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Posted: 6/25/2015 11:01:06 PM EDT
Today I had to attend a FEMA meeting on disaster funds for the county and an older gentleman (obviously retired) at the table with me had a very nice leather portfolio embossed with the EGA, his name and CWO5. I grew up in a USMC family (father and both grandfathers were Drill Instructors at Parris Island) and that's one rank I've never seen. Just wondered if any Marines here could tell me a bit about how (un)common it is and what these men usually do in the Corps...just out of curiosity. I'd have asked him about it myself, but he got a phone call and left early.
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Never actually seen a CWO5, but seen plenty WO1-CWO4. Warrant and Chief Warrant Officers are not terribly uncommon. They are typically assigned very specialized duties - legal chiefs, armory OICs, food service chiefs, and a variety of other billets.
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Not very common. Usually referred to as Gunners. They are SME's in their field.
https://www.military-ranks.org/marine-corps/chief-warrant-officer-5 |
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Meet one logistics CWO4. He was a reservists.
Also noticed several CWO3/4 on active duty, one lite me up pretty good for not saluting him and his LT buddies while walking out of a chow hall (still under a canopy type thing) at Pendleton. I was zoned the fuck out and in my own world. Not sure how that happened. So yeah they're pretty rare, much more so than sgtmajs. |
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/29/iraq.jamesmeek
Worked with this CW05 in 29 Palms. "Tim Gelinas is 55, and he loves the US marines so much that he built a house near their base at 29 Palms in California. "I can sit on my lawn chair and watch them train," he said, squinting out of his wrinkles into the desert light. "I used to watch the marines with a pair of binos." A younger marine - they are all younger than Chief Warrant Officer Fifth Class Gelinas - was getting his hair cut nearby, from extremely short to totally short. He snorted with laughter at the thought of the old guy sitting out there on his lawn chair, watching the marines shouting "Huh!" as they did their PT." |
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Not that this is relevant to this thread but one of my uncles is a retired Navy W-4 electronic intelligence wizard spy on the soviets type. He was the OIC of one of those bird cage radio receiver things in Morocco during the Cold War. He had 5 service ribbons. He sad he wasn't there to be a war hero, just a snooper.
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Never actually seen a CWO5, but seen plenty WO1-CWO4. Warrant and Chief Warrant Officers are not terribly uncommon. They are typically assigned very specialized duties - legal chiefs, armory OICs, food service chiefs, and a variety of other billets. View Quote I worked with a CBRN CWO5 on a project. He knew his stuff. Kharn |
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Paging MARINEORDIE. ![]() View Quote I'm a CWO4. There are only 2 CWO5's in my MOS. Other MOS's have more than that but not many. I would have to do a little research at work tomorrow to figure the breakdown by rank. ETA we are limited by law on how many officers we can have. And that is by rank as well. |
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if they're anything like army warrant officers, they're incredibly rare and incredibly old and crusty.
CW2 is often comparable in responsibility to a CPT. now, knowing just how long it takes to earn warrant promotions, a CW5 is up there. i recently heard that CW3's and up are allowed field grade housing on post and that CW5's are allowed general grade officer quarters. not sure the validity of that though. |
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if they're anything like army warrant officers, they're incredibly rare and incredibly old and crusty. CW2 is often comparable in responsibility to a CPT. now, knowing just how long it takes to earn warrant promotions, a CW5 is up there. i recently heard that CW3's and up are allowed field grade housing on post and that CW5's are allowed general grade officer quarters. not sure the validity of that though. View Quote W4 and W5 rate Field Grade privileges. |
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Never saw one that I remember. We had a WO as a Platoon Commander in my Reserve unit. Pretty unusul but it was the Reserves. I don't remember seeing many on AD. Then again I was a Winger then and we were eat up with jet jocks. Maybe helos had some Gunners. IDK.
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Had one CWO-5 in my unit at 29 Palms. Gunner was being pushed out due to being "too old". It was sad seeing him pushed out. He had been in the Corps since he was 17.
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I saw an Army CWO5 in the px at Lewis in 1999. He had a 2ID combat patch from Vietnam, I wanted to talk to him but being an E3 I left him alone. He was aviation.
