COAST GUARD SILVER BADGE - COMMAND

A Command Master Chief (CMC), Command Senior Chief (CSC), and Command Chief (CC) assigned as the Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL) at non-flag Commands is referred to as a Silver Badge Command Chief, a nod to the color of their identification badge. Note that while the CSEL position may be held by Chiefs at E7 through E9, the billet must be identified as CMC/CSC/CC in the unit’s Personnel Allowance List.

Silver Badge Command billets are found at Sectors, Bases, Training Centers (Cape May, Petaluma, Yorktown, and New London), and training facilities such as the Special Missions Training Center at Camp LeJeune, the Aviation Logistics Center at Elizabeth City, and the Surface Forces Logistics Center in Baltimore, to name just a few. Until 2012, CMCs assigned as the CSELs at Sectors had their own identification badges that displayed their rate with the word “SECTOR” emblazoned below it.

For consideration as a Silver Badge Command Chief, active-duty Coast Guard personnel must be at the E8 or E9 paygrade (E7 for Reservists). Candidates must also be  a graduate of a senior enlisted leadership academies such as the Coast Guard’s Chief Petty Officer Academy or the Navy’s Senior Enlisted Academy; display outstanding administration, leadership, and management capabilities; possess excellent oral and written communication skills; and have an unassailable conduct record. Additionally, any candidate otherwise qualified will not be considered if they will reach twenty-eight years of active-duty service by January 1 of the year they would be scheduled to begin their assignment.

Unlike Command Chief positions at the unit level, Silver Badges are able to bypass the chain of command in order to resolve problems, reporting instead directly to their commanders to help them maintain organizational readiness and encourage the development of a professional workforce.

Coast Guard personnel serving in a Silver Badge billet are considered the most senior Chief in their paygrade both at their unit and at all units within their Area of Responsibility, even if other Chiefs have acquired longer periods of active-duty service or time spent in grade.