The Distinguished Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former

U.S. Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to " public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill ...

, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

. It is presented to groups or individuals in recognition of exceptionally outstanding service or achievements of marked national or international significance. The award consists of a gold medal set and a certificate signed by an assistant secretary, an official of equivalent rank or the

Chief of Mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanent ...

. Due to the demanding nature of the criteria, the award is not routinely issued; only three non-Ambassadorial rank Foreign Service Officers have ever received an individual award.

Criteria

The following criteria are applicable to granting a Distinguished Honor Award: * Exceptionally outstanding service to the agencies or the U.S. Government resulting in achievements of marked national or international significance; * Exceptionally outstanding service and/or leadership in the administration of one or more agency programs that results in the highly successful accomplishment of mission, or in a major attainment of objectives or specific accomplishment to meet unique or emergency situations; and * Outstanding accomplishments over a prolonged period that involve the exercise of authority or judgment in the public interest.

Nominating and approval procedures

Nominations for State and USAID employees are submitted on Form JF-66, Nomination for Award, through supervisory channels to the Joint Country Awards Committee for review and recommendation to the Chief of Mission for final action. Nominations initiated in Washington are submitted to the appropriate area awards committee for final action. For USAID, nominations initiated in Washington are reviewed by the USAID bureau/office with final approval by the appropriate assistant administrator or office head.

Military use

Upon authorization, members of the U.S. military may wear the medal and ribbon in the appropriate

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

as a U.S. non-military personal decoration.

Notable recipients

Tex Harris Franklyn Allen "Tex" Harris (May 13, 1938 – February 23, 2020) was an American diplomat best known for his work as a political officer in the United States embassy to Argentina between 1977 and 1979, where he tracked the victims of "Enforced d ...

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

Peter W. Chiarelli Peter William Chiarelli (born March 23, 1950) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the 32nd Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from August 4, 2008 to January 31, 2012. He also served as commande ...

, General, U.S. Army *

David H. Petraeus David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, General, U.S. Army * Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State, 2001-2005 * Ambassador

Charles W. Yost Charles Woodruff Yost (November 6, 1907 – May 21, 1981) was a career U.S. Ambassador who was assigned as his country's representative to the United Nations from 1969 to 1971. Biography Yost was born in Watertown, New York. He attended t ...

, career U.S. diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Nations * Ambassador

L. Paul Bremer Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is an American diplomat. He led the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States, from May 2003 until June 2004. Early life and education Born on ...

, former head of the

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdish English (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, 2003–2004 * Ambassador Eric J. Boswell, current Assistant Secretary for

Diplomatic Security The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and p ...

* Ambassador Lino Gutiérrez, former U.S. Ambassador to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, 2003-2006 * Ambassador

James Franklin Collins James Franklin Collins (born June 4, 1939)archived version is a former United States Ambassador to Russia. A career Foreign Service Officer in the State Department, he is a Russian specialist. Biography Collins graduated from Harvard College ' ...

, former U.S. Ambassador to the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, 1997–2001 * Ambassador

John R. Davis Jr. John Roger Davis Jr. (born July 25, 1927) is a retired American diplomat. From 1988 to 1990, he served as the United States Ambassador to Poland, where he helped guide Solidarity, and Poland, in its quest for free elections. Later, from 1992 t ...

, former U.S. Ambassador to Poland, 1988-1990 *

Jacques Paul Klein Jacques Paul Klein is a retired United States diplomat, who served as head of three United Nations peacekeeping missions: the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) from January 17, 1996, to August 1, 1997, the ...

, United Nations Transitional Administrator (UNTAES) *

Brett H. McGurk Brett H. McGurk (born April 20, 1973) is an American diplomat, attorney, and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, and is currently the Deputy Assistant to Pres ...

, Director for Iraq,

United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exe ...

Harry B. Harris Jr. Harry Binkley Harris Jr. (born August 4, 1956) is a retired American diplomat and retired U.S. Navy officer. He was the first American of Japanese descent to lead US Pacific Command in the U.S. Navy and was the highest-ranking American of Japanes ...

, Admiral, US Pacific Command * Paul J. Selva, General,

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VJCS) is, by U.S. law, the second highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, - Vice Chairman ranking just below the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vice chairman ...

* James B. Story, Charge d’Affaires to Venezuela * George Jacobson, mission coordinator at the

Embassy of the United States, Saigon The United States Embassy in Saigon was first established in June 1952, and moved into a new building in 1967 and eventually closed in 1975. The embassy was the scene of a number of significant events of the Vietnam War, most notably the Viet Co ...

* Alec Ross, author and former Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

References

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Criteria

Nominating and approval procedures

Military use

Notable recipients

References

See also