Warrant Officer

A warrant officer (WO) is a member of a military organization holding one of a specific group of ranks. In most countries they are effectively senior non-commissioned officers, although technically in a class of their own between NCOs and commissioned officers. In the United States military system, however, officers at the Chief Warrant Officer level are in fact commissioned officers and are afforded the same privileges and courtesies, such as terms of address and salutes, as other commissioned officers.

United Kingdom

In the British armed forces, a warrant officer is effectively a senior non-commissioned officer, although he or she holds the Queen's (or King's) warrant. Warrant officers are not saluted, but are usually addressed by their juniors as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Warrant officers have all been promoted from NCO rank.

Related Topics:
Queen

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British Army

In the British Army, there are two warrant ranks, Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) and Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1), which is the senior of the two. It used to be more common to refer to these ranks as WOII and WOI (using Roman instead of Arabic numerals). The rank immediately below WO2 is staff sergeant.

Related Topics:
British Army - Warrant Officer Class 2 - Warrant Officer Class 1 - Staff sergeant

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Every warrant officer has an appointment, and is usually referred to by his appointment rather than by his rank.

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Warrant officers were generally introduced throughout the British Army under Army Order 70 of 1915, although Regimental Sergeant Majors and a few other appointments (beginning in 1879, when Conductors of Stores and Supplies were warranted), had been warranted before that time. These earlier warranted appointments, and some others, became WOIs. The appointments that were designated WOIIs had previously been senior sergeants.

Related Topics:
1915 - Regimental Sergeant Major - 1879 - Conductors - Sergeant

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WO1s wear a royal coat of arms on the lower sleeve, which may be surrounded by a wreath depending on appointment. Appointments held by WO1s include:

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• Academy Sergeant Major (AcSM)
• Accountant Sergeant Major (obsolete)
• Armament Sergeant Major
• Armourer Sergeant Major
• Artificer Sergeant Major (ASM)
• Bandmaster (BM)
• Bugle Major
• Clerk of Works Sergeant Major
• Conductor (Cdr)
• Draughtsman Sergeant Major (obsolete)
• Drum Major
• Farrier Corporal Major
• Farrier Sergeant Major
• Foreman of Signals Sergeant Major
• Foreman of Works Sergeant Major (obsolete)
• Garrison Sergeant Major (GSM)
• Lithographer Sergeant Major (obsolete)
• Master Gunner 1st Class
• Master Gunner 2nd Class
• Orderly Room Sergeant Major (ORSM)
• Pipe Major
• Regimental Corporal Major (RCM)
• Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM)
• Royal Artillery Sergeant Major
• Saddler Sergeant Major
• Schoolmaster 1st Class (obsolete)
• Sergeant Major (obsolete)
• Sergeant Major Instructor (SMI)
• Staff Sergeant Major (SSM)
• Staff Sergeant Major 1st Class (obsolete)
• Sub-Conductor (obsolete)
• Superintending Clerk
• Surveyor Sergeant Major
• Trumpet Major

WO2s wear a crown on the lower sleeve, surrounded by a wreath for Quartermaster Sergeants (for all WOIIs from 1938 to 1947). Appointments held by WO2s include:

Related Topics:
1938 - 1947

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• Armament Quartermaster Sergeant
• Armourer Quartermaster Sergeant
• Artificer Quartermaster Sergeant (AQMS)
• Band Corporal Major (BCM)
• Band Sergeant Major (BSM)
• Battery Sergeant Major (BSM)
• Bugle Major
• Clerk of Works Quartermaster Sergeant
• Company Sergeant Major (CSM)
• Draughtsman Quartermaster Sergeant
• Drill Sergeant
• Drum Major
• Engineer Clerk Quartermaster Sergeant
• Farrier Quartermaster Sergeant
• Foreman of Signals Quartermaster Sergeant
• Foreman of Works Quartermaster Sergeant (obsolete)
• Garrison Quartermaster Sergeant
• Lithographer Quartermaster Sergeant (obsolete)
• Master Gunner 3rd Class
• Orderly Room Quartermaster Sergeant (ORQMS)
• Pipe Major
• Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor (QMSI)
• Regimental Quartermaster Corporal (RQMC)
• Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (RQMS)
• Saddler Quartermaster Sergeant
• Squadron Corporal Major (SCM)
• Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM)
• Staff Quartermaster Sergeant
• Surveyor Quartermaster Sergeant
• Technical Quartermaster Sergeant (TQMS)
• Troop Sergeant Major (TSM)
• Trumpet Major

From 1938, there was also a rank of Warrant Officer Class III. The only appointments held by this rank were Platoon Sergeant Major, Troop Sergeant Major and Section Sergeant Major. The WOIII wore a crown on his lower sleeve (which is why all WOIIs switched to a crown in a wreath during this period). The rank was placed in suspension in 1940 and no new appointments were made, but it was never officially abolished.

Related Topics:
1938 - Platoon Sergeant Major - Troop Sergeant Major - Section Sergeant Major - 1940

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WOs are officially designated using their rank and appointment. For instance, WO2 (CSM) Smith or WO1 (BM) Jones. However, they would usually be referred to as "CSM Smith" and "Bandmaster Jones". WO2s holding Sergeant Major or Corporal Major appointments are often referred to as the "Sergeant Major" or the "Corporal Major", but WO1s are only ever referred to using their full appointment or its abbreviation (the "RSM" or the "Garrison Sergeant Major", for instance).

