Top Cook Makes Top Grade
Story
& cover photo by SFC Cheryl Lesser; Additional photos provided
by
CW5 Schouviller - Posted Jun, 2000
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After serving 46 years in the Washington Army National Guard (WA-ARNG) Chief Warrant Officer Keith J. Schouviller, Detachment 1, State Area Command (STARC), the state's top food service officer, was promoted earlier this year to Master Chief Warrant Officer (CWO5).
Keith J. Schouviller has been a member of the Washington Army National Guard for nearly half a century, and now he has been promoted to the highest attainable rank within the Warrant Officer Corps - that of Master Chief Warrant Officer.
He currently serves with the U.S. Property and Fiscal Office as State Food Advisor for the WA-ARNG. Assigned to this position in October 1998, Chief Schouviller oversees the WA-ARNG Food Program, managing all assets for Annual Training, Health and Nutrition standards and all adjustments to troop preference menus according to the Armed Forces Menu Standards Regulation.
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Chief Schouviller is the seventh Warrant Officer in the state to be promoted to this highest of Warrant Officer ranks.
A native of Mankato, Minnesota, Chief Shouviller moved with his parents to Olympia, Washington in 1949. Shouviller joined the WA-ARNG June of 1954. He served as an enlisted soldier until February of 1979, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant, at which time he was appointed to the warrant officer ranks in the Food Service Technician career field.
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Chief Schouviller recalls some of his most memorable events serving with the 81st Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) as "challenging and rewarding". For example, "being twice appointed second runner-up of the Philip A. Connelly Food Service Award Program, has provided great inspiration and pride to me" he said. "I owe great credit over the past 27 years to the personnel of the 81st Infantry Brigade, who have taught me most of what I know today." Chief Shouviller is also the Eagle Region IV food service team chief consisting of 15 western States including Hawaii and Guam. Additionally, his duty included serving as food supervisor for 27,000 troops during Exercise Team Spirit in South Korea during 1986-1987.
Along with his recollection, relaxing in the chair he does his best work, a quote obviously not forgotten comes to Shouviller:
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"We can live without friends and we can live without books, but civilized man cannot live without cooks. We can live without friends, what is friendship but deceiving. We can live without books, what is knowledge but grieving. We can live without love, what is passion but pining? - But where is the man that can live without dining?"
Chief Warrant Officer Schouviller graduated from Olympia High School. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Martins College. His hobbies include hunting, fishing and antique collecting. In civilian life, Chief Schouviller is retired from serving 31 years with the Department of Corrections. He and his wife reside in Shelton, Washington.
A Brief History of
the Army Warrant Officer
(Derived from the
Official History)
The rank of warrant officer has a long history. Evidence suggests that Napoleon used a form of 'warrant officer' as liaison between his commissioned officers and the rank and file soldiers.
The actual military grade of warrant officer dates back two centuries prior to Columbus, during the fledgling years of the British Navy. Officers were drawn from royal families and often had no knowledge of life on board a ship, let alone how to navigate such a vessel or operate the guns. They relied on the technical expertise and cooperation of a senior, expert sailor. These sailors, sometimes referred to as Boat Mates or Boswans Mates were indispensable to the less experienced officers and were frequently rewarded with a 'Royal Warrant', as opposed to a 'Royal Commission'. This special designation set them apart from other sailors, yet did not violate the strict class system of the day.
In the U.S. Navy, warrant officers have traditionally been technical specialists whose skills and knowledge were an essential part of the proper operation of the ship. The Navy has had warrant officers among its ranks, in some form or another, since its conception.
For the U.S. Army, the lineage of the Warrant Officer can be traced back to 1896, specifically to the position known as 'Headquarters Clerk'. The Act of August 1916, authorized the redesignation of the 'Headquarters Clerk' as 'Army Field Clerk', and provided for the 'Field Clerk, Quartermaster Corps' (formerly 'Pay Clerk'). Although these personnel were initially considered civilians, the Judge Advocate General eventually determined that they held military status.
Officially, the birth date of the Army Warrant Officer Corps is 7 July 1918, with the passing of the Act of July 1918. This act established the Army [coastal] Mine Planter Service in the Coastal Artillery Corps and directed that 'warrant officers' serve as masters, mates, chief engineers, and assistant engineers of each vessel.
The Act of 1920 broadened warrant officer positions by authorizing warrant officers in clerical, administrative, and band-leading activities, and establishing warrant officer assignments in various headquarters and tactical units. Perhaps the most significant motive for the expansion was "a desire to reward enlisted men of long service and also to reward former commissioned officers of World War I who lacked either the educational or other eligibility requirements necessary for continuance in the commissioned status."
The distinctive insignia of the Warrant Officers Corps was approved on 12 May 1921, and was first worn by warrant officers in the Tank corps. It consists of an eagle rising with wings displayed, standing on two arrows and enclosed in a wreath. It was derived from the Great Seal of the United States, with the arrows symbolizing the military arts and sciences.
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The Act of 1941 created two grades, Chief Warrant Officer and Warrant Officer Junior Grade, and authorized flight pay for warrant officers whose duties involved aerial flight. It also provided for appointments of up to one percent of the Regular Army enlisted strength to warrant officer positions.
In November 1942, the War Department defined the position of all warrant officers within the overall rank structure as "being above all enlisted ranks and immediately below all commissioned officers".
Women were first authorized for appointment to warrant officer in January 1944. By the conclusion of World War II, there were 42 female warrant officers on active duty.
The Career Compensation Act of 1949, provided two new pay rates for warrant officers. The designations of Warrant Officer Junior Grade and Chief Warrant Officer were retained; however, the grade of Chief Warrant Officer was provided with pay rates of W2, W3 and W4.
In January 1957 the following definition was adopted: "The warrant officer is a highly skilled technician who is provided to fill those positions above the enlisted level which are too specialized in scope to permit the effective development and continued utilization of broadly-trained, branch-qualified commissioned officers."
Until 1984 warrant officers were promoted from the enlisted ranks by direct appointment. In that year, however, the Chief of Staff chartered the Total Warrant Officer Study (TWOS) and the Vice Chief of Staff ordered that all direct appointments cease, while a Warrant Officer Candidate Course was established at Fort Sill.
Among other changes and refinements in the Army's Warrant Officer Corps, the TWOS commission provided a redefinition of the warrant officer:
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"An officer appointed by warrant by the Secretary of the Army based upon a sound level of technical and tactical competence. The warrant officer is the highly specialized expert and trainer who, by gaining progressive levels of expertise and leadership, operates, maintains, administers, and manages the Army's equipment, support activities, or technical systems for an entire career."
The study also recommended the creation of a 5th warrant officer lever - Master Chief Warrant Officer. On 5 December 1991, with the implementation of the Warrant Officer Management Act, the new grade became a reality.
Visit the Warrant Officer Career Center
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