The Coast Guard’s Weapons Chief Warrant Officers share their specialty mark—an exploding shell with a plume that bears a striking resemblance to a pineapple—with U.S. Navy Ordnance Technician Warrant Officers. Both specialties were originally designated as Gunners, but as military weaponry advanced that term became woefully inadequate in reference to the types of technology that CWOs in both services were actually employing. The Coast Guard instituted the Warrant Officer Gunner specialty in 1915 with the same specialty mark.
Our Weapons CWO sleeve device is authorized for wear on the Service Dress Blue coat (both sleeves) and features insignia embroidered in gold material on a piece of blue serge fabric. Place the sleeve device so that the bottom of the gold Coast Guard shield is a quarter-inch from Chief Warant Office rank stripe, then cener the shield and “pineapple” horizontally before sewing the device on the sleeve.
Note: CWO specialty mark insignia are not worn on the sleeves of any of the Guard’s white uniforms, but certain Chief Petty Officers do wear their rank and specialty marks on the Diner Dress White Jacket uniform. For white uniforms, CWOs wear the specialty marks on Hard shoulder marks.
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Weapons CWO Hard/Enhanced Shoulder Boards
Weapons CWO Collar Device