Army Nurse Recognition

The Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee (ANM) Award is presented annually by the Daughters of the American Revolution National Society (DAR) to an active duty Army Nurse Corps officer who epitomizes professional and military nursing excellence.  The award affords the opportunity to publicly acknowledge outstanding service rendered by Army Nurse Corps officers and encourage competitive excellence among Army Nurses.

In early 1898, Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, as Director of the DAR Hospital Corps, was instrumental in providing highly qualified nursing graduates for appointment as Army contract nurses during the Spanish-American War.  She is known as the "Founder of the Army Nurse Corps", because she authored the bill that became Section 19 of the Army Reorganization Act of 1901.  The act, effective 2 February 1901, established the Nurse Corps as a permanent corps of the Medical Department.  Her leadership and success lead to her appointment as Acting Assistant Surgeon General in charge of the Nurse Corps Division where she began the work of establishing military nursing as a career. 

The DAR initiated the ANM Award in 1967.  The award is presented annually at the DAR Continental Congress in Washington, DC, at Constitution Hall.

1. Awarding Authority: Daughter of the American Revolution DAR
2. OTSG Regulation # 672-6 8 Jan. 1997
3. Open to Active Component Nurse Corps Captains and above.
4. One recipient
5. Award comprised of receipt the award at the DAR continental Congress in Washington D.C. in a formal setting.
6. Funding for travel provided by ANC. Lodging provided by DAR.
7. Presented at DAR Continental Conference in July.

Information updated as of January 2009