More commonly called a shoulder patch or unit patch, the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia worn by personnel at the U.S Army Warrant Officer Career College was approved on 4 September 2008 for the Warrant Officer Career Center. It was redesignated for the U.S. Army Warrant Officer Career College (USAWOCC), with updated symbolism, on 4 October 2011.
Brown has been the color associated with Warrant Officers ever since the Warrant Officer Corps was created with the establishment of the Army Mine Planter Service in 1918, with tradition holding that brown was chosen because the Mine Planter Service’s original group of Warrant Officers—comprising Masters, Mates, Engineers, and Chief Engineers—used brown strands taken from burlap bags as ad-hoc insignia of rank until the Army created official insignia.
A pair of crossed cannons surmounted by a blue mine case is also an allusion to the Warrant Officer Corps’ lineage in the Mine Planter Service as part of the Coast Artillery, while the flaming torch is a symbol of enlightenment and learning. The three stars on the insignia represent the three components of the Army—Regular Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard— that receive extensive military guidance from the work of the USAWOCC.
The USAWOCC is located at Fort Novosel (formerly named Fort Rucker) in Alabama, home of the U.S. Army Aviation Center Excellence, an appropriate site considering how many Warrant Officers serve in the Aviation branch.
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