The image of a lyre was first used in 1925 as the Coast Guard’s specialty mark for Petty Officers Third to First Class in the Musician’s rating; it was adopted for the Bandmaser CWO specialty at some point in the 1950s. The Musician’s rating continues to be the soul source of Bandmaster CWO candidates, but the path from Petty to Warrant Officer in this field is somewhat abbreviated as Musicians are selected through an audition process and begin their career in the Guard as Petty Offices First Class (E-6).
Designed for wear on both sleeves of the Service Dress Blue coat, this Bandmaster CWO sleeve device also comes with the gold Coast Guard shield worn by Commissioned Officers above their rank stripes. Position the bottom the device so that the bottom of the Coast Guard shield is 1/4-inch above and parallel to the top of the single CWO rank stripe, with the shield and lyre centered horizontally on the outside of the coat sleeve.
Note that Chief Warrant Officers do not wear specialty marks on the sleeves of the Formal or Dinner Dress Blue jackets or any of the white Dress or Service uniforms.
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Bandmaster CWO Collar Device