First President and Founding Member

According to LCDR John A. Heikel, Chief Pay Clerk Raymond Gillis played a central role in organizing the earliest efforts to form a warrant officers’ association. Gillis, one of the first warrant pay clerks appointed in 1920, was serving as the disbursing officer at the Boston District Office and for the offshore patrol boats of Divisions One and Two. John M. Gray, who served with Gillis from 1913 to 1916, also confirmed his early appointment and leadership.

Heikel recalled that in January 1928, following a snowstorm that deposited nearly two feet of snow in Boston, several Division One cutters were moored at Pier 10 in the Charlestown Navy Yard. He stated that approximately 17 warrant officers gathered on the mess deck aft of CGC AGASSIZ. Most of those present were Boatswains and Machinists, representing cutters such as ACTIVE, HARRIETT LANE, ALERT, ANTIETAM, and BONHAM.
However, records from the National Archives indicate that AGASSIZ was on patrol near Matinicus Rock Light during that time. At the end of January, the cutter cruised 103 miles over a 12-hour period and later sought shelter from a storm in Rockland, Maine. The cutter returned to base on January 30 and moored at approximately 3:00 a.m. on January 31. Another document in the Association archives suggests the meeting may have taken place aboard HARRIETT LANE instead.
Despite conflicting recollections regarding the exact location, Heikel remembered that Gillis was invited to attend the meeting and preside until a formal vote for president could be conducted. Gillis accepted the role of President Pro Tem. Committees were established, and a legislative committee drafted a Preamble and Constitution. This committee included Everett Mills of ACTIVE, Roy Clark of ANTIETAM, and Charles Hannum of AGASSIZ.
Historical evidence suggests that the more likely foundational meeting occurred on July 2, 1928. On that date, chief warrant and warrant officers from 22 units met at the Boston Navy Yard. A temporary committee, chaired by Gillis, was elected to organize a national association. Warrant officers were encouraged to “get in touch with Chief Pay Clerk Gillis and obtain from him data on how to organize local units.”
This gathering marked the formal beginning of coordinated efforts to establish what would become the Chief Warrant and Warrant Officers Association.