Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia / How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign Countries

by Dion Williams

WARRANT OFFICERS

Warrant officers form an intermediate class between the commissioned officers and the enlisted personnel. They receive appointments from the President but are not confirmed by the Senate. They are appointed by selection from the most efficient and deserving enlisted petty officers. After six years’ service as warrant officers, if found qualified, they are commissioned by the President, “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,” as Chief Boatswains, Chief Gunners, Chief Machinists, Chief Carpenters, Chief Sailmakers, Chief Pharmacists and Chief Pay Clerks, as the case may be, to take rank with but next after Ensigns.

The Warrant Officers of the Line are as follows:
	Boatswain
	Gunner
	Machinist
The Warrant Officers of the Staff are as follows:
	Carpenter
	Sailmaker
	Pharmacist
	Pay Clerk

All warrant officers take rank and precedence next after commissioned officers, their relative rank among themselves being determined by date of appointment.

Warrant officers are eligible to be commissioned as Ensigns after passing the prescribed examination, in which case they are advanced to higher rank in the same manner as other Ensigns commissioned after graduation from the Naval Academy. In this manner a young man who proves himself worthy of the honor may rise from the lowest enlisted grade to be an Admiral.