Chief warrant officer 3 (W-3)
A silver bar with three black squares is the insignia of a chief warrant officer 3 (CW3), pay grade W-3 in the US Army.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The CW3 bar is silver-colored, 3/8 inch wide and 1 1/8 inches long, with three black enamel squares (DA Pamphlet 670-1), one more than a Chief warrant officer 2 (W-2) and one fewer than a Chief warrant officer 4 (W-4). The Army’s ranks page describes CW3s as advanced-level experts who work mainly from team or detachment level through brigade. The Department of Defense lists the grade as W-3, and says commissioned warrant officers derive their authority from the same source as commissioned officers.
Also searched as: CW3.
Ranks and insignia as the US Army’s own regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
How a chief warrant officer is addressed
Army Regulation 600-20 gives the title of address for chief warrant officers 2 to 5 as “Chief” or Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. The Army Recruiting Command’s customs training says all five warrant officer ranks are addressed as “Mr.” or “Ms.” followed by the last name.
Read next
- Next in Army ranksChief warrant officer 4 (W-4)A silver bar with four black squares is the insignia of a chief warrant officer 4 (CW4), pay grade W-4 in the US Army.
- The same shape in Acura dashboard symbolsAcura Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) indicatorAcura’s Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) indicator comes on when there is a problem with RDM or when the system has shut itself off. RDM is the Acura system that warns, steers and sometimes brakes when the car is about to cross detected lane markings or leave the road.
More army ranks
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- DA Pamphlet 670-1, Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, DA PAM 670-1, 26 January 2021, Headquarters, Department of the Army (Army Publishing Directorate), para 21–6a(10), 21–6a(9), 21–6a(8); para 21–6a(5), (7)–(11)
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Insignia chart: chief-warrant-officer-2, chief-warrant-officer-3, chief-warrant-officer-4; Officer insignia, warrant officers
- U.S. Army Ranks, army.mil ranks page (enlisted, warrant officer and officer ranks), U.S. Army, Warrant officer ranks
- Army Regulation 600-20, Army Command Policy, AR 600-20, 6 February 2025 (administrative revision 20 February 2025), Headquarters, Department of the Army (copy hosted by the Army Transportation Corps, transportation.army.mil), para 1–7b; table 1–1
- Military Customs and Courtesies (Initial Soldier Training), U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Future Soldier training slides, 14 April 2020, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Officer rank, slide 15
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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