Posted on Dec 14, 2013
CW5 Senior Ordnance Wo Career Manager
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</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">Do you believe friction exists between Warrants and
O-Grades? If so, why and where does it stem from? </font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">

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Posted in these groups: Officers logo OfficersWarrant officers logo Warrant Officers
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CW3 Maintenance Technician
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Chief,
Unfortunately Warrants are our own worst enemy and some get into that  "i'm a Warrant I cant be touch attitude." I wouldn't necessarily say there is friction between us but when there is a problem between an O and W, its a little more magnified because of the stigma Warrants carry that we do what we want. 

Personally, I always think about that future WO1 and ensure never to disrespect a LT/CPT by yelling or talking back to him in a bad manor although I probably could get away with it to an extent.

At the end of the day O-Grades run the show and us Warrants are here to advise/manage.
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CW5 Senior Ordnance Wo Career Manager
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CW2 Walker,

Geeeeez..you are so right. We are our worst enemy at times. Please continue to mentor the Warrants out there so we get away from the notion of, "I'm a Warrant, I can't be touched attitude". I appreciate your post and thank you.
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MAJ Battalion Executive Officer
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Chief, 

I'm in a Sustainment unit (Many Warrants, WO1-CW4) and I have had both good and bad experiences. I'm an AMEDD officer so we only have two Warrant MOS in our branch (Vet Food Inspectors and Medical Equip Repairers). I was a young 2LT and witnessed a CW2 and a CPT arguing, the part of the conversation I heard was "Don't confuse your authority with my technical expertise!" I had to do a double take....The only thing that really rubs me wrong is when I hear a Warrant officer state that CW3 and above are "Field Grades". I once discussed this with a few Warrants and told them my take was that WO1-CW2 are Jr. Grades, CW3-CW4 are SR. Warrants and a CW5 is a Master Warrant. I've never seen a CW3-5 wear gold leafs on their service caps and their CAC IDs still say Geneva Category III.......I just wish that Warrants would stop trying to compare themselves to Officers. Be who you are, Technical Experts and Leaders. Not commanders, not PLs, not OICs......
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CW3 Maintenance Technician
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Sir,
I too gringe when I hear people say CW3 and above are Field Grade equivalent. But, I don't normally hear it from Warrants but from younger enlisted/O-grades. I did hear from my Regimental Warrant Officer that it is a change coming up making WO1-CW2 Company grade and CW3-CW5 Field Grade Warrant Officers. I believe this to be correct since the new OER will line up as such.
But, I don't think its necessarily Warrants trying to compare themselves to O-grades but the big Army forcing us to become PLs/detachment commanders and many of us are OICs due to the fact that there are no O-grades leading the section. 
Trust me Warrants have no desire to become  Commanders, I was on assumption of command orders for 2 weeks and just about picked up smoking! Lol
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CW5 Senior Ordnance Wo Career Manager
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1LT(P) Weber,<br><br>There is a working draft (which I have seen) to AR 600-20, that will change the title for WO1-CW2 to 'Company Grade Warrant Officer' and CW3-CW4 title to 'Field Grade Warrant Officer'. The first official start of this change seems to be with the new OER that will take effect APR 2014. I believe the Army is doing this for one reason and that's to better align and recognize Warrant Officers with their company/field grade counterparts in terms of privilege/treatment/experience/and that's about it. Once again, based on privilege/treatment/experience and "NOT" authority based. At the end of the day, the most junior 2LT will outrank the most senior CW5, plain and simple. <br><br>Additionally, the Army is still confused on how Warrant Officers are to be treated/formally recognized in a sense,for example, housing (different across installations) which some installation Commanders recognize Sr. Warrants for field grade housing as a CW3, some as a CW4 or CW5..basically there is no distinct standard/recognition....social events, boarding an aircraft (for deployment and redeployment), etc... The aforementioned is a start to better align us. I realized in Aviation, O-4s/O-5s/O-6s call their CW3s and above Field Grades in which I am in an Aviation unit now. Bottom line, I believe until the Army specifically states, 'Company Grade Warrant Officer' or&nbsp; 'Field Grade Warrant Officer', then we are not considered as such. I prefer my title to be classified as a Senior Warrant Officer and not Field Grade Warrant Officer.&nbsp; When the Army changes, then I guess have to change. <br><br>One last note, the Army wants their Warrant Officers to be Leaders, Technical Experts, PL's, Commanders and perhaps even OIC's. For example, in boat units (Fort Eustis, VA) the detachment commander is a Warrant by MTOE..in a joint support element detachment (Macdill AFB, FL), the Commander is a CW5 by MTOE; in a UAS platoon assign to a BSTB, the PL is a CW3 by MTOE and they also have the same view in Field Artillery based on the MTOE; if there is no OIC around, then Warrants seem to foot the bill for that as well. As you can see Sir, times have changed and will continue to change and a lot more is being required of us, then just simply being a technical expert and leader. <br><br>Thank you for your post Sir.<br>
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MAJ Battalion Executive Officer
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Great input CW3 Jones. I was not tracking those changes (except for the OER changing to the Grade Slate for all officers). I think it is only fair to offer more senior warrants better housing. I don't think an CW3/4 should live in the same housing as a CGO. They have been in the service longer and have been in Warrant service longer than most Captains. I did know about the Army Vessels. That is unique and a great opportunity for the Boat Warrants. Thanks again for the great discussion and sharing your knowledge. 
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CPT Assistant Operations Officer (S3)
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When I was a LRS scout back in the day we have a Chief that we closely worked with. He was an awesome guy and we had a great working relationship. In the infantry you really don't deal much with chiefs but I hope other chiefs were as professional as this guy was. He made our life easy and we appreciated it.
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CW5 Senior Ordnance Wo Career Manager
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2LT Rosa,<br><br>Professionalism definitely builds great working relationships!<br>
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