Warrant Officers…they’re an officer who has been around the Army for multiple decades, has spent time usually in at least two rank structures (almost always enlisted, sometimes as a commissioned officer too), and sometimes even in multiple Components (USAR, ARNG, RA).

A Warrant Officer (WO) doesn’t quite fill the role of a Commissioned Officer but also doesn’t quite fill the role of an NCO.  They are technical experts through and through who also share the burdens of senior, decisional leadership that officers also carry.  The first time you meet and work with a WO, it can be a learning curve.  When I met the AG CW2 who trained me as a 2LT, I didn’t know how to read her rank much less what to expect from our professional relationship! It turned out that through out year working together, it was due to her tough love and precise training that she set me up for success as an S1.  She taught me about the different “hats” officers wear, as well as the gray areas between a commissioned and warrant officer. She was a fundamental part of my training as a JO, but also as an AG officer.

Are you in a branch that has WOs? What role do they fill for your discipline? What was your first experience of meeting a WO? If you’re not in a branch with WOs but have worked with them, has that been challenging? How do you handle the dynamic of a WO’s experience compared to your (technically) senior officer rank?

Tell us about your experiences – the good and the bad – with WOs below! See something you like? Let us know that, too!