Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Encyclopedia
The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military award
Awards and decorations of the United States military
Awards and decorations of the United States Military are military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces...

 of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 which was first created in 1919. The decoration is the Navy and Marine Corps equivalent to the Army Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal (Army)
The Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Army that is presented to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the United States military, has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great...

, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
The Air Force Distinguished Service Medal was created by an act of the United States Congress on July 6, 1960. The medal was intended as a new decoration of the United States Air Force to replace the policy of awarding the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Air Force personnel.The Air Force...

, and the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal
Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal
The Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Coast Guard that was created in August 1949 by order of the United States Congress. Prior to this date, members of the Coast Guard were eligible to receive the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.The Coast Guard...

. The Navy Distinguished Service Medal was originally senior to the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...

, until August 1943 when the precedence of the two decorations was reversed.

The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is bestowed upon members of the Navy or Marine Corps who distinguish themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the United States government in a duty of great responsibility. The term “great responsibility” implies senior military responsibility, and the decoration is normally only bestowed to senior Navy Flag and Marine Corps General Officers. The decoration is rarely awarded to enlisted personnel, and then only to those who hold extremely senior enlisted positions such as the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy is a unique non-commissioned rank in the United States Navy, which has a paygrade of E-9. The holder of this rank and post is the most senior enlisted member of the U.S...

, or Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is a unique non-commissioned rank and billet in the United States Marine Corps....

. Additional awards of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal are annotated by gold award star
Award star
An award star is a decoration issued to personnel of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in lieu of multiple awards of the same award. An award star is very similar to an oak leaf cluster, which serves the same purpose in the United States Army and United States Air Force...

s.

The first award of the decoration was a posthumous presentation to Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...

 Charles A. Doyen
Charles A. Doyen
Charles Augustus Doyen was an officer in the United States Marine Corps.-Biography:Born in Concord, New Hampshire, BGen. Doyen was a member of the Naval Academy class of 1881, later commissioned second lieutenant in the Marine Corps...

, USMC, on March 13, 1919.

The first Navy enlisted man to be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal was Delbert D. Black
Delbert Black
Delbert D. Black was the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, from 13 January 1967 to 1 April 1971.-Biography:Black was born in Orr, Oklahoma, graduating from high school in 1940...

. Master Chief Black was the 1st Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON).

Notable recipients

  • David W. Bagley
    David W. Bagley
    David Worth Bagley was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. He was also the brother of Ensign Worth Bagley, who was the only United States Navy officer killed in action during the Spanish-American War....

  • Ralph Austin Bard
    Ralph Austin Bard
    Ralph Austin Bard was a Chicago financier who served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1941–1944, and as Under Secretary, 1944–1945. He is noted for a memorandum he wrote to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson in 1945 urging that Japan be given a warning before the use of the atomic...

  • George Barnett
    George Barnett
    Major General George Barnett was the 12th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. He was Commandant during the U.S. involvement in World War I. He was born in Lancaster, Wisconsin and grew up in the small town of Boscobel, Wisconsin.-Early career:Barnett entered the U.S...

  • Jeremy Michael Boorda
    Jeremy Michael Boorda
    Jeremy Michael Boorda was an admiral of the United States Navy and the 25th Chief of Naval Operations . Boorda is the only CNO to have risen to the position from the enlisted ranks.-Early life and education :...

     (with 2 gold stars)
  • Delbert D. Black
    Delbert Black
    Delbert D. Black was the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, from 13 January 1967 to 1 April 1971.-Biography:Black was born in Orr, Oklahoma, graduating from high school in 1940...

     (1st Master Chief Petty Officer Of The Navy)
  • Omar Bradley
    Omar Bradley
    Omar Nelson Bradley was a senior U.S. Army field commander in North Africa and Europe during World War II, and a General of the Army in the United States Army...

  • Miles Browning
    Miles Browning
    Miles Rutherford Browning was an officer in the United States Navy in the Atlantic during World War I and in the Pacific during World War II. A pioneer in the development of aircraft carrier combat operations concepts, he is noted for his aggressive aerial warfare tactics as a captain on the ...

  • Smedley Butler
    Smedley Butler
    Smedley Darlington Butler was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps, an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S...

  • Richard E. Byrd
  • Kirkland H. Donald
    Kirkland H. Donald
    Kirkland Hogue Donald is a United States Navy Admiral who serves as the current Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion and Deputy Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration's Naval Reactors. He previously served as Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and Commander, Submarine...

