Are Warrant Officer Utilized Correctly?

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 18:10:48 -0500

Army Warrant Officers are technical and tactical experts in their respective fields. With the downsizing of our forces WOs are being required to work outside of the norm. IE: Battalion primary staffs (S-4, S-1, etc). Thoughts?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 19 at 2014 6:12 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 18:12:12 -0500

It is a secret society, no one knows what they do but themselves ;+)

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 19 at 2014 6:30 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 18:30:11 -0500

I think that, will be really good idea to Support the Battalion Staff Jobs, begining with the S3 and S4 having a Warrant Officer in those two possition will make big difference, Warrant Officers are highly Specialized Experts and I know they can adjust really fast to perform in any Job in the Army.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 20 at 2014 10:58 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 10:58:17 -0500

I *am* the "S-6" of my unit, as I'm the OIC of the IT Section....   but we're a very strange animal.  Finance doctrine is, in my not so humble Signal opinion, screwed up.  I work for a Financial Management Center, which is a separate unit...except we're considered a directorate of the ESC while in garrison, and of the TSC while in theater.  Our commander isn't really a commander, so awards and promotions and other stuff have to go up to higher hqs...  and we're NOT co-located. I think it's a load of crap.  Either we're a separate unit, or we're not.  Either our CO should be a commander, or make us a section of the ESC or TSC, falling under the HHC, and COLOCATED.  This in between crap causes more problems than it solves. And dammit, give me a Signal 1LT to be in charge of the section so I can concentrate on the Finance-specific Signal tasks we need to accomplish....

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 5 at 2014 3:31 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 15:31:28 -0400

I've always wondered why Doctors and Nurses aren't WOs.  The only thing I could figure is that WOs don't get paid enough.

Response by SPC Leisel Luman made Jan 4 at 2015 12:07 PM

SPC Leisel Luman — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 12:07:27 -0500

CW4 Eric Metcalf Worst idea I've heard all day. That's a total waste of a good Army Warrant Officer. Plus you know they don't always play nice with others. This being said with the utmost respect. They should only fill those positions out of medical necessity.

Response by SPC Leisel Luman made Jan 4 at 2015 12:24 PM

SPC Leisel Luman — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 12:24:07 -0500

Downsize somewhere else.

Response by CW2 Pamela (Carpenter) Wolf made Apr 16 at 2015 3:54 PM

CW2 Pamela (Carpenter) Wolf — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 15:54:33 -0400

Talk about mis-utilization... back in the day (1978), right after pinning on my new WO1 bar and shiny Aviator wings at Ft. Rucker, I was assigned as the XO of HHC of an aviation battalion in Korea; it was actually my second tour with the same outfit in Korea, but on the prior tour, I was a SPC4.

Being assigned as the company's XO and moving into the XO's office was quite an honor for me. I told the S-1 that we were taught in WOC that warrants could not be in command positions. He just chuckled and told me that I was "very lucky."

I later learned that the only reason I was assigned as the XO was because no other aviator in the battalion wanted to fly with the "old man." After I learned that being the Bn Cmdr's co-pilot was part of the XO's duties, I found myself flying with him on a regular basis, and very soon figured out why the joke was on me. *smile*

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2015 4:12 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 16:12:32 -0400

It's a mystery to me. I work in BN S6 with a CW3 over my shop but he's not a signal WO at all. Plus there's other WOs going around be placed in OIC positions in staff. I was always under the assumption you go where your MOS as a WO says plus of course where the army needs you. They've always been a strange breed.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2017 11:11 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 11:11:54 -0500

As long as, if you must have a warrant officer as a primary staff officer, you keep your 420s in the S-1, your 350s and 351s in the S-2, your 920s in the S-4, and your 255s in the S-6, you're not going too far afield.

When I was searching for a new TPU position, I tried to explain to the HHC Commander of this one brigade about what a warrant officer was, and he was having none of it, and expected me to step up in WHATEVER area, regardless of my expertise. Needless to say, I didn't go into his unit.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made May 5 at 2018 4:04 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 05 May 2018 16:04:15 -0400

For clarification, I wish the Army designated Warrant Officer pilots as Flight Officers 1-5. Warrant Officers are technical experts in their field and move from NCO, usually senior NCO, to WO. Those who enter aviation don't fit that mold. They may become experts in their new field but that don't begin as such. There is precedent for the rank of Flight Officer beginning in WWII.

Response by CW3 Robert Haffly made May 15 at 2018 10:36 AM

CW3 Robert Haffly — Tue, 15 May 2018 10:36:50 -0400

Pilots aren’t “real” warrant officers. Just ask any supply tech.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made May 15 at 2018 8:17 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Tue, 15 May 2018 20:17:30 -0400

Outside the norm? What Wo's don't no anything about Logistics or personnel actions? I would have assumed that they would be better at it than many O's

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 17 at 2018 6:51 AM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 06:51:13 -0400

CWOs are underutilized here in the Navy. I'm my 3 years in, I have met maybe 5 Navy CWOs. I have met more Admirals than that, and that is on a USAF base.

Response by CW3 Kevin Storm made Jul 21 at 2022 2:39 PM

CW3 Kevin Storm — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 14:39:57 -0400

I would say it would be MOS dependent/MTOE Dependent. As a 915, many in my field will be tasked as a BN Maint Tech or BN Motor Officer, defacto you are on a staff now. At the same time we may also be a Platoon Leader. As we progress in grade, we are going to end up on a staff somewhere. Do I want to be on a staff, no not really. As a technician I have an obligation to advice the commander and his/hers subordinate commanders of things in my lane and area of knowledge. Some WO's may never have to be on a staff, but many of us will at one point or time in our careers. My humble advice, do the best you as your mentors did for you.