Quartermaster General 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.
Canada 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.
Israel Officers' Academy In the
IDF, the battalion quartermaster is also the commander of the battalions support company, known as the battalion headquarters company. In the standing army he is usually a captain, but the role is a major's role. In the reserve army he is usually a major. While most of the staff officers are directly under the command of the battalion commander, the quartermaster has a lieutenant, a logistics officer and a junior ordnance officer (the battalion's ordnance platoon commander) under his direct command. He is in charge of all logistics issues in the battalion and also in charge of the battalion's headquarter's day-to-day life. He is commissioned as an officer by the
ramatkal (the army's general chief of staff), and as a logistic officer by
kalar (the army's general logistic officer). In large camps and higher headquarters (brigade, division and corps HQ), apart from the staff officer in charge of logistics, there is also a role defined mostly as "camp commander", who is in charge of the HQ logistic issues, ceremonies and parades and discipline. These duties differ slightly in the air force and navy. The ranks of IDF quartermasters vary from sergeant major to CWO, depending on the size of the camp. Most soldiers refer to him as
rasar (the Hebrew acronym for the rank of 2WO) without regarding his actual rank. Quartermasters are identified (in all IDF branches) by a blue and white
aiguillette on the left shoulder.
Switzerland In the
Swiss Army, a quartermaster (Qm) is an officer (from 2 Lt. to colonel) in charge with the coordination of the (accountancy, post-service, fuel resupply, "all sort of food" resupply and others) of a
battalion,
regiment and
brigade/
division. His function is more a control and supervision function: a
staff officer for the respective commander. The Qm has a direct subordinate at company level: it is the company quartermaster sergeant. The
company quartermaster sergeant is known since the 18th century as or and has the rank equivalent of a senior non-commissioned-officer like the company sergeant major (since 2001 company chief sergeant major, CMS) and they are ranked (for better understanding in NATO-ranks even though Switzerland, as a neutral state, is not part of NATO) OR-7 in the senior NCO's category (). For technical questions, the QMS is subordinated to the Qm officer (Qm 2 Lt, Qm 1 lt or Qm captain incorporated in the staff of a battalion/group). The tasks of resupply are assigned at company level to the two SNCO's (CSM and QMS). The QMS is the material executor of the Qm tasks at company level and for the command chain together with the CSM, directly subordinated to the company commander (captain) as staff NCOs. The is also the substitute of the chief sergeant major (), if considering the command platoon by itself.
United Kingdom In the
British Army and
Royal Marines, the quartermaster (QM) is the
commissioned officer in a
battalion or
regiment responsible for supply. By longstanding tradition, they are always commissioned from the ranks and hold the rank of
captain or
major (although until the 20th century the quartermaster was usually a
lieutenant). 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 the technical quartermaster by the technical quartermaster sergeant (TQMS)) 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 (or its predecessors), 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 suppliers or logistics specialists ("log specs"). Traditionally, the quartermaster had previously served as RQMS and then
regimental sergeant major (RSM) of the unit of which he later became quartermaster. 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.
United States In the
United States Army, the term is used to describe all supply soldiers and units that are part of the United States Army Quartermaster Corps (USQMC), which was formerly the Quartermaster Department. It is a sustainment, formerly combat service support (CSS), branch of the United States Army. It is also one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Transportation Corps and the Ordnance Corps. ==Navy use==