The Coast Guard’s male and female Chief Warrant Officers (CWO2—CWO4) display their insignia of rank and specialty mark on the sleeves of blue Dress and Service uniforms and on shoulder boards attached to shoulder loops of the white equivalents.
Hard shoulder boards with a hasp that is inserted through shoulder loops and secured with a snap-button at the board’s pointed end are worn on the Service Dress White Coat (required component of Full, Dinner, and Service Dress White uniforms) and the Dinner Dress White Jacket (worn only with the uniform of the same name). Hard boards are also prescribed for wear by CWOs on Bridge Coats (if equipped with shoulder loops) and the legacy Reefer Coat (if it is still serviceable).
Enhanced shoulder boards are designed to be slipped over the epaulettes on the Light Blue shirts (and equivalent women’s overblouses), Cardigan and Wooly-Pully sweaters, and Bridge coats manufactured with epaulettes. (Boards are not worn on the sweaters if the commander has prescribed the optional Winter Dress Blue uniform for wear.)
Male and female CWOs have the option of choosing regular size (Large) or 3/4-size (Small) boards of either style.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The crossed-quill pens used as the specialty mark for Chief Warrant Officers in the Personnel Administration specialty was originally introduced as the rating mark for Yeoman and Ship’s Writer in 1915; in 1920 it was designated only for the Yeoman rating. It was first used as a Warrant Officer specialty mark in 1942 for Ship’s Clerks. The demand for new Personnel Administration Chief Warrant Officers seems to be high: During the 2017 Warrant Officer Appointment Cycle, the Personnel Administration CWO specialty was tied with Marine Safety Specialist Deck for the highest number (16) of new CWO appointments.
Related ItemsPersonnel Administration CWO Collar Device
Personnel Administration CWO Sleeve Device