Why are Army Helo pilots Warrant Officers, rather than Commissioned?

2017-04-26T19:11:55-04:00

Where the Army has fixed-wing aircraft (they do), those pilots are Commissioned, so I got to wondering what the deal is. All other services, rotary-winged pilots are Commissioned.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 26 at 2017 7:13 PM

2017-04-26T19:13:22-04:00

We have commissioned as well as warrant officer pilots. Majority of a unit is warrant pilots however. Duties and responsibilities of commissioned officers take them off the bird most of the time. They don't get nearly the flight hours the warrants do

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 26 at 2017 7:16 PM

2017-04-26T19:16:13-04:00

Being Enlisted Officers (Warrent Officers) it allows the flexibility to be concerned in fine tuning a specific skill IE Aviation rather then be forced into the politics of being a Commisioned Officer. A Commisioned Officer is a leader of the Formation, An Enlisted Officer is an expert of a skill. It also allows the Army to keep highly skilled professionals that don't have a degree in the Army with better benefits and pay to compete with the civilian market.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Apr 26 at 2017 7:21 PM

2017-04-26T19:21:48-04:00

SN Greg Wright Good Query! I can only relate One Story Joe Bauer a Neighbor (Big Influence on My Choice to Serve) He went to Korea as an Enlisted Railroad Man, end of the War they Offered him the Proverbial Deal You don't say No To. Sign Back Up in the Reserves and Well teach You to Fly Helos, Make You a Warrant Officer. He Did, Bad Part of the Deal. He Got to Go to Vietnam. 2 Wars and He is still around.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 26 at 2017 7:45 PM

2017-04-26T19:45:41-04:00

Because the Army is cheap.

Response by LtCol Robert Quinter made Apr 26 at 2017 7:55 PM

2017-04-26T19:55:49-04:00

My understanding is it was originally the Army's way of working around the congressional restrictions on the number of officers between the O-1 and O-4 as well as the advantage of having a Warrant specializing in flight duties without being distracted by other duties associated with the O ranks. Warrants were also paid less base and flight pay until the 70s. They also had a faster and more responsive fill rate than the O officers.
I don't know the current status, but during VN their was also a difference in the training level, with the Warrants not getting some of the advanced training provided to other pilots and aviators (instruments)
All that aside, Warrant Officer pilots have proven their skill, bravery and dedication since they were established after WWII

Response by CPT Nicholas D. made Apr 26 at 2017 8:04 PM

2017-04-26T20:04:53-04:00

Most Army Aviators are Warrant Officers. Even in the Fixed Wing side of the house, most of our airplane pilots are Warrants. (In the OSAA Detachments, they were originally ALL Warrant Officers, commanded by CW5's. Then someone decided to change the organization, give them an MTOE, and now I have to face a 2LT every morning when I am shaving in the mirror). The reason the Army chose to make the bulk of its Aviation personnel Warrant Officers was because they wanted an appropriate grade and courtesy bestowed upon its pilots, but did not want the O-Grade promotion/assignment process to disrupt continuity. The idea is that you have a technical officer who can devote his career to becoming an expert in his craft. Our O-Grade Officers (O-Grade is a term we use since CW2's and above are "legally" commissioned officers) are still pilots, but unfortunately that role is often times secondary to their chosen path to be managers of the organization. At least we have a Branch now. There was a time that other branch officers (Infantry, Engineer, Artillery,etc) would be "Branch Detailed" to Aviation to serve as the leadership. The problem was you had an Infantry Officer who just wounded his competitiveness with other Infantry Officers by spending valuable years of his career doing "non-Infantry" things. The creation of the Aviation Branch was intended to correct that issue.

An Army Warrant Officer will spend most of their career in operational flying positions, whereas our O-grades will do their platoon and company time and spend the rest of their careers in Staff positions. A few will become Battalion and Brigade Commanders. A microscopic few will ever see General Officer, but most of our hemorrhage on the O-Grade side of the house comes around the O-3 level. Many Army Captains will have fulfilled their mandatory service obligation after 6 years, see the proverbial flying desk ahead, and will separate, branch transfer, or some will revert to Warrant Officer (happens a lot more in the Guard and Reserves than in the Active Component.) Those that stay to see the oak leaf aren't spending too much time in a cockpit.

