The Nomination Procedure

The Avenue of Honor^® program is designed to be administered and supported by your local community.  The purpose is to identify and honor active duty servicemen and women from your area.  You can play an important part in this endeavor by nominating a worthy candidate.  We sincerely hope that you embrace this opportunity and help us identify and honor these fine young people.

The local program is typically administered by one or more local Service Organizations in your area, such as the Kiwanis or Rotary Clubs.  These local clubs have accepted the task of administering the nomination and honoring process within the area covered by your local set of Zip Codes.

Nominations are submitted directly to the Circle of Honor, either through nomination forms available locally, or through our online form.

The nominee must meet certain eligibility standards to qualify.  The basic requirements are as follows.

1. Be on active duty, domestic or deployed.
2. Have the approval of the individual and/or family for this type of visible recognition.  We want to respect those individuals who want to maintain their privacy.
3. The individual should have enough service time left to allow for the implementation of the program.
4. To have all the paperwork and nomination forms completed accurately.  This includes information about the individual making the nomination.
5. To have an appropriate connection to the local community.
   1. Born in the community
   2. Attended school in the community
   3. Held a job in the community
   4. Attended a religious assembly in the community
   5. Spouse lives in the community.
   6. Is closely related to a community family (son in law, etc.)

An individual may be honored in multiple locations.  For example, if a nominee grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, and that community wants to honor him, that is fine if he agrees, even though his family now lives in Sammamish, Washington, where he is already honored.

The local Circle of Honor will determine who will be honored, and when.  The suggested policy is to limit recognition to two individuals a month.  The program needs to remain both sustainable and manageable.  The local Circle of Honor will operate under the Avenue of Honor program guidelines, but ultimately will operate under their own policy, tailored to fit their community.

A nomination does not always guarantee inclusion in the recognition program.  An individual needs to be sponsored.  It does take a measure of financial support to make the program work.  It is our goal to eliminate the need for the service member's family to finance sponsorship -- they have sacrificed enough.  They may contribute, but should not have to shoulder the financial burden of our recognition.

Each Circle of Honor will have an Honor Team in place:

• Public Relations Officer:  The primary individual responsible for all external community contact.
• Nominations Officer:  The individual responsible for accepting nominations and ushering the honoring process for each service member through to completion.
• Financial Aid Officer:  The primary contact for coordinating sponsorship gifts and expenses.
• Business Contact:  The primary contact with AH HomeTown Partners.

A more complete set of job descriptions will appear in the Circle of Honor Administrative Guide.