Those familiar with the rating system of the United States Navy is aware that it is subject to constant change brought on either by technological advancements or the recognition that the duties of some ratings overlap with another or have become redundant. The same is true for Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Designators, the four-digit codes which specify what specialties are open for enlisted Sailors to advance to CWO—and why there hasn’t been a CWO Ship Repair Technician for a very long time.
Take the changes made the Department of the Navy at the outset of World War II, for example. Realizing that new technologies required more specialized Sailors, and also aware that the number of enlisted personnel would be growing on an order magnitude over the next few years, the Navy decided to create several new grades of Warrant Officers. The eight grades comprised four specialties: Torpedoman, Ship’s Clerk, Photographer, and Aerographer. Although the grades were new, some of them encompassed duties that were already being carried out under existing grades. Many of the duties of Torpedoman and Chief Torpedoman, for instance, had previously been handled by Gunners and Chief Gunners, respectively.
Before, there were twelve Warrant Officer categories, with each divided into two grades: Warrant Officer and Commissioned Warrant Officer (listed as “Chief” in their titles). These were Aerographers, Boatswains, Carpenters, Electricians, Gunners, Machinists, Pay Clerks, Pharmacists, Photographer’s Radio Electricians, Ship’s Clerks, and Torpedomen. (The Pay Clerk category also included an “Acting Pay Clerk.”)
Along with the creation of the Hospital Corps to replace the Pharmacist rating in 1947, the Secretary of the Navy expanded the CWO Designators within the remaining eleven Warrant Officer categories to more accurately reflect the duties that were being performed. There was, for example, no longer just the Carpenter and Chief Carpenter Warrant Officer grades. Instead, Carpenter was expanded into six new Designators under Carpenter: Aviation Structural Technician (771x), Aviation Survival Technician (772x), Building Foreman (779x), Foundryman (773x), Drafting Technician (778x), and Ship Repair Technician (774x).
These Designator Codes first appeared in the 1952 edition of the
Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Designator for Ship Repair Technician was eliminated in 1975 and replaced with other codes that more accurately reflected the warfare community in which the CWO was serving. Instead of Ship Repair Technician, the CWO Designators became 714x for Repair Technician (Surface) and 724x for Repair Technician (Submarine).
Important: Due to the extremely low demand on this item, it is manufactured on order. While we might have some in stock, please allow for up to 10 business days processing time.Related Items
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