     (with 1 gold star)
  • Charles A. Doyen
    Charles A. Doyen
    Charles Augustus Doyen was an officer in the United States Marine Corps.-Biography:Born in Concord, New Hampshire, BGen. Doyen was a member of the Naval Academy class of 1881, later commissioned second lieutenant in the Marine Corps...

     (first recipient)
  • Charles W. Dyson
    Charles W. Dyson
    Rear Admiral Charles Wilson Dyson was an American naval officer and engineer.-Biography:Dyson graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1883. He was well known for his achievements in the field of engineering. His designs covered machinery for naval vessels of all types, including...

  • Thomas Edison
    Thomas Edison
    Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

  • Daniel V. Gallery
    Daniel V. Gallery
    Rear Admiral Daniel Vincent Gallery was an officer in the United States Navy who saw extensive action during World War II. He fought in the Second Battle of the Atlantic, his most notable achievement was the capture of the German submarine U-505, on June 4, 1944...

  • Roy Alexander Gano
    Roy Alexander Gano
    Roy Alexander "Red" Gano was an Admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself in World War II, Korean War, and the Cold War, and served as Commander Military Sea Transportation Service and as Executive Director for Ocean Transportation from 1961 to 1964.-Early life and career,...

  • Jonathan W. Greenert
    Jonathan W. Greenert
    Jonathan W. Greenert is a United States Navy admiral currently serving as the 30th Chief of Naval Operations. He previously served as the 36th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from August 13, 2009 to August 22, 2011. Prior to that, he served as Commander, U.S...

     (with 1 silver star)
  • John L. Hall, Jr.
    John L. Hall, Jr.
    John Lesslie Hall, Jr. was an admiral of the United States Navy, who served during World War II.-Education:...

  • William F. Halsey, Jr. (with 3 gold stars)
  • H. Kent Hewitt
  • Frank B. Kelso II
    Frank B. Kelso II
    Frank Benton Kelso II is a retired admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations in the early 1990s.-Early life:...

     (with 2 gold stars)
  • Ernest J. King (with 2 gold stars)
  • Alan G. Kirk
  • Henry Louis Larsen
    Henry Louis Larsen
    Henry Louis Larsen was a United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General, the second Military Governor of Guam following its recapture from the Empire of Japan, and the first post-World War II Governor of Guam. He also served as the Military Governor of American Samoa alongside civilian Governor of...

     (with 1 gold star)
  • Lewis G. Lee
    Lewis G. Lee
    Sergeant Major Lewis G. Lee served as the 13th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps . He retired from active duty in 1999 after over 31 years of service.-Biography:...

  • John A. Lejeune
    John A. Lejeune
    Lieutenant General John Archer Lejeune, was the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Known as the "greatest of all Leathernecks" and the "Marine's Marine", he served for nearly 40 years. His service included commanding the U.S...

  • Douglas MacArthur
    Douglas MacArthur
    General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

  • Chester M. 'Whitey' Mack
  • Mildred H. McAfee
    Mildred H. McAfee
    Mildred Helen McAfee Horton was an American academic who served during World War II as first director of the WAVES in the United States Navy.-Early life:...

  • Bernard J. 'Barry' McCullough, III
  • Joseph V. Medina
    Joseph V. Medina
    Brigadier General Joseph V. Medina is a United States Marine Corps General whose career has taken him from an initial posting leading a rifle platoon to head of the contingency plans branch overseeing NATO's Kosovo operation. On November 2003, Medina took command of Expeditionary Strike Group Three...

  • Michael Mullen
    Michael Mullen
    Michael Glenn "Mike" Mullen is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral, who served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2011. Mullen previously served as the Navy's 28th Chief of Naval Operations from July 22, 2005 to September 29, 2007...

     (with 1 gold star)
  • John Murtha
    John Murtha
    John Patrick "Jack" Murtha, Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010....

  • Wendell C. Neville
    Wendell Cushing Neville
    Wendell Cushing Neville was a major general of the United States Marine Corps. He was a Medal of Honor recipient and 14th Commandant of the Marine Corps between 1929 and 1930.-Biography:...

