Chief warrant officer 3 (W-3)
Chief warrant officer 3 is a US Navy warrant officer rank, pay grade W-3. On khakis the insignia is a silver bar enamelled blue with one silver band across the middle, so it shows two blue sections.
Easily confused with
- Chief warrant officer 4 (W-4)Silver bars enamelled blue: two blue sections for W-3, three for W-4.
- Warrant officer 1 (W-1)Warrant officer 1 is the lowest US Navy warrant officer rank, pay grade W-1, brought back in 2018 for cyber warrant officers. On khakis the insignia is a gold bar enamelled blue with one gold band across the middle.
How to read it
The uniform regulations describe it as a blue background broken across the centre by a silver break 6 mm (¼ in) wide. A warrant officer 1 wears the same pattern in gold. On the sleeve of the blue coat, a W-3 wears one 13 mm (½ in) gold stripe with two blue breaks. It sits above Chief warrant officer 2 (W-2) and below Chief warrant officer 4 (W-4). Navy.com says a chief warrant officer 3 takes on broader technical leadership, managing larger programs.
Also searched as: CWO3.
Ranks and insignia as the US Navy’s own uniform regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Counting the blue
On the collar, higher grades have more blue sections: W-3 two, W-4 three. On the sleeve it runs the other way: the regulations give W-2 three blue breaks, W-3 two and W-4 one.
Read next
- Next in Navy ranksChief warrant officer 4 (W-4)Chief warrant officer 4 is a US Navy warrant officer rank, pay grade W-4. On khakis the insignia is a silver bar enamelled blue with two silver bands across it, so it shows three blue sections.
- The same shape in Geometry symbolsLine, ray and segment notation (AB)A mark over two letters says which part of a line is meant: a plain bar over AB is the segment from A to B, an arrow pointing right is the ray from A through B, and an arrow at each end is the whole line through A and B.
More navy ranks
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- Navy Uniform Regulations, article 4103: Shoulder insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), art. 4103, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4103.4a(8)(c); art. 4103.4a(8)(b)
- Navy Uniform Regulations, article 4101: Officer sleeve insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), art. 4101, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4101.3b(1)(c), 4101.3b(2); art. 4101.3b(1)(b), (d)
- Navy Uniform Regulations, article 4104: Collar grade insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), art. 4104, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4104.2–3
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Officer insignia, W-3
- 37 U.S.C. § 201: Pay grades, 37 U.S. Code § 201, Pay grades: assignment to; general rules, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, § 201(b)
- U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia, U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia (navy.com), U.S. Navy Recruiting Command (navy.com), Warrant Officers: W-1 to W-5
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 29, 2026. How we research
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