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How warrant officers are addressed depends, as does much else in the British Army, on the traditions of their regiments or corps. However, there are some general rules of thumb:

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• WO1s are usually addressed as "Mr " by officers and by their peers, and as "sir" or "Mr , sir" by their subordinates (for female WO1s, "Mrs or Miss ", "ma'am", and "Mrs or Miss , ma'am", respectively);
• an RSM's Commanding Officer, and he alone, has the privilege of addressing him as "RSM"; all others use the normal form of address for WO1s;
• WO2s are commonly addressed as "Sergeant Major", "Corporal Major" or "Q" (for Quartermaster Sergeants) as appropriate (or as "sir" or "ma'am").

The four most senior warrant officer appointments in the British Army are generally considered to be, in descending order of seniority:

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• Conductor, Royal Logistic Corps
• Royal Artillery Sergeant Major, Royal Artillery
• Academy Sergeant Major, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
• Garrison Sergeant Major, London District

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force inherited the ranks of Warrant Officer Class I and II from the Royal Flying Corps, part of the Army, in 1918. It also inherited the rank badges of the Royal Arms and a crown respectively. Until the 1930s, these ranks were often known as Sergeant Major 1st and 2nd Class. In 1939 the RAF abolished the rank of WOII and retained WOI as simple Warrant Officer, which it remains to this day. The RAF has no equivalent to WO2 (NATO OR-8), WO being equivalent to WO1 (NATO OR-9) and wearing the Royal Arms. Warrant officers are addressed and referred to as "Mr", "Mrs" or "Miss" ("Mr Smith" etc), or as "sir" or "ma'am" by their juniors. They do not have appointments as in the Army or Royal Marines. They rank above Flight Sergeants and below Pilot Officers, the lowest commissioned rank.

Related Topics:
Royal Air Force - Royal Flying Corps - Flight Sergeant - Pilot Officer

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In 1946, the RAF renamed its aircrew warrant officers Master Aircrew, a designation which still survives. In 1950, it renamed warrant officers in technical trades Master Technicians, a designation which only survived until 1964.

Related Topics:
Aircrew - Master Aircrew

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Royal Marines

The Royal Marines has the same warrant ranks as the Army, Warrant Officer Class 1 and Warrant Officer Class 2. The insignia are the same, but all RM WO2s wear the crown-in-wreath variation. As in the Army, all warrant officers have appointments by which they are known, referred to and addressed.

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WO2 appointments are:

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• Company Sergeant Major
• Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant
• Bandmaster
• Corps Drum Major

WO1 appointments are:

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• Regimental Sergeant Major
• Bandmaster
• Corps Bandmaster
• Corps Bugle Major

The rank below WO2 is Colour Sergeant, the RM equivalent of Staff Sergeant.

Related Topics:
Colour Sergeant - Staff Sergeant

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At one time, RM warrant officers were similar to Royal Navy warrant officers, in that they were essentially officers and not NCOs.

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Royal Navy

The history of warrant rates in the Royal Navy is complicated, but can be viewed in two parts:

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• warrant officers who were definitely officers rather than ratings, similar to those in U.S. forces, up to the 1950s;
• warrant officers who were senior NCOs, like those in the British Army, from the 1970s on.

Originally, warrant officers were as described at the top of this article: professional seamen whose expertise and authority demanded formal recognition. These included the sailing master, the gunner, the boatswain and the carpenter.

Related Topics:
Sailing master - Gunner - Boatswain - Carpenter

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Their positions in the hierarchy depended on the precise nature of their jobs. Most outranked midshipmen (trainee officers): the master, the purser, the surgeon and the chaplain had the privilege of dining in the wardroom with the commissioned officers (and were known as "Warrant Officers of Wardroom Rank").

Related Topics:
Midshipmen - Purser - Surgeon - Chaplain

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From the 19th century onwards, senior warrant officers were increasingly granted commissions, and in 1949 the RN stopped creating warrant officers altogether.

Related Topics:
19th century - 1949

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In 1973, the RN created the rate of Fleet Chief Petty Officer (FCPO) as the equivalent of the Army's WO1; this was renamed Warrant Officer in the 1980s.

Related Topics:
1973 - 1980s

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In 2004, the RN renamed the top rate Warrant Officer Class 1 and created the new rate of Warrant Officer Class 2 immediately below it, to replace the appointment of Charge Chief Petty Officer. The latter was a senior Chief Petty Officer, but not a substantive rank in its own right. Only those who held the specific appointment of Charge Chief Artificer (a CCPO in a skilled technical trade) gained partial recognition as NATO OR-8 equivalent, as with other WO2s.

Related Topics:
2004 - Charge Chief Petty Officer - Chief Petty Officer

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Royal Navy warrant rates are thus now the same as those in the Army and Royal Marines, and wear the same rank insignia: like RM WO2s (but unlike Army WO2s), all RN WO2s wear the crown-in-wreath variation.

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