  • Chester W. Nimitz (with 3 gold stars)
  • Eric T. Olson
    Eric T. Olson
    Eric Thor Olson is a retired United States Navy admiral who last served as the eighth Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command from July 2, 2007 to August 8, 2011. He previously served as Deputy Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command from 2003 to July 2007...

  • Hyman G. Rickover
    Hyman G. Rickover
    Hyman George Rickover was a four-star admiral of the United States Navy who directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of Naval Reactors...

     (with 2 gold stars)
  • Eli Thomas Reich
    Eli Thomas Reich
    Vice Admiral Eli Thomas Reich was a highly-decorated United States Navy officer and World War II submarine commander — the only one to sink a battleship during the war...

     (with 1 gold star)
  • Joseph Rochefort
    Joseph Rochefort
    Joseph John Rochefort was an American Naval officer and cryptanalyst. His contributions and those of his team were pivotal to victory in the Pacific War....

     (posthumously)
  • Gary Roughead
    Gary Roughead
    Gary Roughead is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who last served as the 29th Chief of Naval Operations from September 29, 2007 to September 22, 2011. He previously served as Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, from May 17, 2007, to September 29, 2007. Prior to that he served as...

     (with 1 gold star)
  • Harry Schmidt
    Harry Schmidt (USMC)
    General Harry Schmidt served as Commanding General of the Fourth Marine Division during the Marshall Islands campaign and the Battle of Saipan, and as Commanding General of the Fifth Amphibious Corps during the battles of Tinian and Iwo Jima, during World War II...

     (with 2 gold stars)
  • Harold Rainsford Stark
    Harold Rainsford Stark
    Harold Rainsford Stark served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. Stark was the US Navy's 8th Chief of Naval Operations, from August 1, 1939 to 26 March 1942....

  • Clark Daniel Stearns
    Clark Daniel Stearns
    Clark Daniel Stearns was the ninth Naval Governor of American Samoa. Stearns commanded various vessels, on which he set up organized committees for the crew to give suggestions to the officers. He hoped to alleviate tensions between the enlisted men and officers...

  • James Stockdale
    James Stockdale
    Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the United States Navy.Stockdale led aerial attacks from the carrier during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident...

     (with 2 gold stars)
  • David W. Taylor
    David W. Taylor
    Rear Admiral David Watson Taylor, USN was a naval architect and engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair...

  • Patricia A. Tracey
    Patricia Ann Tracey
    Patricia Ann Tracey was the first American woman to be promoted to the rank of vice admiral. She retired as a vice admiral in 2004...

  • Pedro del Valle
    Pedro del Valle
    Lieutenant General Pedro Augusto del Valle was a United States Marine Corps officer who became the first Hispanic to reach the rank of Lieutenant General...

  • Alexander Vandegrift
    Alexander Vandegrift
    Alexander Archer Vandegrift, KBE, CB was a General in the United States Marine Corps. He commanded the 1st Marine Division to victory in its first ground offensive of World War II — Battle of Guadalcanal. For his actions during the Solomon Islands campaign, he received the Medal of Honor...

  • Russell R. Waesche
    Russell R. Waesche
    Russell Randolph Waesche, Sr. . Waesche served as the eighth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 1936 to 1946, overseeing the service during World War II. He also holds the distinction of being the longest serving Commandant, serving ten years in command of the United States Coast Guard...

  • Patrick M. Walsh
    Patrick M. Walsh
    Admiral Patrick M. Walsh, USN is the 59th Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He served as the 35th Vice Chief of Naval Operations from April 2007 to August 13, 2009, and as Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet from October 2005 to February 27, 2007...

  • Theodore S. Wilkinson
    Theodore S. Wilkinson
    Theodore Stark "Ping" Wilkinson was a Vice-Admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. He also received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Veracruz, Mexico.-Early life and career:...

  • James A. Winnefeld, Jr.
    James A. Winnefeld, Jr.
    James Alexander "Sandy" Winnefeld, Jr. is a United States Navy four-star admiral who currently serves as the ninth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He previously served as the fourth Commander, U.S. Northern Command and the 21st Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command from...

  • Jerauld Wright
    Jerauld Wright
    Admiral Jerauld Wright, USN, served as the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Command and the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S...

     (with 1 gold star)
  • Elmo Zumwalt (with 2 gold stars)

See also

  • Awards and decorations of the United States military
    Awards and decorations of the United States military
    Awards and decorations of the United States Military are military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces...



External links

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