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.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The uniform regulations describe it as the Chief warrant officer 3 (W-3) pattern with the break in gold instead of silver, so the bar shows two blue sections. It is worn on the right collar point, with a staff insignia on the left. On the blue coat sleeve a W-1 wears a 6 mm (¼ in) gold stripe with three blue breaks, narrower than the 13 mm (½ in) stripe of the chief warrant officers. The Department of Defense says the lowest-ranking warrant officers serve under a warrant and are commissioned by the president on promotion to Chief warrant officer 2 (W-2), the next rank up. Navy.com calls W-1 the beginning of the warrant officer career path.
Also searched as: cyber warrant officer, WO1.
Ranks and insignia as the US Navy’s own uniform regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Back after 1975
The Navy discontinued the rank in 1975. NAVADMIN 140/18, in June 2018, brought back the W-1 pay grade for cyber warrant officers, open to cryptologic technicians (networks) from E-5 with 6 to 12 years of service, and the first new warrant officer 1s were selected that December. Federal pay law lists the grade as warrant officer, W-1.
Gold bar, two blue sections
A Chief warrant officer 2 (W-2) also wears a gold bar, but with two gold bands and three blue sections. A silver bar with two blue sections is a Chief warrant officer 3 (W-3).
More navy ranks
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)(e), (c)
- 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)(e), (a)–(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-1
- 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
- 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)
- NAVADMIN 140/18: Modification of the Navy Cyber Warrant Officer Program, NAVADMIN 140/18 (4 June 2018), Chief of Naval Operations, via MyNavy HR, header; paras. 1–3
- NIOC Georgia Sailor Selected to Warrant Officer 1, Navy’s First Since 1975, Navy News Service story, December 2018, DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service), paras. 1–3
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research