The near-equatorial orbit of the Charge Composition Explorer (CCE) has an apogee of 9 RE, and the spacecraft frequently crosses the magnetopause when it is at its maximum range and within a few hours of local noon. On rare occasions the disturbed solar wind compresses the magnetosphere so much that CCE passes through the bow shock into the interplanetary medium. For these events, CCE is near apogee with a speed that is very low with respect to that of the nominal standing bow shock surface, and the spacecraft instruments are very well positioned to investigate details of bow shock structure and motion. Here we summarize plasma wave observations for the CCE bow shock crossings of November 1, 1984, and February 8, 1986, and then focus attention on the 1984 multiple shock crossing events. For this case we demonstrate that the characteristic features in the wave measurements provide unique signatures for the magnetosheath, bow shock, and foreshock. The most striking signature in the wave data is the presence of a relatively constant signal of 10-6 V m-1 Hz-1/2 observed in the 30-kHz channel when the spacecraft is in the magnetosheath. Using this signature, we are able to determine that multiple quasi-periodic bow shock crossings (20-s period) detected near 0900 UT, November 1, 1984, were associated with wavelike motion of the shock surface rather than with structure of the shock itself. Properties of the 30-kHz magnetosheath signal are consistent with those expected for thermal plasma fluctuations, and we find that this signal is associated with an increase in density for electrons of energies greater than 50 eV. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988