Having seen both sides of the coin, I see the intent. The idea was to create a system where guys aren't promoted out of a cockpit too fast. For the most part, it works, but as a Warrant Officer sees CW3 and above, he starts seeing the Staff Monster creeping around the corner more and more. At least he still gets to fly once in a while.

Response by SFC Everett Oliver made Apr 26 at 2017 8:33 PM

2017-04-26T20:33:12-04:00

I don't know the real reasons why most Army Aviators are Warrant instead of Commissioned. But I was in an Aviation Unit for about 2 years (72nd AVN (ATC) ) We had a Captain who was the Unit S3 and a pilot and I knew a Lt who also was a pilot though I don't remember what his Officer duty position was...

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Apr 26 at 2017 9:42 PM

2017-04-26T21:42:45-04:00

Too bad the "humor" tag wasn't used too. Does the Army really need Zipper Suited Sun Gods like the Air Force. Ohhh, flying below 200 feet, nooooo. Being forward? No Cable TV? Now down to business. W-1s are not commissioned but given a warrant authorizing their rank by their Service Secretary. Chief Warrant Officers (W-2 through W-5) are commissioned by the President. If you take a look at history, you'll see the use of the warrant ranks to fit specialties. Flying historically has been done by commissioned officers. But then helos came on the scene; lots of them. So do you bust the commissioned officer rank progression structure overall by a slug of helo pilots? The easy way out was to use the "Other Rank" method and voila, you're done and go have a beer. The rub is you have a group of people who are stuck between O-2/3 pay, so no matter how good you get, the grass is absolutely greener going commissioned or more often getting out. I recall lots of W-1 helo types during 'Nam. But I'd defer to the AR helo types to clarify this better. Did see a comment about commissioned officer body count caps but I don't know how that played out in the early '60s.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 26 at 2017 10:03 PM

2017-04-26T22:03:55-04:00

WOs can fly fixed wing in the Army as well. A buddy I went to recruiting school with in my enlisted days is doing so right now somewhere in Germany. Seems like a pretty sweet gig.

Response by SFC Dave Beran made Apr 27 at 2017 2:39 AM

2017-04-27T02:39:36-04:00

Actually both warrant and commissioned officers can fly in the Army. Did you know that at one time thee Navy had enlisted pilots?

Response by CW2 Donald Kempf made Apr 27 at 2017 6:43 AM

2017-04-27T06:43:30-04:00

It is mostly about chain of command and career management. Warrant Officers are technical experts in their specific fields (Aviation, Artillery, Maintenance etc.) and not being in the chain of command allows them to focus their specialty.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 27 at 2017 8:11 AM

2017-04-27T08:11:05-04:00

Because they trust Warrant Officers more because they were prior NCO's!!! Don't let your feeling get hurt; its just a joke. (or is it?)

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 27 at 2017 8:40 AM

2017-04-27T08:40:43-04:00

We've got an OSAA detachment here that has no commissioned officers. Everyone is CW3 or higher. The CO is a CW5. There is one E7 and one E4 that handle admin things.

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Apr 27 at 2017 9:44 AM

2017-04-27T09:44:31-04:00

SN Greg Wright I personally think it is great. During WWII it wasn't required for an Aviator to be an officer. I like the idea that an enlisted person can earn their wings.

Response by LCDR Keith Trepanier made Apr 27 at 2017 10:48 AM

2017-04-27T10:48:42-04:00

Having served as an Army Warrant Officer pilot and as a commissioned officer pilot in the Coast Guard, I can tell you that a lot of the reasoning has to do with sheer numbers and cost. Congress mandates how many commissioned officers each service can have. It doesn't mandate how many warrant officers it can have so the Army takes advantage of that. The Army has more aircraft than the Air Force and a lot more pilots. So having them as warrant officers helps a few things.

It allows them to have more pilots at an overall lower cost than if all the pilots were commissioned and they don't have to have a bunch of officers competing for a very limited amount of leadership positions.

In other services, the commissioned officer pilots are always looking for additional jobs to do outside of aviation so they have something to show when it becomes time to get promoted or get looked at for command. A warrant officer pilot does his best to avoid additional jobs or even get looked at by the command. That way they can focus on doing the job of flying and figuring out how to leave early and avoid PT.

