When wearing white Service or Dress uniforms, male and female Chief Warrant Officers (CWOs) of all three grades display their rank insignia and specialty marks on Hard shoulder boards attached to the shoulder loops of the Dinner Dress White Jacket and Service Dress White Coat. Hard boards are also worn on some outerwear garments, specifically Bridge Coats with shoulder loops and legacy Reefer Coats.
While the boards are issued in regular (Large) and three-quarter (Small) sizes, these are not associated with gender but instead are provided to ensure the best proportionate appearance for the wearer.
Also issued in two sizes, Enhanced shoulder boards slide over the epaulettes of long- and short-sleeve Light Blue shirts and women’s overblouses, sweaters (Wooly-Pully and Cardigan), and Bridge coats equipped with epaulettes. Enhanced boards are smaller than the hard version and do not have the snap-button closure.
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The three-bladed propeller that serves as the specialty mark for the Coast Guard’s Naval Engineering Chief Warrant Officers was first used by the Revenue Cutter Service, one of the precursor components of the Coast Guard, back in 1891 for the Oiler rating, with one propeller pointing down.
With the establishment of the Guard in 1915 and the introduction of Warrant Officers, the one-blade-down propeller was retained for the Machinist rating and a two-blade-down version was adopted for Machinist Warrant Officers. Today, it is used solely for the Chief Warrant Officer specialty of Naval Engineering, which draws from the Machinery Technician and Electrician’s Mate ratings for new CWO appointments.
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