U.S. NAVY CWO PHOTOGRAPHER SOFT EPAULETS

us navy cwo soft shoulder boards photographer

The advent of digital imaging technology undoubtedly played a role in the Bureau of Naval Personnel’s decision to disestablish the Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Photographer position. While trained photographers are still essential for high-quality images for use in brochures, videos, and on Web sites, the point-and-click revolution has made visually documentation of routine operations a rather simple task.

What isn’t as clear is why the Bureau felt that a Limited Duty Officer would be better suited for the slot. One theory found on the Internet that was posited by a former CWO Photographer is that the Limited Duty Officer (LDO) community found that its officers could not get sea billets, and therefore lobbied to eliminate the Photography CWO program. With CWOs no longer on hand, the sea billets would have to be filled by LDOs, which is what transpired beginning 1997. But obviously there’s no way to check the veracity of the story, and it’s difficult to pinpoint any single reason for decisions such as this one because the Bureau of Naval Personnel is working under a variety of limitations and constraints related to the number of different types of officers.

In announcing the phasing out of the LDO Photographer designator, the Bureau simply said that the work would be absorbed by 165x Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Community. The 165x designates this as a Restricted Line Special Duty Officer Community; other types of Special Duty Officers include Strategic Sealift Officer and Fleet Support Officer.

Important: Due to the extremely low demand on this item, it is manufactured on order. While we might have some in stock, please allow for up to 10 business days processing time.

Related Items
CWO Photographer Hard Shoulder Boards
CWO Photographer Sleeve Device
CWO Photographer Collar Device

Rank

Price

$32.39

Quantity

USPHS

Merchant Marine

AUXILIARY

U.S. NAVY CWO PHOTOGRAPHER SOFT EPAULETS