Display your CPO pride with our Senior Chief Petty Officer belt buckle! Available in Male and Female sizes to accommodate differences in regulation belt width, this gold buckle features the Senior Chief Petty Officer (E-8) insignia consisting of the legendary fouled anchor and “USN” initials surmounted by a star with a single ray pointing downward. The buckle is authorized as an optional wear item with a host of male CPO dress uniforms, the female Summer Whites and Service Khakis, and male and female Coveralls, Naval Working Uniform (NWU), and NWU Type III.
And Senior CPOs certainly have reason to be proud. Depending upon the rating, it can take twenty years or more on average to reach the E-8 rate. What’s more, the number of CPOs selected for advancement to E-8 is limited by law—only 2.5 percent of the total enlisted force can be serving as Senior Chief Petty Officers at any given time (that number can be increased slightly if the maximum number of E-9 slots are not filled).