In other services, the youngest pilot in the unit will be about 23 years old, college educated, ponders decisions, and looks down on those who are not as gentlemanly as they are. A warrant officer pilot could be as young as 19, with no college education, tends not to over think things, says "watch this" a lot, and gives a big F U to those who think they are better than they are.

In other services, the pilots eat their own. It is a struggle to get the support you need from your fellow officers especially those at the same rank because they see you as competition. Warrant Officer pilots create a pack. Often known as the WOLF pack or Warrant Officer Liberation Front. If you mess with one, you mess with the who pack and have been known to make or break commissioned officer's careers. But be warned, if you are a warrant officer that is not deemed worthy, you will be fed to the commissioned officers as an offering.

In other services, the pilots have to stay in nice lodging wherever they go and scorn anything less than a four star hotel. In the Army, the warrant officer pilots get a GP medium and brag they don't have to sleep on the ground. If given the opportunity to stay in something with four solid walls and a roof, they constantly worry about when someone will come in and tell them there was a mistake and be told to move. Because of that, they never unpack their bags.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 27 at 2017 3:42 PM

2017-04-27T15:42:46-04:00

Warrant Officers are subject matter experts in their fields. we ncos are to be leaders of troops.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Apr 27 at 2017 11:23 PM

2017-04-27T23:23:40-04:00

Good question... As you know we have Commission Officer pilots too, but the vast amount of our aircraft are flown day in and day out by Warrants. I am interested in the answer. SN Greg Wright

It appears it was due to personal caps and funding.

https://warrantofficerhistory.org/Hist_Avn_WO.htm

History of Aviation Warrant Officers - WO Historical Foundation

A limited history of Aviation Warrant Officers in the U.S. Army. A complete history is being researched.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 29 at 2017 1:33 PM

2017-04-29T13:33:42-04:00

I'm a Blackhawk pilot...

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Apr 29 at 2017 1:38 PM

2017-04-29T13:38:03-04:00

You are incorrect that the fixed wing pilots in the Army are all commissioned...without getting into the commissioned feng shui argument (CW2-CW5 are all commissioned officers). We have Warrants flying fixed wing. They live in TSABs Theater Support Aviation Battalion...think there are two on active duty, one is in Germany. They fly DVs in gulfstream type aircraft. My friend was the XO for the BN. He always flew with a Warrant. They usually fly fixed wing as an additional skill. My friend was a Blackhawk guy, then got a fixed wing multi engine rating. They also,fly Sherpas in the RC. There are tons of warrants that fly the RC-1s and similar air frames in Korea and other places in MI battalions.

We have commissioned officers (O1-O6) flying helicopters too. Here is the difference I think you are getting at. Warrants that are pilotsare primarily pilots, and do other units activities as a secondary role. They stay in that role for their career. They may be co-opted to be Safety Officers and instructors (as they have the most flying experience). The O1-O6 crowd are CO/Bn/BDE Commanders, staff officers, Platoon leaders, go to nominative assignments, joint tours, nonbranch broadening assignments. These officers pop in and out of flight billets all the time.

There is some bleed over now with how Warrants get broadening assignments etc, one can find exceptions but this is most true in the macro sense. Warrants are the glue that holds together units like aviation and maintenance.

The history of Warrants flying goes back to at least WWII. You'll note Chuck Yeager started as a flying sergeant, the rank he wears in photos is W2. Warrants were a creation of WWI. They are technical experts that reflect a requirement to have specialized expertise. They captain Army watercraft, serve as XOs of Special Forces Teams, there are may be up to 8-10 in a Maintenance unit in different flavors, property book officers, etc.

No other service as culturally embraced Warrants like the Army. They exist in the Marine Corps and the Navy but not nearly at the depth and breadth of the Army. From the few Marine Warrants I've met, they are used in similarly technical roles (one electronics, the other ammunition). Not really sure how the Navy leverages them. John walker was a warrant....not a great example but there it is. I think LDOs in the Marine Corps and Navy leverage that technical realm. I have known one LDO Marine officer, Ironically a former CW3 ammo guy, who was an ammo expert for the Marines. I say this because this LDO status retains technical expertise in the Marines/Navy that the Army needs Warrants for as we don't have LDOs. We kinda have technical experts in functional areas, but these guys are deep thought in bean bag chairs in very niche areas.

