CNBNews

The Operation Homefront Military Motherhood Award will provide the winner with $5,000 and a free trip to the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The award pays tribute to mothers of servimembers, military wives with dependent children and women serving in the military who have children.

It is sponsored by Lockheed Martin with support from the Military Times Media Group, and it is administered in conjunction with CinCHhouse.com.

"We're looking for inspirational stories of military wives and women in uniform who are successfully parenting children through the challenges of military life. These can be your children, stepchildren, foster children or others in unique circumstances," states the CinCHouse.com Web site.

This is the first year of the award, and nominations are being accepted through March 31. Anyone who knows of a military mom with an inspiring story, including those moms, can fill out a nomination form on CinCHouse.com. The nomination requires a brief essay explaining why the nominee deserves to be honored with the Military Motherhood Award.

At the end of March, when the nomination period closes, Operation Homefront will select the top 20 entries and allow the CinCHouse community to vote for the top five. A panel of judges will then select the winner.

Congresswoman Susan Davis and Sen. Mel Martinez, both members of Operation Homefront's Congressional Advisory Board, will co-host the award ceremony in which the winner will be honored.

Operation Homefront and CinCHouse.com are supporters of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.