rating" being Boatswain's Mate.

Pirate quartermasters

Through a historical oddity, pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy elevated the rank of quartermaster to much higher powers and responsibilities than it had aboard any merchant or naval vessel. Piracy is Robbery committed at sea or sometimes on shore without a commission from a sovereign Nation (as distinct from Privateering The Golden Age of Piracy is the common designation given the period roughly spanning from the 1650s to the 1720s

Pirate quartermasters, like pirate captains, were usually elected by their crews. The quartermaster ranked higher than any officer aboard the ship except the captain himself, and could veto the captain's decisions whenever the ship was not chasing a prize or engaged in battle. The quartermaster also was chiefly responsible for discipline, assessing punishments for crewmen who transgressed the articles. A pirate code is a Code of conduct invented for governing Pirates. It was generally also the quartermaster's responsibility to lead the pirate boarding party when coming aboard another ship. Several quartermasters, notably Calico Jack Rackham, succeeded to command and became captains in their own right after the previous captain was killed or deposed. John Rackham ( December 21, 1682 – November 18, 1720 in Jamaica) also known as Calico Jack Rackham or Calico

Although a minority of pirate scholars dismiss the accepted version of the pirate quartermaster's importance, it is well supported by the extant secondary sources such as Charles Johnson, Cordingly and Botting, and overwhelmingly borne out by the primary sources, including Ringrose, Dampier, Snelgrave, Trott, and George Roberts. William Dampier ( 5 September 1651 (baptised &ndash March 1715 was an English Buccaneer, sea captain Author and scientific observer

Scout movement

A Scout quartermaster within the Scout movement is responsible for maintaining all the normal camping supplies in a Scout troop. The quartermaster (QM is responsible for all the troop kit in a Scout Troop, both in the stores and on camp Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide Youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical mental and spiritual This may include, but is not limited to, camping supplies, tents, "chuck boxes" (containers holding food and cooking supplies), stoves, camp fuel (propane, Naphtha, etc. Naphtha normally refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons i ), tarps, camping trailers, dining flys, etc.

Quartermaster is also the highest rank in the American Sea Scouts, an older youth (14-21) co-ed part of the BSA. For the frogman-detector sonar system see NuvoSonic. Sea Scouts are members of the international Scouting movement with a particular Quartermaster is roughly equivalent to Eagle Scout.

See also

• Scout quartermaster
• Quartermaster Center and School
• Quartermaster Corps
• Quartermaster general
• Army Quartermaster Museum
• List of military occupations

References

External links

• Navy Enlisted Occupational Standards for Quartermaster (QM)
• Quartermaster 1 and C Rate Training Manual
• Website for Navy Quartermasters (QM)