The life of a Warrant Officer vs Commissioned Officer; which would you choose at age 35?

I was in your shoes, but in the AF (where my decision was commission or not.....no warrant option without changing branches....and I like my job). I got commissioned a month before I turned 35, with 14 years TIS and as an E-7. The transition from E-7 to O-1 (and now to O-2) was very easy for a few reasons. #1 - The Air Force views SNCOs as mentors to company grade officers....moving from mentor to mentee is easy. #2 - I stayed in the same work center. Everyone there already understood that I know what I am talking about (although they did give me crap for being a butter bar and told me that "In my experience" had to leave my vocabulary until I pinned on Capt).

To better answer your question......it depends on what you want to do. Do you enjoy your work? Do you want to keep doing it? If "yes, yes", you should probably go Warrant. Do you want to have a chance to influence the direction of your folks? And by that I mean, do you want to be able to influence your unit's training by advocating for dollars and training opportunities? If the answer is yes to that, commissioned may be the better choice.

And, before you say "you are Air Force, you don't have warrant officers, how would you know?" I have spent my entire career working directly with the Army and I have some experience working with Marine Corps ANGLICO teams. I have worked with warrant and commissioned officers in aviation and fire support for about 15 years. I cannot speak to other disciplines, though.

I hit a crossroads at 8 years in the Army, as a SFC, I had the SPO MAJ and the SPO CW4 confront me and tell me that I was wasting my talents as a NCO and that I had to either choose between becoming a Warrant Officer or a O-Grade Officer. When I asked about Commisisoning Ordnance and I was told that it wasn't 100% guaranteed, that sealed the deal for me. I fast tracked as an NCO, but being a Warrant Officer has been the best decision in my career. I get to interact and mentor the junior enlisted, NCO's and Junior Officers all while being the technical and logistics advisor to XO's, Command Teams, DCO's and BN and BDE Commanders. Could I command a unit, or work staff planning, yes, but that wasn't my aspiration. Speaking for the Army only, Warrant Officers are expected to be SME's and leaders of troops. Times are changing and we have to adapt. Is it the norm for a Warrant Officer to Command, no, but we have to be ready if we get the call.

I was 35 and an E-7 with 15 years when I got commissioned. This question has been asked a few times on here. I answer the same every time. Do you want to be able to influence the training and overall well-being of your men? To do that, go commissioned. Do you want to do your primary job and have heavy interaction with the guys who work for/with you? To do that, go warrant.

As a warrant officer, your influence, while more significant than the enlisted ranks, is more limited. As a commissioned officer, your interaction with the men will decrease significantly. It is the nature of the beast.

Being a butter bar at 15 years was no big deal. I have had the occasional "thanks LT" joke thrown my way when I disagree with someone, as well as the "you can no longer use the phrase 'in my edperience'." But, everyone recognizes that my knowledge, obtained through 15 years of doing this job, did not go away when my stripes came off and the bars went on.

Don't let promotion rates affect your decision.....because the promotion rate from CW-5 is zero, from O-5 it is infinitely higher. Don't let time in service drive your decision because your clock starts over when you get commissioned. The only factor that should play into this is what you want to do with your career.

I commissioned as a SFC and I will say the sphere of influence a 2lt has compared to that of a SFC is MUCH smaller. That being said I also had the choice of putting in my packet for OCS or Warrant and in the end I chose commissioned officer.

I have been lucky enough to have spent the majority of my career at BN or below with no TRADOC (star MOS) but my next assignment was guaranteed to be at the division level (I did a drug deal to be a PLT SGT one more time for my last deployment instead of going to 1st CAV div HQ like I was supposed to. I love being a platoon sergeant) So I looked at my options. As a warrant officer I would be "stuck" in staff instead of leading and training Soldiers in a line company. As a commissioned (yes I know warrants are commissioned) officer I could be a PLT Leader, Co Commander then face the remaining 5'ish years stuck on a staff. I flat out love leading Soldiers, learning how to lead and mentoring and training troops. Unfortunately even on the enlisted side, once you hit SFC you're more than likely stuck on staff.

As far as respect and the perks of the job... who cares? Respect is always earned every time you PCS. Rank has a small part to play in that initially, but you can only BS someone for about 15 sec then you had better have something so substance to back it up otherwise, regardless of your rank, people will dismiss you.

SSgt,

There are some very, very good points and I commend you for looking at your career from many different angles. I agree and align with what CW4 Johnson says the most. In my humble opinion, the reason why I or anyone should continue to serve is to make a difference, to lead, and when called...to fight and win.

Age shouldn't be an issue (at TBS) unless you show up unprepared. It's 4 months for WOs/CWOs and although it will be mentally and physically challenging, there were quite a few of us over the age of 35. Forget about the money, prestige, retirement, et cetera. Do you want more responsibility or not? Do you have a passion to be a SME within your MOS in the WO/CWO ranks or do you want the chance to command at the Plt level and beyond (although in some branches and MOS, a WO/CWO may get a chance to command)?

Either way, the first question I think you need to ask yourself is "Am I ready to be a Marine Officer?". The Officership piece can be difficult at times and you have to realize early on that you are not one of the guys anymore.

