If the Air Force implements Warrant Officers, what pitfalls should they avoid and lessons learned should they consider?

Lt Col Jim Coe — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 12:09:11 -0400

Researching an article on Air Force implementing WOs. Would like to hear from serving, separated, and retired Warrant Officers about praise and pitfalls in your service's WO program. Problems Air Force should avoid through policies, processes, human resource management? How did WOs relate to Senior NCOs?

Response by CWO3 Dennis M. made Aug 26 at 2017 5:31 PM

CWO3 Dennis M. — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 17:31:57 -0400

I retired 27 years ago, so I am not real familiar with any changes since I hit the Retirement trail. In the Navy they are regarded very highly by senior officers and junior officers alike. Navy warrant ranks are filled with to best of the Chief Petty Officers (CPO's, E-7, E-8 & E-9) in their field and must apply for a position and a selection board reviews the service record and application, very few get selected. The E-7's selected as Warrants had to have a minimum of 14 years service and at least 2 years as a Chief. To give you some idea on how they are respected, in the Navy they are given the respect of a LCDR (O-4) in the wardroom seating and in State room placement. As an OOD Underway, my ships Capt. (O-6) always wanted his Chief Warrants or LDO's on the Bridge as OOD when things got busy, Like transiting the Panama Canal, Gibraltar, English Channel, or other tricky underway evolution's. I asked the Skipper about this and he said we know the Warrants have been in the Navy a long time and have tons of leadership abilities, and they tend to be more mature and level headed than Junior Officers. In the Navy, since a Warrant came from the Chief's ranks, he was always welcomed in the CPO mess. I was always welcome to join the CPO's for chow (They had the best) and to join into a double Deck pinochle game at any time! They were rarely questioned as to their professional or military decisions, and considered the best in their field. The Enlisted men also respect the Navy Warrant as he was one of them many years ago. I guess you can tell, I am a little Biased, but my career in the Navy was one I would never trade for anything.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 7 at 2017 10:37 AM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 10:37:00 -0400

In my experience, Warrant Officers are generally better able to relate to the NCO corps. Most are former enlisted and because they are generally not in command positions, they can provide advice and counsel that is more readily accepted than their commissioned counterparts.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2017 10:53 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 22:53:39 -0400

They should be respected for the skills and most importantly the experience they bring to the equation. Warrants shouldn't be regulated to 3LT status and be a CO XO or other positions normally filled by LT's.

Response by CWO4 Steven Strehle made Oct 12 at 2017 11:42 AM

CWO4 Steven Strehle — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 11:42:11 -0400

There was great interaction between the senior enlisted, and the warrant officers. I want officer is recognized as a technical specialist, and expert in his or her field. The only problem I ever had was when I was mobilized for Desert Shield. I was the officer in charge of a port security to detachment, working with a Coast Guard cutter. The commanding officer of the cutterhead little, or no respect for the security detachment. It was below freezing, with sleet and snow. We could not go aboard the cutter on several occasions because they were having training. My crews needed to warm up, and dry out their equipment. When our RHI broke down we used the cutter's RHI for our patrols. The steering cable snapped on it, and we were nearly thrown overboard. The CO of the cutter stood on the bridge deck of the cutter (I was on the boat deck) and "reamed me out." The XO of the cutter contacted me the next day, and let me know that it was a maintenance issue. The commanding officer would not let them do preventive maintenance, in order to save money. I was a CW03 at the time. The commanding officer was a LTJG. In other words, I had well over 20 years experience, and he had maybe 5. I was told later that he lost his command over this, and several other issues that occurred during the security couple evolutions.

To sum this up, junior officers need to remember to trust the warrant officers. The warrant officers are specialists, and are experts in their field. They need to make sure they listen to the senior enlisted, and the warrants.

Response by CWO3 Jonathan Roy made Mar 17 at 2018 2:08 PM

CWO3 Jonathan Roy — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 14:08:30 -0400

95% of our CWO’s in the Coast Guard were E-7’s (Chiefs) prior to the switch so I believe it fosters better relationships with Senior Enlisted leaders. I know the Army allows Sgt’s at the E-5 level to promote to CWO, which in my opinion makes the CWO more of a JO rather than a senior leadership position. Promoting an outstanding enlisted person at the Staff ranks sets the CWO’s apart from the younger officers. It should be noted that we do allow E-6’s to apply for Warrent however most do not make it with exception of our CGIS agents.

Response by CWO2 James Mathews made Jun 14 at 2018 1:56 PM

CWO2 James Mathews — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 13:56:58 -0400

As a Warrant Officer (W-1), I was treated officially as an officer., with all the privileges and responsibilities usually applied to a junior officer. In actuality, I served for my first year as a W-1 as an Asst. Div. (Torpedo, Maintenance, and Repair- USS Holland AS-12) Officer to an LT. from whom I learned much of what I now know about how NOT to run a Division! Following the Lt's transfer, I served as an Asst. Division Officer to a CWO-3. When I made CWO-2 I was advanced to the Division Officer and served in that capacity until transferred to a new Command. When I arrived at my new command (USS Dixon - AS-37) and was immediately installed as the Torpedo Division Officer. During my next three years, I was qualified as an Officer Of The Deck (OD) Underway, and later as a Command Duty Officer (CDO). It was during this period that I learned a bit about Leadership from my seniors: Treat your men well, Forget about showing off how much you know and praising the men for what they know, Forget how important you are, and concentrate on how important your men are, Ask yourself, everytime you get exasperated with the Division, what you would be able to accomplish without the men (I averaged about once a day!), Every day expect some new problem and be as ready as possible to combat such using the talents and capabiliities of the men in your Division, Support your men and division to your seniors, take responsibility for all bad things happening in your division and, praise the men responsible for the good things. Maintain an even level of discipline regardless of your personal feelings. Now I do say that I am any kind of an expert in such things and I made many mistakes in my service as a Warrant, however, were I asked to instruct on the leadership in any category, military or civilian, the above points would be the ones I would stress as absolutely necessary for a smooth Divisional Operation!