The Air Force cashed in their warrants in lieu of E8s and E9s. When they did have them they were also niche and specialized for technical functions. My Dad (a young Airman) described one in 1968 that he believed to be a quasi civilian old crusty guy...not actually in the military anymore.

Response by SSG Ben Gilstrap made Apr 29 at 2017 4:21 PM

2017-04-29T16:21:44-04:00

In the Army, our enlisted are smart enough to not become officers and learn to fly! Haha!

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Apr 29 at 2017 5:22 PM

2017-04-29T17:22:46-04:00

I think there are Army WO fixed wing pilots also. About 1986 I flew on an Army C-12 from MacDill AFB, FL, to Ft Gordon, and both pilots were CW4s. Did an excellent job.

I think the "why" goes back to the Vietnam era. The Army discovered and developed "air mobile" forces in the 1960s. These forces needed large numbers of helicopters to accomplish their mission. The Army needed to provide large numbers of helicopter pilots in a short period of time to fill the need. They couldn't recruit enough college graduate commissioned officers to fill all the helicopter pilot requirements. To fill the requirement they developed the Aviation Warrant program. Enlisted personnel and civilians without a college degree could apply for WO training and helicopter flight school. This expanded greatly the pool of eligible males who could apply for flight school. The Army created thousands of WO helicopter pilots in the 1960s and 1970s to fill their needs.

A couple of other things contributed. The civilian market for helicopter pilots is less lively than the market for commercial fixed wing pilots. There are very few civilian helicopter pilot jobs compared to the number of airline pilots. Rotary wing flying skills aren't identical to fixed wing, so a helicopter pilot leaving the Service won't be able to get an airline job as easily as his/her Air Force fixed wing counterpart. Consequently, the Army can afford to pay warrant officers as pilots, which is less than commissioned officers make, and still have many who choose to fly for a 20 or 30 year career instead of getting out at the first opportunity. Finally, since WOs don't compete for command, they get to focus on what all pilots love to do the most, fly. That alone will make some WOs stay in for a long career.

Response by Sgt George Lawrence made Apr 29 at 2017 8:43 PM

2017-04-29T20:43:53-04:00

I would imagine it's for expediency, such as during Vietnam when helicopter pilots were needed in great numbers without the delay of the commissioning process, and probably now it's the cost. But as a Marine I really have no idea. I have a few friends that flew Hueys as WOs and CWOs during Vietnam and all think it was the numbers. Although the Marine Corps has a WO program, all pilots are commissioned O-grade officers, and as such having greater opportunities for command in the future. I really think all Army aviators deserve the O-grade ranks.

Response by Cpl Rc Layne made Apr 29 at 2017 11:30 PM

2017-04-29T23:30:27-04:00

Prior to WWII I have read that a lot of pilots were enlisted.

Response by SSG John Jensen made Apr 30 at 2017 12:50 AM

2017-04-30T00:50:47-04:00

in WWII there were enlisted pilots but only for cargo aircraft, any combat plane, fighter or bomber had to be piloted by an officer, had a geology professor who was an enlisted pilot for the Army flying meteorological planes back and forth across the atlantic, and a classmate at the time was a retired raisin farmer who had been a Navy enlisted pilot in WWII, sometime after the war they decided to upgrade the requirements

Response by SGT David Litton made Apr 30 at 2017 2:39 PM

2017-04-30T14:39:37-04:00

I find this a little... sad in a way.
There are enlisted walking around with active pilots licenses but aren't allowed to become warrant or officers due to time in service and therefore can't become army pilots.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 30 at 2017 5:11 PM

2017-04-30T17:11:14-04:00

The pilots are both commissioned and warrant officers.

Response by SFC David Smith made May 14 at 2017 2:25 PM

2017-05-14T14:25:24-04:00

In the mid 80s the Army tried to make all of the helicopter pilots 0 grades I don't know why but it didn't happen and that was a good thing. A warrant officer don't take no sh#$ from anyone. You can not have a ignorant Maj order a pilot to fly!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 4 at 2017 3:31 PM

2017-07-04T15:31:27-04:00

Some are warrants. Warrants fly more.

