Warrant Officer (United States)

In the United States Armed Forces, the ranks of warrant officer (grades W‑1 to W‑5; see NATO: WO1–WO5) are rated as officers above the senior-most enlisted ranks, including all candidates, and cadets and midshipmen, but subordinate to the officer grade of O‑1 (NATO: OF‑1). This application differs from the Commonwealth of Nations and other militaries, where warrant officers are the most senior of the other ranks (NATO: OR‑8 and OR‑9), equivalent to the US Armed Forces grades of E‑8 and E‑9.

Warrant officers are highly skilled, single-track specialty officers, and while the ranks are authorized by Congress, each branch of the uniformed services selects, manages, and uses warrant officers in slightly different ways. For appointment to warrant officer one (W‑1), a warrant is approved by the secretary of the respective service. For chief warrant officer ranks (W‑2 to W‑5), warrant officers are commissioned by the President of the United States and take the same oath as regular commissioned officers (O‑1 to O‑10).

Warrant officers can and do 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 as a leader is to serve as a technical expert, providing valuable skills, guidance, and expertise to commanders and organizations in their particular field.

The Army warrant officer traces lineage to 1896 with the War Department's creation of civilian Headquarters Clerks and Pay Clerks. In 1916, an Army Judge Advocate General review determined that field clerks should be members of the military. Legislation in 1916 authorized those positions as military rather than civilian and created the ranks of Army Field Clerk (the former rank of Headquarters Clerk) and Quarter Master Corps Field Clerk (the former rank of Pay Clerk). In July, 1917, all Field Clerks were considered enlisted and were assigned an enlisted uniform. Their branch insignia was two crossed quill pens (worn on a disk pin on the left side of the standing collar and a freework insignia on the visored cap).

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