"E" Pennants-- Part 4: And, You Could Add Stars To It

District procurement  officers,  chiefs of supply services,  agencies concerned with  production and Commanding Officers for Materiel Commands would recommend plants along with  reasons.  The recommendations would then be reviewed by an Award Board which would make the final decision.

The production plant of the winners would get a pennant and  emblems would be given to employees.  If a plant continued exhibiting performance for six months afterwards they were granted a star award and a white star added to the pennant.

Only a small percentage of plants earned the Army-Navy "E" Award to start with and only a small number of those earned a star.  An even smaller number received six stars during the war.  So, again, getting one was a real big deal.

Usually, an Army or Navy officer would present the award at a ceremony, where employees involved would be assembled.

A total of 4,283 companies received  the award during the course of the war.  This was about 5% of all companies involved in war work.

The Army-Navy "E" Award was terminated three months after the end of the war on December 5, 1945.

Going For the Award.  --GreGen