To begin, there are five levels of Warrant Officer rank in the United States Army. Rank begins with the Warrant Officer 1, and ends with the Chief Warrant Officer 5. Along with each proper rank name, is an abbreviated rank identifier and a Warrant Officer grade, or pay grade. The grades also start at W1 and end at W5. Warrant Officers are probably the least understood service members in the military. The Warrant Corps is relatively small, having been established in the Army in 1896. In fact, these rather unique ranks exist only in the Army, Marine Corps and Navy. The Air Force has no Warrants. Warrant Officers are technical experts, and come mainly from the enlisted ranks. Good Warrant candidates are usually sergeants with a number of years of experience in certain military jobs. The definition of the Warrant Officer is very fitting for the role they serve: "An officer appointed by warrant by the Secretary of the Army based on a sound level of technical and tactical competence. The warrant officer is a highly specialized expert and trainer who, by gaining progressive levels of expertise and leadership administers, manages, operates, and maintains the Army's equipment, support activities or technical systems for an entire career." Like general-type officers, Warrant Officers wear 'brass' on their collars, although in the case of Warrants, all of the brass is silver in color. Warrant Officers 1 are appointed by the Secretary of the Army, and do not hold a commission. Upon promotion to W2, Warrants become Chiefs, and are commissioned by the President. While Warrant Officers are specialist officers, they can also fill command positions, such as Company Commanders, under some circumstances. Duty positions fall into two broad categories based on the skill set of the Warrant Officer: Technical and Aviation. Technical Warrants attend basic and advanced course training for duty assignments in such fields as Signal, Ordnance, Logistics, Maintenance, Administration, and Legal. Aviation Warrants attend training to become helicopter and fixed wing aircraft pilots. Warrant Officer 1, WO1, W1 - The Warrant Officer 1 wears the rank insignia of a single silver bar, that includes a solid black square, centered within the bar. The square is sometimes referred to as a 'dot'. W1's are formally addressed as "Mr., Ms., or Sir". Both the W1 and W2 are 'junior officers'. Chief Warrant Officer 2, CW2, W2 - The Chief Warrant Officer 2 wears the rank insignia of a silver bar with two solid black squares centered within. Advancement to the rank of CW2 generally occurs after completion of twenty-four months as a W1. More informally, soldier may refer to these officers as "Chief". WO1 and CW2 are generally assigned at the battalion level, though they made be assigned to detachments or other separate units. Chief Warrant Officer 3, CW3, W3 - The Chief Warrant Officer 3 wears the rank insignia of a silver bar with three solid black squares centered within. The W3-W5 ranks are 'senior officers'. CW3's are usually assigned at the brigade or higher unit level. Chief Warrant Officer 4, CW4, W4 - The Chief Warrant Officer 4 wears the rank insignia of a silver bar with four solid black squares centered within. CW4's can be found at brigade and division level units. Chief Warrant Officer 5, CW5, W5 - The Chief Warrant Officer 5 wears the rank insignia of a silver bar that contains a single black line, centered, that extends almost to either end of the silver bar. CW5's are usually assigned to division or higher level units. Each of the aforementioned ranks is special in its own way, and holds a valuable place in the military hierarchy. Though their ranks, duties and responsibilities may vary, soldiers serving at every level of the military order are equally as important as their fellow service members. |
