Quartermaster

Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service.In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions.In many navies, a quartermaster is an officer with particular responsibility for steering and signals. The seaman is a non-commissioned officer (petty officer) rank; in some others, it is not a rank but a role related to navigation.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. Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service.In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions.In many navies, a quartermaster is an officer with particular responsibility for steering and signals. The seaman is a non-commissioned officer (petty officer) rank; in some others, it is not a rank but a role related to navigation. The term appears to derive from the title of a German royal official, the Quartiermeister. This term meant 'master of quarters' (where 'quarters' refers to lodging or accommodation). Alternatively, it could have been derived from 'master of the quarterdeck' where the helmsman and captain controlled the ship. The term's first use in English was as a naval term, which entered English in the 15th century via the equivalent French and Dutch naval titles quartier-maître and kwartier-meester, respectively. The term began to refer to army officers in English around 1600. 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. In the British Army, the quartermaster (QM) is the officer in a battalion or regiment responsible for supply. By longstanding tradition, they are always commissioned from the ranks 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' (logistics specialists). 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. From Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps standing orders: In recent years, the quartermaster has been a specially trained officer of the Royal Canadian Logistics Service, though CFR (commissioned from ranks) officers have been known to accept regimental appointments such as quartermaster. The quartermaster was responsible for intelligence operations in the Imperial Russian Army. In the United States Army, the term is used to describe all supply personnel and units that are part of the quartermaster corps.