Should the Air Force bring back Warrant Officers?

I definitely think there is a place in Aircraft Maintenance for Warrent Officers. Aircraft Maintenance is a craft, and anytime you force 100% of journeyman to become Craftsman you have failed that craft. Keep only the best journeyman, put them on track for craftsman, then offer them Flying Crew Chief positions as Warrent Officers. The journeyman and Craftsman that don't choose Flying Crew Chief roles would stay on a management track. This keeps the best wrench turners on aircraft and teaching Amn, and removes the 100% forced progression from journeyman to Craftsman which will keep the talent at the Craftsman level instead of washing it out the door with career advancement.

Right off the bat, during my time in the Navy, as enlisted Petty officer or Chief, I was doing jobs that the Air Force used officers and warrants for. Give your enlisted personnel those billets. Warrants were created in the Air Force and Army and after Viet Nam, found themselves RIFed or reduced in rank. The Navy used Warrant Officers as well, but they were more of an operational asset, somewhere between commissioned and non comissioned officer. Most of my friends went LDO to be able to participate in the operational leadership opportunities. Warrant officers got a lot of respect from the enlisted community, having been there, and done that. Again, however, I feel that the Air Force should shift responsibility to their senior NCO community first. If you need pilot warrants, that is another thing altogether. The army had them during Viet Nam, but again, that did not end well for those who went that route.

No you do not want warrants! I've been in both services. Warrants form their silly clique and give commissioned officers a hard time. Trust you do not want that!

Rather than utilizing them as leadership, utilize them as subject matter experts to advise leadership. It keeps them in their field as experts without the Human Resources aspect.
They would be writing the manuals on EVERYTHING; They would initiate beta testing programs; They would be the auditors and editors.

Army has warrant officers to do a great job I think they should go ahead and bring the warrant officer is back it's almost this area to have one officers in your service they do things that commissioned officers and ncos are lined up to do and any service that doesn't have warrant officers should be reevaluated to see if they can bring those back

TACP/JTAC's should be warrant officers. as should cct and pj. all battlefield airmen deserve it.

In theory the Warrant is supposed to be an SME allowed to focus exclusively on a particular mission, as opposed to RLOs being generalists. Its probably a good idea for technical fields.

Some of the reasons E-8/9 was created was to relieve junior officers of most military duties so they could concentrate on their primary duties. I was the Quality Assurance officer in an electronic warfare squadron as an E-8 so that the O-2 normally assigned there could concentrate on being a better mission commander. E-9's routinely fill billets in the Naval Air Force that an O1/2 limited duty officer would do.

Dear God NO! I am in the Army and can honestly tell you Warrant Officers are the worst. Most, if not all are nothing more than former NCO's that couldn't get picked up for the next rank. Very few are truly "subject matter experts." The main reason the Army still embraces Warrant's is they are cheaper than actual officers. Considering the Army actually has more aircraft than the Air Force the cost difference adds up. The Army further invested in the Warrant Officer Corps because it was decided even more money could be saved by putting Warrants in positions that require an Officer, but not necessarily any tactical or command demands. Trust me on this, the Air Force is a much better place without Warrant Officers and will suffer greatly if they bring them back. There was a reason they were dumped. Sometimes decisions made long ago still make sense. I have 17 years in the Army, as a SFC, I strongly suggest you think otherwise. MOST 2nd LTs. Are more mature and responsible than most Warrants I have worked with. There are a handful that do well, but to few to make a difference. Don't do it.

It's a zero sum game. Warrants, being commissioned officers come onto the books at the expense of other commissioned slots. We would not gain additional commissioned allocations by bringing them back. When you reduce the numbers in other grades it has a profound ripple effect on force management. BL: AF has looked and re-looked at the issue numerous times and has elected to keep Warrants out of our rank structure.