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Not very common. Usually referred to as Gunners. They are SME's in their field. https://www.military-ranks.org/marine-corps/chief-warrant-officer-5 View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Not very common. Usually referred to as Gunners. They are SME's in their field. https://www.military-ranks.org/marine-corps/chief-warrant-officer-5 Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) is the fifth, and highest, Warrant Officer rank in the Unites States Marine Corps. They are officially appointed by the the Secretary of the Marine Corps. Must be why they're so rare... no such thing as Secretary of the Marine Corps. |
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/29/iraq.jamesmeek Worked with this CW05 in 29 Palms. "Tim Gelinas is 55, and he loves the US marines so much that he built a house near their base at 29 Palms in California. "I can sit on my lawn chair and watch them train," he said, squinting out of his wrinkles into the desert light. "I used to watch the marines with a pair of binos." A younger marine - they are all younger than Chief Warrant Officer Fifth Class Gelinas - was getting his hair cut nearby, from extremely short to totally short. He snorted with laughter at the thought of the old guy sitting out there on his lawn chair, watching the marines shouting "Huh!" as they did their PT." View Quote That's a guy I'd like to have a drink with. |
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Must be why they're so rare... no such thing as Secretary of the Marine Corps. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Not very common. Usually referred to as Gunners. They are SME's in their field. https://www.military-ranks.org/marine-corps/chief-warrant-officer-5 Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) is the fifth, and highest, Warrant Officer rank in the Unites States Marine Corps. They are officially appointed by the the Secretary of the Marine Corps. Must be why they're so rare... no such thing as Secretary of the Marine Corps. W2-W5 get the same commission as "regular" officers. Part of my W4 warrant. ![]() |
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I knew one that ran 11th Marines Regimantal Survey. He called everyone Mack .
![]() I also just found out my Warrant Officer from 1/11 Survey retired as a CWO-5. |
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When I was checking in the other day the admin clerks says: you look young for a CWO4. I said: really? She said: yes sir, the last 2 I saw looked like they were about to die!
![]() I don't feel that "young" ![]() |
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My son left 29 Palms last october, he said there was a CWO-5 gunner there running the range.......
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If it was the rifle and pistol range he was a W4. Good friend of mine. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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My son left 29 Palms last october, he said there was a CWO-5 gunner there running the range....... If it was the rifle and pistol range he was a W4. Good friend of mine. Son says he was a 05 gunner, but it was earlier, 2012 time frame, I misunderstood him on it being last october..it maybe your friend he is talking about, but he said for sure a gunner... |
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Not USMC, but In 9 years of active duty Army, I only ever saw 1 CWO5. It was at Ft Riley, KS.
As for WOs in general, I'm still not 100% sure wtf it is they do, or why the rank exists. They're higher in rank than the highest of CSMs, but lower in rank than the lowliest butter-bar 2nd LT. |
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Son says he was a 05 gunner, but it was earlier, 2012 time frame, I misunderstood him on it being last october..it maybe your friend he is talking about, but he said for sure a gunner... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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My son left 29 Palms last october, he said there was a CWO-5 gunner there running the range....... If it was the rifle and pistol range he was a W4. Good friend of mine. Son says he was a 05 gunner, but it was earlier, 2012 time frame, I misunderstood him on it being last october..it maybe your friend he is talking about, but he said for sure a gunner... All the Range Officers are Gunners now. There are a few W5 Gunners on that base though. ETA meaning Gunners run the ranges. There is no more Range Officer MOS. |
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When I was checking in the other day the admin clerks says: you look young for a CWO4. I said: really? She said: yes sir, the last 2 I saw looked like they were about to die! ![]() I don't feel that "young" ![]() What's your MOS? Ordnance |
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Not USMC, but In 9 years of active duty Army, I only ever saw 1 CWO5. It was at Ft Riley, KS. As for WOs in general, I'm still not 100% sure wtf it is they do, or why the rank exists. They're higher in rank than the highest of CSMs, but lower in rank than the lowliest butter-bar 2nd LT. View Quote It may not work out so well for an Lt to try to pull rank my friend. |
