Is Warrant officer the way to go?

If you're in the right MOS, go for it. In the Guard and Reserve you have full time personnel (AGR) . I knew a guy that was admin and was assigned to BN.HQ. He made it to E-7 and when the unit was deactivated he was assigned to state Hq. He became a Warrant Officer and retired as a W-3.

A Chief/Warrant Officer is a Master Specialist in his MOS, which in a mater of speaking hold a higher prestige then a CSM, when it comes down to what you do for the Nation and Troops on the ground; one tells you to shave the other shaves the bad guys off you.

The Pros: You join an elite group of SMEs, that are in dire need throughout the Army
Cons: The amount of contracted jobs sometimes hinders the capability the Army Warrant Corps is set out to be. Everything is lobbied down to contractors. One good thing that came out of having a single platform JLTV, it has the POTENTIAL of giving Warrants on sch field the ability to be more hands on when it comes to being SMEs to a platform. My two cents from looking at it from the outside, as an officer.

From what I was told yes! Cause then you're on both sides of the fire!

Do what makes you happy. It will be you that you have to live with

I know you are probably looking for a career move, but I have something else in mind. At the reception station at Ft. Jackson, I scored pretty high on the GT score. I originally thought that it might be a good idea to go to OCS and a 110 would qualify. Warrant Officers had to have at least 115. My dad was a WW II vet and totally admired Warrants. Anyway, twenty four of us were marched to a building where a test (fast test) would be administered to see if we had the potential to be helicopter pilots. Twenty said no way and returned to the barracks. The remaining four of us passed and were told that after flight school we would probably be sent to fly in Vietnam. Suddenly there were only two of us. The other fellow's name was Nelson and he asked if his religion would be a problem. Turned it was and he was a CO and therefore couldn't continue. This became the first of many lessons that I learned about Army programs. If they want to try something different, the will do everything to prove it a success. After basic at Ft. Gordon and medical training at Ft Sam Houston I received orders to primary flight school at Ft Wolters. I almost busted out when it took right up to the last hour to finally hover and get my solo flight. The last eight weeks were shortened to six to get the pilots through the training sooner. I got bronchitis and spent two weeks in a hospital. I graduated because they pushed me through - another Army program that was going to succeed. I went to advanced training at Ft. Rucker where I had trouble with instrument training and should have been put back a class or busted out of the program, but low and behold I passed on the third standardization ride. Toward the end, I failed the airframe and power plant test and passed the retest. In other words, I was not the best student to pass through flight school, but pass I did and got my Warrant and my wings. My dad and grandmother came to my graduation and I was proud. Even more so because you had to be smarter to go to Warrant training than to OCS. One other minor tidbit - The Army had to make several mistakes for it to happen, but I was the only person to go through flight training during the entire Vietnam war who did not sign any paperwork volunteering for flight training. They found out a few weeks before graduation and I was smart enough to know why they got so hyper, especially when I refused to sign. When my bar was pinned on, I swear I heard that Major give a huge sigh. Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat!

I was selected for both a direct commission and as a Warrant. I chose to become a commissioned officer rather than a Warrant. I wish I had chosen otherwise.

Good luck...but make sure you have a recuiter that will do their job. I ran into too many obstacles and eventually left the reserves. I hope your path doesn't enounter any of the pitfalls that I experienced.

It's not just a pay raise. It's more responsibility - meaning higher expectations of you by the command level. You will be considered a tactical and technical professional. BTW, I see you have 16 years AFS, and only an E6. Why is that?

Like all the other warrants here consider it the best decision I ever made. There is a camaraderie among warrants that can't be found anywhere else among so many no matter where I was assigned to someone was nearby I could go to seek advice guidance or just sound off to. I provided the same service to them as well. As others have stated you don't have to know everything but you do need to know you to go ask or be willing to put the time in to learn everything you need to know. While rewarding it also is one of the hardest jobs. The learning never stops most warrants now have at least a Bachelor's degree my guess is the esteemed CW5s probably have or are working on masters or doctoral degrees. That is just the formal education, doesn't cover all the changing systems or procedural changes. As far as taking care of soldiers it just gets bigger from plt or squad size to company or Bjorn size. You are responsible for them completing their job or mission. If you decide to go do remember to pack your sense of humor and teamwork for WOCES.