Response by CW4 Roger Pettner made Mar 15 at 2018 3:14 PM

2018-03-15T15:14:55-04:00

As a Warrant Officer from 1969 Through 2009 I agree with most of the comments above. I lived through all the changes in that time period. In 1969 all warrants 1-4 were true warrants given their rank buy the Secretary of Defense. In the 80's thing began to change. All warrants 2-5 were Commitioned and give a small pay increase and more responsibilities. The enucation requirements increased commensurate to the rank held a CW4 was required to have at least a BS/BA; CW5 a MS/MA. There was also a battery of training courses military specific all Warrants grades had to pass to be promoted to the next grade. This was all additional training imposed on top of our MOS training and additional duty identifier (Safety, Standards, Maintenance, etc.) In 2005 Warrants got a huge pay increase that placed us within our Commitioned Officer's (hard bars) payscal. As a CW4 with 38 years I was earning midscale LTC pay. From being considered the senior enlisted ranks to parity in rank and privileges we have come a long way.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Mar 16 at 2018 3:38 PM

2018-03-16T15:38:12-04:00

In the old days, USA,USN,USMC all had both commissioned and non-commissioned pilots. Slowly the USN moved out of that. USA and USMC still have warrants (upgraded the NCO so that other NCO's would listen). And we are happy about it. Officers have to move for position to position to gain promotions, warrants can continue to fly and be promoted without the job change. Much more re-assuring to see a grizzled WO standing by the snot nosed LT for an air brief!

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 17 at 2018 11:35 PM

2018-03-17T23:35:14-04:00

They really aren't Warrant Officers in the true sense, but are Flight Officers. Technical Warrants require years of experience before becoming a Warrant Officer, read technical expert. A "Flight Officer", at least in theory, could be an 18 year old just out of high school, hence the term "high school to flight school".

Response by SSgt Boyd Herrst made May 29 at 2018 5:06 PM

2018-05-29T17:06:29-04:00

A lot of great analogies of the Warrant officers and officer Pilots and Non Pilot duties.

Response by Lt Col George Roll made Sep 26 at 2018 12:30 PM

2018-09-26T12:30:50-04:00

During the Vietnam conflict the ARMY realized it needed 10s of thousand helo pilots. If they were made Comissioned Officers there would be a huge glut of Officers all competing for officer positions ( number regulated by Congress) That would completely screw up the career progression.
As a result Helo Pilots were made WOs the ARMY controls this so when the demand for pilots precipitously declined the WOs could be released from service.

The Air Force did not follow suit thus a series of busts and booms in pilot availibility. Today we have a huge genorational pilot shortage in the military and in Civil Aviation. The current genoration of pilots are aging out of the cockpit.

Response by CW4 Ernest Frost made Sep 29 at 2018 6:53 PM

2018-09-29T18:53:52-04:00

Warrant Officers are cheap help for the Army.

Response by SGT Floyd Shown made Sep 30 at 2018 10:48 AM

2018-09-30T10:48:09-04:00

Because a commissioned officer is like the bank manager. He has a degree, but can’t do shit on his own. A Warrant officer is like the head teller. They are actual professionals that know WTF they are doing.

Response by SSgt Dwight Deatherage made Nov 22 at 2018 7:32 PM

2018-11-22T19:32:04-05:00

During the Viet Nam war, the Army was graduating 7,000 pilots a year, and there was no way to generate that many pilots using Branched commission officers. Until 1985 there was no commissioned Aviation Branch, so every commissioned officer had to go to school for a "Branch" to be commissioned (Infantry, QM, Transportation, MI, etc.), even if they were really smart cookies and could fly circles around the Red Baron. Usually in a career they would get no more than 50% aviation assignments, the rest of the time they were on a Branch assignment. That is the reason you could see a Captain (O-3) with only few hundred flying hours at best.

Using the highest quality high school graduates into the Warrant Officer Candidate (WOC), the Army was able to fill the pilot spots with folks that were going to be drafted in the military. Upon graduation from the WOC program, they were brand new pilots with little else to do by fly lots of hours.

The program has worked out so well you don't rock the boat. Commissioned officers in Aviation must still spend time doing staff and command duties, and once they make Captain, or beyond the flying days become even more limited.

Response by 2LT Ronald Reimer made Dec 28 at 2018 6:47 PM

2018-12-28T18:47:25-05:00

If they were commissioned, they would have to rotate through command positions, and that would take a significant bite out of their “crew rest”, newspaper reading and fly fishing time!

