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From: bcstec!shuksan!major@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Warrent vs. regular officers.
Message-ID: <1991Feb12.015621.11055@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 12 Feb 91 01:56:21 GMT
References: <1991Feb9.033425.4606@cbnews.att.com>
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From: bcstec!shuksan!major@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt)

> From: cyclist@hubcap.clemson.edu (Barry Johnson)
> Could someone tell the distiction between warrent officers and "regular"
> officers?
 
  Simple distinction:  Officers are commissioned.  Warrant Officers are
  appointed.  In rank order Warrants are below second lieutenants and
  'above' sergeants major. 

  In theory, Warrants are 'technicians'.  Most Warrants are helicoptor
  pilots, maintenance officers, intelligence (order of battle, interrogators,
  photo interpreters, counterintelligence), and Military Police 
  investigators and criminal investigators (CID).

  Almost all come up through the enlisted ranks - the majority put in for
  warrant appointment when they are Staff Sergeants (E6) with about 10
  years service.  Helicoptor pilots are a little different - they go through
  "Warrant Officer Candidate" flight school after joining the service.

  Warrants cannot 'command' but they can supervise other technicians.
  They wear the basic uniform of an officer (silver bar with black squares,
  black stripe on pants and sleeve), they are saluted by enlisted people,
  addressed as 'sir' by subordinates and 'mister' by seniors.  Their
  service cap has gold braid and they wear a unique warrant officer insignia -
  eagle surrounded by a wreath - as a cap device and collar insignia.  

  Warrant Officer 1 (WO1)  "Wobbly One"   Silver bar - one black square
  Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CWO2) "Chief"  Silver bar - two black squares
  Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CWO3) "Chief"  Silver bar - three black squares
  Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CWO4) "Chief"  Silver bar - four black squares

  [did they ever institute the Master Chief Warrant 5?????)

  -----
  
  Once, when I promoted one of my photo interpreter warrants to CWO4, with
  28 years of army service, I commented - "Gee, Chief, one more promotion
  you'll be a second lieutenant!!!"    I thought he was going to kill me.

  ----

  Other services had warrants in technical fields but I heard a while back
  that they are phasing them out - anybody add anything about Air Force,
  Marine, Navy warrant officers?


  mike schmitt