The Distinguished Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State and USAID. Similar versions of the same award existed for the former U.S. Information Agency and Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. It is presented 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, as appropriate, by the Secretary of State. Due to the demanding nature of the criteria, the award is not routinely issued; only a few non-Ambassadorial rank Foreign Service Officers have ever received an individual award.

Criteria

The following criteria are applicable to granting a Distinguished Honor Award:

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

Notable recipients