In the British Armed Forces, a warrant officer is the highest non-commissioned rank, holding the Queen's (or King's) warrant, which is signed by the Secretary of State for Defence. Warrant officers are not saluted, but are to be addressed as 'Sir/Ma'am' by subordinates. Their seniors may address warrant officers either by their appointment (e.g. QMSI, RSM or sergeant major) or as "Mister", "Mrs", or "Ms" and then their last name, e.g. "Mr Smith". Warrant officers have all been promoted from lower ranks.
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In 1973, Warrant Officers reappeared in the Royal Navy, but these appointments followed the Army model, with the new Warrant Officers being ratings rather than officers. They were initially known as Fleet Chief Petty Officers (FCPOs), but were renamed Warrant Officers in the 1980s. They always ranked with Warrant Officers Class I in the British Army and Royal Marines and with Warrant Officers in the Royal Air Force.
In April 2004, the RN renamed the top rate Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1) and created the new rate of Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) 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 WO2s. In the Fleet Air Arm, the Charge Chief Artificer was commonly referred to as the Senior Maintenance Rating (SMR) but continued to wear the traditional badges of the CPO which made it difficult to distinguish his seniority from the others on a Squadron or ship. With the advent of the WO2 the SMR is now referred to as the Warrant Officer Engineering in most Naval Squadrons.
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 of the rank insignia.
In 2005, the Royal Navy introduced the appointment of Executive Warrant Officer (EWO) broadly equivalent to that of the US Navy's Command Master Chief Petty Officer (CMCPO). The position of EWO is potentially filled by an established WO1 however significant numbers of 'first appointment' WO1s have taken up these posts. This fact is at odds with the relative comparison with other military forces and their "senior" cadres. The appointment as EWO on a non-capital ship will automatically mean that the incumbent is the senior non-commissioned Rank of the ship as there are no other WO1s borne in the ship's company. This is not the case on ships such as aircraft carriers where up to nine WO1s are borne during non-Operational deployments. Equally, the same situation applies to RN Dockyards, shore based establishments and Royal Naval Air Stations where the majority of WO1s are borne. Unlike its US Navy and Canadian Forces counterparts, the Royal Navy EWO does not wear a different or modified rate badge to that of a normal WO1. Every Royal Navy establishment and ship has an EWO.
Before 1879, the Royal Marines had no Warrant Officers:[1] by the end of 1881, the Royal Marines had given warrant rank to their sergeants-major and some other senior NCOs, in a similar fashion to the Army.[2] When the Army introduced the ranks of Warrant Officer Class I and Class II in 1915, the Royal Marines did the same shortly after.[3] From February 1920, Royal Marines Warrant Officer Class Is were given the same status as Royal Navy Warrant Officers and the rank of Warrant Officer Class II was abolished in the Royal Marines, with no further promotions to this rank.[4]
The Marines had introduced Warrant Officers equivalent in status to the Royal Navy's from 1910 with the Royal Marines Gunner (originally titled Gunnery Sergeant-Major), equivalent to the Navy's warrant rank of Gunner.[5][6] Development of these ranks closedly paralleled that of their naval counterparts: as in the RN, by the Second World War there were Warrant Officers and Commissioned Warrant Officers, e.g. Staff Sergeant Majors, Commissioned Staff Sergeant Majors, Royal Marines Gunners, Commissioned Royal Marines Gunners, etc. As officers they were saluted by junior ranks in the Royal Marines and the Army. These all became (commissioned) Branch officer ranks in 1949, and Special Duties officer ranks in 1956.
The Royal Marines now 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.
WO2 appointments are:
WO1 appointments are:
The rank below WO2 is Colour Sergeant, the RM equivalent of Staff Sergeant.
In the British Army, there are two warrant ranks, Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) and Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1), the latter being 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). Warrant Officer 1st Class or 2nd Class is incorrect. The rank immediately below WO2 is Staff Sergeant (or Colour Sergeant).
WO1s wear a royal coat of arms on the lower sleeve, except for the Regimental Sergeants Major of Foot Guards Regiments who wear a larger version of the same coat of arms on the upper sleeve. The insignia of those holding the most senior WO1 appointment of Conductor is the coat of arms surrounded by a wreath.
The four most senior Warrant Officer appointments in the British Army according to Queen's Regulations are, in descending order of seniority:
Most Warrant Officers have an appointment, and is usually referred to by his/her appointment rather than by his rank. Appointments held by WO1s include:
WO2s wear a crown on the lower sleeve, surrounded by a wreath for Quartermaster Sergeants and all WO2s in the Royal Army Medical Corps and the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (The wreath was used for all WOIIs from 1938 to 1947). Appointments held by WO2s include:
From 1938, there was also a rank of Warrant Officer Class III (WOIII). 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.
How Warrant Officers are addressed depends, as does much else in the British Army, on the traditions of their regiment or corps. However, there are some general rules of thumb:
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 as Warrant Officer or sometimes this is abbreviated down to just "Warrant". The correct way to address a Warrant Officer is "sir" or "ma'am" by the airmen and "Mr or Warrant Officer -Name-" by the officers. They do not have appointments as in the Army or Royal Marines. They rank above Flight Sergeants.
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.
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An eligible CPO(SCC) or C/Sgt(SCC) may apply for a Warrant Officer's Selection Board (WOSB) at national level, providing he or she meet the necessary requirements. Upon successful completion of this board, a CPO(SCC) will be rated WO2(SCC)RNR, or a C/Sgt(SCC) will be promoted to WO2(SCC)RMR. SCC WOs are permitted to use the postnominals RNR / RMR. Each area may select one WO from its pool of WO2(SCC)RNR/RMRs, to undertake the role of Area Executive Warrant Officer (AEWO), and with that responsibility be rated WO1(SCC)RNR/RMR. In addition the Marine Cadet Section was an RSM, who is also a WO1(SCC)RMR.
The rank of Warrant Officer does not exist in the ACF and CCF (Army) - it is often misused by those holding appointments as Sergeants Major or Sergeants Major Instructor (either Cadets or AIs) in the CCF (Army) and ACF who are not holders of Warrants and thus not Warrant Officers.[8]
The Air Cadet Organisation has a single Cadet Warrant Officer rank in the same way as the RAF - they are always addressed as "Warrant Officer", "Warrant", "CWO" or "Cadet Warrant Officer" (Warrant Officer is the correct form of address),[9][10], not "sir / ma'am". ATC Adult staff promoted to Warrant Officer have the title WO (ATC), and are addressed in the same way as regular RAF Warrant Officers - i.e. as "sir / ma'am" by subordinates and as Mr / Mrs / Miss by Officers. Officers may choose to call them by their rank, e.g. Warrant Officer Bloggs (or Warrant Bloggs). Both types wear a crown as insignia, rather than the royal coat of arms — the insignia for a Cadet WO has a laurel wreath to distinguish it from WO (ATC). Some WOs (ATC) are authorised to wear the coat of arms insignia (referred to colloquially as "Tate & Lyles": as is the insignia for regular RAF WOs), either as ex-regular WOs or, in the past, for time served.