Warrant officer

Warrant officer ranks are especially prominent in the militaries of Commonwealth nations and the United States.

It was first used during the 13th century, in the Royal Navy, where warrant officers achieved the designation by virtue of their accrued experience or seniority, and technically held the rank by a warrant, rather than by a formal commission (as in the case of a commissioned officer).

Nevertheless, WOs in the British services have traditionally been considered and treated as distinct from non-commissioned officers.

US WOs are usually experts in a particular technical field, with long service as enlisted personnel; in some cases, however, direct entrants may become WOs—for example, individuals completing helicopter pilot training in the US Army Aviation Branch become flight warrant officers immediately.

The warrant officer corps began in the nascent Royal Navy,[1] which dates its founding to 1546.

[2] Literacy was one thing that most warrant officers had in common, and this distinguished them from the common seamen: according to the Admiralty regulations, "no person shall be appointed to any station in which he is to have charge of stores, unless he can read and write, and is sufficiently skilled in arithmetic to keep an account of them correctly".

[3] In origin, warrant officers were specialist professionals whose expertise and authority demanded formal recognition.

[3] In the 18th century they fell into two clear categories: on the one hand, those privileged to share with the commissioned officers in the wardroom and on the quarterdeck; and on the other, those who ranked with more junior members of the ship's crew.

[4] Somewhere between the two, however, were the standing officers, notable because, unlike the rest of the ship's company, they remained with the ship even when she was out of commission (e.g. for repair, refitting or replenishment, or whilst laid up); in these circumstances they were under the pay and supervision of the Royal Dockyard.

By the time of the First World War, their ranks had been expanded with the adoption of modern technology in the Royal Navy to include telegraphists, electricians, shipwrights, artificer engineers, etc.

The most senior non-commissioned member of the RAAF is the Warrant Officer of the Air Force (WOFF-AF), an appointment that is only held by one person at a time.

Before unification in 1968, there were two ranks of warrant officer (WO2 and WO1) in the Canadian Army and RCAF that followed the British structure.

The Royal New Zealand Navy has a single warrant officer rank, addressed as "sir" or "ma'am".

[16] In the South African Police Service, there is only a single warrant officer (WO) rank.

[17] Five branches (surface ships, submarines, Royal Marines, Fleet Air Arm, and Maritime Reserves) each have a command warrant officer.

However, the rank was phased out in April 2014,[24] but is being reinstated for non-technical and technical branches of the Royal Navy in 2021.

[33] The marines had introduced warrant officers equivalent in status to the Royal Navy's from 1910 with the Royal Marines gunner (originally titled gunnery sergeant-major), equivalent to the navy's warrant rank of gunner.

The most senior Royal Marines warrant officer is the Corps Regimental Sergeant Major.

In 1950, it renamed warrant officers in technical trades to master technicians, a designation which survived only until 1964.

[36] A small number of warrant officers command detachments, units, activities, vessels, aircraft, and armored vehicles, as well as lead, coach, train, and counsel subordinates.

However, the warrant officer's primary task is to serve as a technical expert, providing valuable skills, guidance, and expertise to commanders and organizations in their particular field.

[36] All U.S. armed services employ warrant officer grades except the U.S. Space Force.

In February 2024, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin announced that the Air Force will re-introduce the warrant officer rank within the information technology and cyber fields as a way to maintain technical leadership with those skills.

The first class of 78 future warrant officers were selected in August and began training at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, in October 2024.

[37][38] The U.S. Army utilizes warrant officers heavily[a] and separates them into two types: Aviators and technical.

However, within those broad fields warrant officers include such specialists as CID Special Agents (a very specific track within the military police) and Counterintelligence Special Agents (a very specific track within military intelligence).

The Coast Guard allows E-6 personnel to apply for chief warrant officer rank, but only after they have displayed their technical ability by earning a placement in the top 50% on the annual eligibility list for advancement to E-7.

The USMS has appointed warrant officers, of various specialty fields, during and after World War II.

For example, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol had several warrant officer helicopter pilot positions from the 1960s until the mid-1980s.

The WO ranks were abolished when the aviation program expanded and nearly twenty trooper pilot positions were created.