Criteria for Selection

Nominees must be U.S. residents (excluding Puerto Rico) who are 18 years or older, active U.S. military, a member of one of the military reserves, in the National Guard, or a veteran.

To be considered for this award the advisory board committee is looking for Nominees with exceptional service or achievements, including one or more of the following criteria:

• Service members whose recent personal experience and achievements embodies the spirit of professional excellence, personal sacrifice and resilience that make the military great.
• Service members whose recent actions in their military career have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
• Service members whose recent personal experience highlights the changing needs and institutional agility that are essential to modern military readiness.
• Service members with significant off-duty community service work that highlights the non-institutional aspects of commitment to public service.

Selection Process

Military Charity Organization, through the respective advisory board committee will make the Military Times Service Members of the Year selections from the nominations received. Finalists will be contacted in on or about May 1st of 2020.

The Prize

The Overall Winner of each branch receives the following:

• A VIP trip to Washington, DC for activities and a formal awards ceremony
• Transportation to and from Washington, D.C. for each winner and a guest
• Lodging a hotel in the Washington, DC area
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner on most days of the trip
• Local transportation to and from events/local tours
• An award at a formal reception and ceremony on Capitol Hill
• Professional photographs and video of the awards ceremony
• A feature in the Military Times websites, newspapers and on the Service Members of the Year website

See official rules for details.

Service Members of the Year Awards

Each year, we present the following awards. Nominations for our 2020 awards are open until February 28, 2020. If you would like to nominate someone, you may do so here.

• Army Times Service Member of the Year
• Navy Times Service Member of the Year
• AirForce Times Service Member of the Year
• Marine Corps Times Service Member of the Year
• Coast Guardsman Service Member of the Year

Other Awards

In 2018 a new award had been added to recognize former service members for their outstanding accomplishments out of uniform. The Veteran of the Year Award recognizes and honors an exceptional veteran who, through his character, spirit, and exceptional public service sets an example, and makes an extraordinary difference in their community, for their comrade veterans and for awareness of essential military and veteran issue

For the first time in 2019, we introduce a new award — the Chairman’s Veteran Achievement Award. This award is presented to a military veteran whose distinguished success and achievement in the civilian sector embodies the values, skills and opportunities created by military service.

What is Military Charity Organization

Military Charity Organization is a nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes to recognize, salute and highlight the exemplary service of active duty personnel serving in each branch of the U.S. Armed Services and support other organizations conducting activities with similar goals who operate within Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3). Military Charity Organization has a flagship program entitled Service Members of the Year, which recognizes and awards outstanding service members and veterans each year.

In an effort to support other 501(c)(3) organizations with the same purposes of recognizing, saluting, and highlighting exemplary service of personnel in each branch of the U.S. armed forces, Military Charity Organization plans to share a majority of its net profits with similar organizations.

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