Please feel free to message me with any questions.
Gunner

I've put a lot of thought into this same question, since I'm no longer applying to the Warrant Officer program and following through with my degree for a full commission. End goal is one thing; prestige is a bit different. I've known officers that commissioned at 12 years and never made it past Captain. I've known LDOs that've gotten a full commission to become full bird Colonels who took the route of Warrant Officer first. Depends on what you want to do. If you're great at your job and want to learn and apply knowledge to the intricacies that commanders have to deal with at Company levels and higher, go Warrant. You'll be on that track for the rest of your career, with no deviations, unless extreme situations arise that'd require your services elsewhere. In the case of an unrestricted line officer, you've got some hurdles to go through: going through the same stressful physical and mental tests men and women more than 10 years younger than you are going through that make boot camp look like a joke. Every mustang officer I've interacted with says "It's worth it." That said, you're not guaranteed a job unless you have a specific track to go with (naval aviator, but we're both past the waiver point). You could get stuck as a logistics/supply officer slot when all you might have wanted to do is Infantry. Either way, every officer that I knew who took the plunge from enlisted to WO/O has said "best decision of my life". The better life standpoint is subjective; you could be a CWO5 advising at HQMC and dealing with other officers who don't listen to you, or a LtCol/Col commanding a battalion/regiment having to hand out NJPs left and right. What I mean by this is where do you think you'll gain more satisfaction in your work? What type of responsibility do you want to have? Are you worried about the perks? I wouldn't be. Lend your aim to where you'll think you'll make the best impact, and not be concerned with the rank you've yet to earn.
There's a quote that I'm not seeing on that coin you've got posted: "God made the Warrant Officer to give the junior enlisted someone to look up to, the senior enlisted someone to envy, the junior officer someone to tolerate, and the senior officer someone to respect."

I went commissioned after 12 years, and have not regretted it. Your responsibilities are similar up to O-2, but then you're given more of a sphere of influence as a commissioned officer than as a 'subject matter' officer (Warrant). It greatly depends on what you want to do with the rest of your career.

I made Warrant and later CWO2 in the USN after a tour in-country RVN where I earned the Combat Action Ribbon and served a tour as W1 onboard an Aircraft Carrier & a tour on Guam as a CWO2 before I resigned my commission and reverted to Senior Chief Radioman where I rode submarines for the rest of my Naval Career. In my day the Warrants never went to permanent Warrant or Chief Warrant, but always retained their permanent Enlisted Grade and Rating as their permanent rank/grade. Had I continued as an Officer, I was eligible for selection to CWO3 and was also going before the Selection Board for Limited Duty Officer. My reasons for reverting were many, a few general things like always being a Junior Officer and many assignments as SLJ (Sh**y Little Jobs) Officer, and an attitude by the bureaucratic detailers that a single Warrant/Chief Warrant was going to spend the rest of his career overseas at isolated duty stations because the more choice assignments needed to be reserved for the married with family types. There were also a few personal specific issues which affected my decision that need not be mentioned here which involved a lack of respect from a number of regular Mid-level & Senior Officers in the chain of command for Warrant/Chief Warrant Officers and, to some degree, for Vietnam Combat Veterans that existed at the time.

I had no regrets for reverting because I found that as a Senior Chief in the Submarine Service I had much more responsible assignments and a great deal more respect from both those above and below me in rank/grade than I ever had from the Officers above me in my assignments as a Warrant/Chief Warrant Officer, though I found out that the reversion from Chief Warrant to Senior Chief kept me from ever achieving another promotion in the Navy since it was viewed as a major negative by selection boards. As it turned out, when I was ultimately disability Retired, I applied to and was approved by the Secretary of the Navy to retire as a CWO2 (which was about $50 a month more than as a Senior Chief Radioman. The point to all this is that you need to decide what you really want before you jump into it because whatever you decide will affect your career, positively or negatively, from that point forward.

Personally, I don't think it matters which way you go unless you're looking at doing 30+ years in...both routes will provide you with multiple opportunities to lead, follow, or get out of the way! Rank merely holds what you are going to be responsible for, what you do with that is up to you. I've seen amazing leaders both as Warrants or as Commissioned (whether line, restricted line, or staff...). Understand you will be competing against your peers, the ones that are hungry and continue to sacrifice for the good of the service, with mentors and leaders that recognized them for that. There are only so many slots available. Me, I would look at what's available, what opportunities they open up at mid/late career, think seriously about where I'd like to be in 10-15 years. Warrant/LDO comes with a mandatory 8-year obligation, typical commission only comes with 5. How much time are you willing to be away? Warrant/LDO billets for the Navy at least are on the pointy tip of the spear, most at Sea in positions that leverage your experience, past, and general problem solving skills in addition to expertise in administration, procedural knowledge and tradition (you are EXPECTED to be the expert, know which manual governs, and provide always correct references!). Being a Junior Officer, you lose the pass as a Mustang, no matter which service you go to. There's nothing wrong with an O-1, they expect him to make mistakes, learn from them, and move on, sometimes expending great effort without much visible progress. As a prior enlisted, O-1E, they will expect more from you on all fronts. The big divergence occurs at around the company grade point. Selecting Warrant means you want the technical and administrative expertise with the opportunity to mentor and advise, but you will be limited in the large scale leadership/responsibility. Warrants, no matter how capable, cannot be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCOS), unless they convert to Line (does happen, but rather rare). Likewise, very few officers will get the opportunity to write the technical manuals for your area of expertise, but a Warrant will be asked for input to or review of these every time (smaller pool of qualified individuals). I wish you luck in obtaining either! Get out and Compete! If you really want it, don't get discouraged either if for some reason you don't get selected. Try and try again to grab your goals and RUN!

TLDR: Weigh your options, decide and act! Persevere to obtain your goals!

I received a commission after 13 years of enlisted service. I suggest you look at the value of retirement points. Consider the rank you expect to attain by retirement and see for yourself which grade pays better. You will spend more years in retirement than you did in service.