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All the Range Officers are Gunners now. There are a few W5 Gunners on that base though. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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My son left 29 Palms last october, he said there was a CWO-5 gunner there running the range....... If it was the rifle and pistol range he was a W4. Good friend of mine. Son says he was a 05 gunner, but it was earlier, 2012 time frame, I misunderstood him on it being last october..it maybe your friend he is talking about, but he said for sure a gunner... All the Range Officers are Gunners now. There are a few W5 Gunners on that base though. I have no idea, personally, all I can say is thank you for your service and stay safe... ![]() |
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If it was the rifle and pistol range he was a W4. Good friend of mine. ETA there were a couple of W5 Gunners at TTECG. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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My son left 29 Palms last october, he said there was a CWO-5 gunner there running the range....... If it was the rifle and pistol range he was a W4. Good friend of mine. ETA there were a couple of W5 Gunners at TTECG. That is where I knew Gelinas from. |
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I have no idea, personally, all I can say is thank you for your service and stay safe... ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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My son left 29 Palms last october, he said there was a CWO-5 gunner there running the range....... If it was the rifle and pistol range he was a W4. Good friend of mine. Son says he was a 05 gunner, but it was earlier, 2012 time frame, I misunderstood him on it being last october..it maybe your friend he is talking about, but he said for sure a gunner... All the Range Officers are Gunners now. There are a few W5 Gunners on that base though. I have no idea, personally, all I can say is thank you for your service and stay safe... ![]() Thanks. I bet he had one of the W5 Gunners out at one of the ranges in the field. |
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I think Gunner Wade was a CWO 5. Dude forgot more on gunnery and shit than most . f us will ever know.
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Served under Gunner K at Edson Range and was one of the little people in his promotion ceremony to CWO5. Only one I know.
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I used to work for retired Gunner Richardson after he left AD and worked at Range Control at MCBCamLej NC. He was the Base Range Safety Officer. In fact, I think he still is.
He was promoted to GySgt in Beirut for one day when he was with 8th Marines, and then promoted to CWO. He was then sent to Quantico for OCS for WOs. He knows Capt. Dale Dye. He retired as a CWO 5 in the '90s from 2/2 IIRC. I love that man (in a fraternal way, of course). |
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We the very first CWO5 in the Navy on USS Ronald Reagan, he was the Food Officer. He ordered what he wanted to serve and didn't care what the budget said he could spend. He started out as a porter on ships when they only allowed black men to be cooks and officer staff.
Funniest thing, I was having chicken tenders for chow one time. Went to bite in and found them to be raw. Pulled open another one and it was raw as well. CWO walked up asking how everyone's food was, saw my food before i could even say a word. He reached down and took my plate, saying he would be back with some properly cook chicken. You could hear him yelling at the kitchen staff over all the noise of the crew and ship underway. About 5 minutes later he walk back out with a plate full of tenders and said he cooked them himself so he knows they are done right. |
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Must be why they're so rare... no such thing as Secretary of the Marine Corps. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Not very common. Usually referred to as Gunners. They are SME's in their field. https://www.military-ranks.org/marine-corps/chief-warrant-officer-5 Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CW5) is the fifth, and highest, Warrant Officer rank in the Unites States Marine Corps. They are officially appointed by the the Secretary of the Marine Corps. Must be why they're so rare... no such thing as Secretary of the Marine Corps. Yeah, I just realized that site is dildo's. ![]() |
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It may not work out so well for an Lt to try to pull rank my friend. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Not USMC, but In 9 years of active duty Army, I only ever saw 1 CWO5. It was at Ft Riley, KS. As for WOs in general, I'm still not 100% sure wtf it is they do, or why the rank exists. They're higher in rank than the highest of CSMs, but lower in rank than the lowliest butter-bar 2nd LT. It may not work out so well for an Lt to try to pull rank my friend. There are, or were, two WO's in Artillery battalions. The Maintenance Officer and the Property Book Officer. Piss them off and all your shit's deadlined and you're signed for a billion dollars worth of stuff you've never seen. It's the third thing a lieutenant should learn. The first is you have two eyes, two ears and one mouth: use them proportionally. The second is you will learn more from your NCO's than your boss. |
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