Reserve Personnel Management Division
Chief Warrant Officers
Eligibility for Appointment to Warrant Grade
Personnel Manual, Chapter 1.D.2.
1. D.2.a. Minimum Eligibility Requirements
Each applicant for appointment to warrant grade is responsible for
completing the eligibility requirements by 1 January of the year in which
the Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Appointment Board (the Board) convenes. The
Schedule of ADPL Officer Personnel Boards and Panels, COMDTINST 1401.5
(series) announces the Board’s convening date.
1. Must be a citizen of the United States.
2. Applicants are no longer required to have a National Agency Check (NAC)
completed within five years of the 1 January deadline. However, applicants
should review the requirements of the Coast Guard Military Personnel
Security Program, COMDTINST M5520.12(series) and be prepared in the event an
updated background investigation is needed for the initial CWO assignment.
3. Must be a member of the Coast Guard or Coast Guard Reserve with at least
8 year’s total active service in the Armed Forces of the United States, with
the last 4 having been in the Coast Guard. Credit for active duty time will
be computed to 30 June following the 1 January deadline. Members returning
to active duty under the CNC or Temporary Separation Policy will be credited
for TIS earned prior to separation (Article 12.F.). Rules for computing
active duty time in service (TIS) are contained in Article 1.D.4.
4. Must be serving in pay grade E-6 or above. Those currently serving as
temporary officers are not eligible to apply for appointment to warrant
grade. Former temporary officers who were authorized to revert to their
permanent enlisted status under Article 12.A.12. provisions must request a
waiver to apply for appointment to warrant grade. Waiver requests must be
submitted via the chain of command to arrive at Commander (CGPC-opm-1) by 1
September preceding the Board. Temporary officers who reverted IAW Article
12.A.13.e.4. do not need a waiver. Additionally, personnel who have
previously served as a warrant officer who were authorized to revert to
their former enlisted status under the provisions of
Article 5.B.6 or 12.A.21 are not considered to have the qualities necessary
for reappointment to warrant grade and are not eligible to apply.
5. Enlisted members serving in pay grade E-6 must have displayed their
technical ability by placing in the top 50 percent on the eligibility list
for advancement to E-7 as a result of the Servicewide Examination (SWE)
administered in May prior to the 1 January deadline. The following examples
apply.
a. If the E-7 advancement eligibility list has 100 members, those at
positions 1 through 50 are eligible to compete for appointment to warrant
grade.
b. If the E-7 advancement eligibility list has 101 members on, those at
positions 1 through 51 are eligible to compete for appointment to warrant
grade.
c. Members removed from published advancement eligibility lists, e.g.,
retirements, shall not be used as justification to improve the percentile
calculation.
6. Members serving in pay grade E-7, E-8, or E-9 are considered to have
already displayed technical ability in their specialty.
7. Members who are scheduled for separation under the High Year Tenure
Program are not eligible to apply since their mandatory separation date will
have occurred prior to the effective date of the Final Eligibility List.
8. Members whose request for retirement have been approved are not eligible
to apply. Members whose request for retirement is approved after being
recommended shall be removed from the Preboard or Final Eligibility List as
applicable. Commanding officers shall notify Commander (CGPC-opm-1) by
message so the names of such applicants can be removed from the applicable
list.
9. No court-martial or civil conviction, or nonjudicial punishment and have
no unsatisfactory mark in conduct for the three years immediately prior to
the 1 January deadline and for the entire period from 1 January to
appointment.
Commanding officers shall submit a message to Commander (CGPC-opm-1) to
remove from the warrant officer appointment eligibility lists (Preboard or
Final) any person who has received a court-martial or civil conviction,
nonjudicial punishment, or unsatisfactory mark in conduct at any time prior
to being appointed to warrant grade.
10. See _ Article 1.D.10. for information about members who previously
declined appointment to warrant grade or voluntarily elected to be removed
from an eligibility list.
11. Applicants for the boatswain or naval engineering specialties must have
completed at least one year of sea duty as defined by _ Article 5.C.15. in
pay grade E-6 or above by the 1 January deadline. Members serving in the MST
rating who are otherwise qualified for the boatswain specialty, including
normal color perception, are not required to complete the sea duty
requirement. Surfmen (SJ, SK or SM) who have completed 12 months as a
certified surfman in a designated surfman billet, E-6 or above, are
considered to have permanently met the sea duty requirement for appointment
to warrant. This requirement will not be waived except for members who are
presently serving at sea or who are under orders to sea duty and will meet
the sea duty requirement by 30 June following the Board’s convening date.
Commanding officers have authority to grant waivers in these cases. Waivers
beyond this authority must be approved by Commander (CGPC-opm-1). Sea Duty
waiver requests must be submitted via the chain of command to arrive at
Commander (CGPC-opm-1) prior to the 1 January deadline. In computing sea
duty time, 30 days equal one full month. After totaling all creditable sea
duty periods, a remainder of fewer than 30 days shall be dropped.
12. In addition to the above eligibility requirements, each applicant for
appointment to either the AVI, BOSN, ELC, INF, MED, or WEPS warrant
specialty must possess normal color perception.
13. Commanding Officer's Recommendation. The final eligibility step in the warrant officer appointment process is obtaining the commanding officer's recommendation. After meeting all of the eligibility requirements, members must submit a request to their commanding officer to obtain a recommendation for appointment to warrant grade. Members should follow their commanding officer's policy for requesting this recommendation, scheduling an interview with the commanding officer, providing documentation attesting to the completion of the minimum eligibility requirements, addressing the suitability issues specified in _ Article 1.D.3.b.2., etc. Members must submit this request in time to obtain the commanding officer's recommendation by the 1 January deadline date; see Article 1.D.3.