Warrant officer (United States)

In the United States Armed Forces, the ranks of warrant officer (grades W-1 to W-5) (NATO: WO1-WO5) are rated as officers above the senior-most enlisted ranks, including all officer candidates (OC) and warrant officer candidates (WOC) (both of whom hold enlisted grades as E-5 or above, depending upon their grade upon appointment as an OC or WOC); and cadets and midshipmen (who are considered "officers only in a qualified sense", holding a special grade above E-9 and below W-1), but subordinate to the officer grade of O-1 (NATO: OF-1). This application differs from the Commonwealth of Nations and other militaries, where warrant officers are the most senior of the other ranks (NATO: OR-8 and OR-9), equivalent to the US Armed Forces grades of E-8 and E-9.

Warrant officers are highly skilled, single-track specialty officers, and while the ranks are authorized by Congress, each branch of the uniformed services selects, manages, and utilizes warrant officers in slightly different ways. For appointment to warrant officer one (W-1), a warrant is approved by the secretary of the respective service. For chief warrant officer ranks (W-2 to W-5), warrant officers are commissioned by the President of the United States and take the same oath as regular commissioned officers (O-1 to O-10).

Chief warrant officer

Chief Warrant Officer is a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Pakistan Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces, the South African National Defence Force, the Lebanese Armed Forces and, since 2012, the Singapore Armed Forces. In the United States Armed Forces Chief Warrant Officers are actual officers, not NCOs like other NATO forces.

Canadian Armed Forces

In the Canadian Armed Forces, a chief warrant officer or CWO is the most senior non-commissioned member (NCM) rank for army and air force personnel. Its equivalent rank for navy personnel is chief petty officer 1st class (CPO1). The French language form of chief warrant officer is adjudant-chef (adjuc).

A CWO is senior to the rank of master warrant officer (MWO) and its navy equivalent of chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2).

Cadets Canada uses the ranks of chief petty officer 1st class, chief warrant officer, and warrant officer 1st class respectively. This organization's uniforms use a similar coat of arms insignia as the Canadian Armed Forces.