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 20 at 2019 11:35 AM

2019-04-20T11:35:47-04:00

I've read elsewhere that part of the reason that the Army doesn't have all Commissioned Officer pilots is along the same lines (or perhaps the other side of the fence) as to why the Air Force only has Commissioned Officer pilots. If all the Army pilots were Commissioned that would greatly increase the pool of officers that, potentially, could become Generals thus, again potentially, overly prioritizing Aviation in comparison to the other Army branches. On the other hand the Air Force, traditionally, wants its top leaders to have been pilots.

Response by SSG Brad Kachurka made May 31 at 2019 1:03 PM

2019-05-31T13:03:52-04:00

Maybe that is true now but not always. The army has had warrant officers flying their OV1 Mohawks since the Vietnam war through the late 90's when I was in the service.

Response by CW4 Anthony Carbo made May 31 at 2019 2:28 PM

2019-05-31T14:28:51-04:00

it was done in the 50's by an act of congress, once the Aircorp became the Airforce, the Army was allotted only so many commissioned officers. When Korea started the Army need pilots so thus became the Warrant as the Warrant was Appointed and not Commissioned.

Response by SSG Lyle O'Rorke made May 31 at 2019 3:38 PM

2019-05-31T15:38:54-04:00

Not all fixed wing army pilots are commissioned

Response by SSG James Oliver Nathan Jr made Jun 3 at 2019 12:36 PM

2019-06-03T12:36:47-04:00

they should be Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officer

Response by CW4 William Kessinger made Jun 21 at 2019 3:58 PM

2019-06-21T15:58:17-04:00

Different branches had different needs for flight crews. The Air Force had the concept that you had to be commissioned to advance to other skills within the service as you gained rank. (this is now biting them in the butt).

The Navy need pilot so bad during WWII that they used enlisted pilots will up until the mid 1960's. (I think that is when the last Rated CPO retired) They also phased them out as they wanted all pilots to have a college education and therefor a commission. They also later learned that all pilot did not want to be an Admiral and command a battleship so they came up with the limited duty commissions.

The Army had a server need for flight crews during vietnam and expedited the young Warrant Officers through Flight School at an early age (some as young as 18) When you gain your WO1 rating at 18 and 10 years later your a CW4 you need some upward mobility. So the Army was them main reason the services were allowed to have the newly created CW5 grade. For some reason the Air Force fought them and they had no remaining Warrant Officers in the 1990's.???

Response by Cpl Ed Hines made Nov 21 at 2019 12:48 PM

2019-11-21T12:48:11-05:00

Officers worry about weird shit.

Response by CPT Robert Holden made Nov 21 at 2019 1:26 PM

2019-11-21T13:26:07-05:00

No idea why pilots are always warrants . They aren’t the only position in the army that uses just warrants . Definitely the main job but not the only ones . I’ve seen warrants in the kitchen and other jobs . No idea why . Just know that the warrants I’ve met are smarter and more mature then the 2nd Lts I’ve met

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 22 at 2019 4:43 AM

2019-11-22T04:43:12-05:00

The Army also has fixed wing Warrant Officers

Response by SP5 Gary Smith made Nov 22 at 2019 8:58 AM

2019-11-22T08:58:59-05:00

Because anyone who would fly a helicopter doesn’t have enough sense to be an officer.

Response by CW4 William Kessinger made Nov 24 at 2019 10:11 AM

2019-11-24T10:11:29-05:00

Many Army Fixed Wing Aviators are Warrant's. In fact most are Warrant. There are more Warrant Aviators then RLO's. If you look at most aviation TO&E's you will see it's staffed with more Warrant's then Commissioned.

Response by MAJ Ronnie Reams made Nov 28 at 2020 10:07 AM

2020-11-28T10:07:36-05:00

Does anyone else think that having a Commissioned Warrant Officer is an oxymoron on a level with Military Intelligence?

Response by MAJ Ronnie Reams made Feb 9 at 2022 3:38 PM

2022-02-09T15:38:09-05:00

Now days after WO-1 they are commissioned, AFAIK, They are cheaper and not require the Education of those that are only COs. You know, high school to flight school. BTW, fixed wing are flown by WOs, also.