Warrant Officer Corps (09W)

• Officer
• Active Duty
• Army Reserve

Army Warrant Officers are the Army’s technical experts. Warrant Officers work to manage and maintain many of the Army’s combat systems, vehicles and networks. When a Warrant Officer reaches the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Two, they are commissioned by the President and have the same status as their traditional commissioned Officer counterparts.

Warrant Officers have five levels of rank; Warrant Officer (WO1), Chief Warrant Officer Two (CWO2), Chief Warrant Officer Three (CWO3), Chief Warrant Officer Four (CWO4), and Chief Warrant Officer Five (CWO5).

The responsibilities of a Junior Warrant Officer may include:

• Commanding and controlling operations and combined armed forces during land combat on the unit level.
• Command detachments, activities and vessels.
• Train and counsel Soldiers on various areas of technical specialty.

Training:

When becoming a Warrant Officer, you attend Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS). This school lasts for six weeks and tests your abilities to see if you would become a successful Warrant Officer. Once you’ve completed WOCS, you will attend Warrant Officer Basic Course (WOBC) where you will learn about the area in which you will lead and the basics of being a Warrant Officer in the Army.

Helpful Skills:

Being a leader in the Army requires certain qualities. A leader exhibits self-discipline, initiative, confidence and intelligence. They are physically fit and can perform under physical and mental pressures. Leaders make decisions quickly, always focusing on completing the mission successfully, and show respect for their subordinates and other military officers. Leaders lead from the front and adjust to environments that are always changing. They are judged by their ability to make decisions on their own and bear ultimate moral responsibility for those decisions.

Advanced Responsibilities:

Warrant Officers stay within their specialty and their career track is more focused within that field, rather than moving upward toward increased levels of command and responsibility.

Responsibilities of a Chief Warrant Officer may include:

• Commanding and controlling operations and combined armed companies on the Battalion, Brigade and Division levels.
• Developing doctrine, organizations and equipment for a variety of missions.
• Providing instruction on vehicles, networks and systems at service schools and combat training centers.
• Serving as technical advisor to other units, including Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve organizations.