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Legion of Merit

The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight uniformed services of the United States[5] as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments.

This article is about the United States decoration. For the Chilean order, see Legion of Merit of Chile. For the Rhodesian order, see Legion of Merit (Rhodesia).

Legion of Merit

Exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements

Members of the Uniformed Services of the United States and political and military leaders of allied states.

Currently awarded

1942

The Legion of Merit (Commander degree) is one of only two United States military decorations to be issued as a neck order (the other being the Medal of Honor), and the only United States military decoration that may be issued in degrees (much like an order of chivalry or certain Orders of Merit), although the degrees including a neck ribbon are only awarded to non-U.S. nationals.[6][7]


The Legion of Merit is seventh in the order of precedence of all U.S. military awards and is worn after the Defense Superior Service Medal and before the Distinguished Flying Cross.[8] In contemporary use in the U.S. Armed Forces, the Legion of Merit is typically awarded to Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force general officers and colonels, and Navy and Coast Guard flag officers and captains occupying senior command or very senior staff positions in their respective services. It may also be awarded to officers of lesser rank, senior warrant officers (typically in command positions at the rank of chief warrant officer 5), and to very senior enlisted personnel (typically in the rank of command sergeant major and Sergeant Major of the Army in the Army, fleet master chief petty officer and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy in the Navy, command chief master sergeant and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force in the Air Force, command chief master sergeant and Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force in the Space Force, and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps in the Marine Corps), but these instances are less frequent, typically by exception, and the circumstances vary by branch of service.


Authority to award the Legion of Merit is reserved for general officers and flag officers in pay grade O-9 (i.e., lieutenant general, vice admiral) and above, civilian Department of Defense personnel at assistant service secretary or Assistant Secretary of Defense level and above, or equivalent secretary-level civilian personnel with the Department of Homeland Security with direct oversight of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The performance must have been such as to merit recognition of key individuals for service rendered in a clearly exceptional manner.

Performance of duties normal to the grade, branch, specialty, or assignment, and experience of an individual is not an adequate basis for this award.

For service not related to actual war, the term "key individual" applies to a narrower range of positions than in time of war and requires evidence of significant achievement.

In peacetime, service should be in the nature of a special requirement or of an extremely difficult duty performed in an unprecedented and clearly exceptional manner.

However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of important positions.

The degrees of Chief Commander, Commander, Officer, and Legionnaire are awarded only to members of armed forces of foreign nations under the criteria outlined in Army Regulation 672-7 and is based on the relative rank or position of the recipient as follows:[9]


When the Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the uniformed services of the United States, it is awarded without reference to degree. The criteria are "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements" and is typically reserved for senior officers at O-6 level and above, typically in connection with senior leadership/command positions or other senior positions of significant responsibility.


The degrees and the design of the decoration were influenced by the French Legion of Honour (Légion d'honneur).[11]

The Chief Commander Degree of the Legion of Merit Medal is, on a wreath of green laurel joined at the bottom by a gold bow-knot (rosette), a domed five-pointed white star bordered crimson, points reversed with v-shaped extremities tipped with a gold ball. In the center, a blue disk encircled by gold clouds, with 13 white stars arranged in the pattern that appears on the . Between each point, within the wreath are crossed arrows pointing outwards. The overall width is 2+1516 inches (75 mm). The words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" are engraved in the center of the reverse. A miniature of the decoration in gold on a horizontal gold bar is worn on the service ribbon.

Great Seal of the United States

The Commander Degree of the Legion of Merit Medal is, on a wreath of green laurel joined at the bottom by a gold bow-knot (rosette), a five-pointed white star bordered crimson, points reversed with v-shaped extremities tipped with a gold ball. In the center, a blue disk encircled by gold clouds, with 13 white stars arranged in the pattern that appears on the . Between each star point, within the wreath, are crossed war arrows pointing outwards, representing armed protection to the Nation. The overall width is 2+14 inches (57 mm). A gold laurel wreath in the v-shaped angle at the top connects an oval suspension ring to the neck ribbon that is 1+1516 inches (49 mm) in width. The reverse of the five-pointed star is enameled in white, and the border is crimson. In the center, a disk for engraving the name of the recipient surrounded by the words "ANNUIT COEPTIS MDCCLXXXII": a combination of the motto from the Great Seal, "He [God] Has Favored Our Undertakings", with the date for the first award of a US decoration, the Purple Heart. An outer scroll contains the words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." A miniature of the decoration in silver on a horizontal silver bar is worn on the service ribbon.

Great Seal of the United States

The ribbon for all of the decorations is 1+38 inches (35 mm) wide and consists of the following stripes: 116 inch (1.6 mm) white; center 1+14 inches (32 mm) crimson; and 116 inch (1.6 mm) white. The reverse of all of the medals has the motto taken from the Great Seal of the United States, "ANNUIT COEPTIS" ("He [God] has favored our undertakings") and the date "MDCCLXXXII" (1782), which is the date of America's first decoration, the Badge of Military Merit, now known as the Purple Heart. The ribbon design also follows the pattern of the Purple Heart ribbon.


Additional awards of the Legion of Merit are denoted by oak leaf clusters (in the Army, Air Force, and Space Force), and by 516 inch (7.9 mm) gold stars (in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard). Until 2017,[16] the sea services (the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard) awarded the Combat "V" for wear on the LOM. The Army, Air Force, and Space Force do not authorize the "V" device for the Legion of Merit.

Recipients of the Legion of Merit

Legion of Merit – Criteria, Background, and Images

Order of precedence, United States Navy