Chief Warrant Officer

:"Chief Warrant Officer" in the United States Armed Forces refers to any warrant officer W-2 and above. For the US rank, see Warrant Officer (United States).

Chief Warrant Officer or CWO is the most senior Army and Air Force non-commissioned member (NCM) rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of Master Warrant Officer and Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class. Its Naval equivalent is Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO1).

The French language form is "Adjudant-chef" "(Adjuc)".

Insignia

The rank insignia of the CWO is Coat of Arms of Canada, worn on both forearms of the Service Dress tunic; in gold metal and green enamel miniature pins on the collar of the Service Dress shirt and outerwear coats (Army only); on CADPAT slipons worn in the middle of the chest, embroidered in tan (Army) or blue (Air Force) thread; and in "old gold" thread on blue slip-ons on both shoulders of other uniforms (Air Force only).

Forms of address

CWOs are generally initially addressed as "Chief Warrant Officer Bloggins", and thereafter as "Sir" or "Ma'am" by subordinates; and as "Mr Bloggins" or "Ms Bloggins" by officers. If they hold the appointment of Regimental Sergeant-Major, they may also be addressed as "RSM" by the Commanding Officer. CWOs are never addressed as "Chief", this being a form of addressed reserved for Chief Petty Officers. Civilians can address them as Chief Warrant Officer or CWO or as Mr. or Ms.

Appointments

CWOs may hold a number of appointments, some of which are listed below:
* Regimental Sergeant-Major (RSM) – the most senior NCM in a battalion-sized Army unit, including armoured, combat engineer, and signal regiments.
* Squadron Chief Warrant Officer (Sqn CWO) – the most senior NCM in a squadron-sized Air Force unit

Special appointments for Chief Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers 1st Class entitle the incumbents to wear a modified rank badge or an addition to the rank badge. They are as follows:

* Base Chief Warrant Officer (BCWO) and Wing Chief Warrant Officer (WCWO) – the Coat of Arms over crossed swords.
* Formation Chief Warrant Officer – the Coat of Arms over the central insignia of the badge of the Canadian Armed Forces (crossed swords, an anchor and an eagle in flight). This appointment includes, for example, the Division Chief Warrant Officer (DCWO) of 1 Canadian Air Division and the Area Sergeant-Major (Area SM) of Land Force Western Area (LFWA)
* Brigade Sergeant Major (Bde SM) - the Coat of Arms over crossed swords with a red maple leaf over the point of intersection.
* Command Chief Warrant Officer (CCWO) – the Coat of Arms with a wreath of laurel wrapped around the base
* Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer (CFCWO) – the Coat of Arms with a wreath of twenty-eight maple leaves wrapped around the base and sides. The CFCWO is not classified as a Sergeant-Major, even if the appointee is an Army CWO

Due to the unified nature of the CF, it is not unheard-of for Air Force CWOs or even Navy CPO1s – especially those of the so-called "purple trades", such as logistics or military police – to find themselves filling the appointment of RSM in what are otherwise considered "hard" army units (such as Service Battalions or Communication Regiments). Conversely, it is not impossible for an Army CWO or Navy CPO1 to find themselves as the Sqn CWO of an Air Force squadron – an example would be an Army Line Technician as the Sqn CWO of an Air Force base's telecommunications and information services squadron.

Messes and quarters

CWOs generally mess and billet with other Warrant Officers and with Sergeants, and their Naval equivalents, Chief Petty Officers and Petty Officers. Their mess on military bases or installations are generally named the "Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess".

Uniforms

Although NCMs, CWOs generally wear the uniform accoutrements of commissioned officers; for example, officer cap badge, waistcoat instead of cummerbund with mess kit, Sam Browne belt instead of sash for infantry, etc.

ee also

* Non-commissioned member
* Chief Petty Officer 1st Class
* Regimental Sergeant-Major
* Warrant Officer