FORT SILL, Okla. -- In 1998, then-Staff Sgt. David Jones, 25, was on track to become a command sergeant major.
He was an Advanced Individual Training instructor who had just been selected as the Fort Bliss (Texas) instructor of the year, and he was recently inducted into the Sgt. Audie Murphy Club. Many senior noncommissioned officers told him he was on his way to CSM.
Jones, who was teaching at the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery School, viewed leadership as a development opportunity, and he wanted to serve as the expert at a high operational, tactical and strategic level.
Despite a career that appeared headed toward great things, Jones wanted to serve at an even higher level.
"I wanted to really be that 'go-to' individual for the commander to make the best decision possible knowing that there were life and death implications in the decision," said Jones. "I felt that as a warrant officer it gave me that opportunity more so than being an NCO."
A year later Jones was selected to attend the Warrant Officer Candidate School.
Today Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jones is the Air Defense Artillery Warrant Officer Proponent for the ADA Branch. The proponent office is at Fort Sill.
Two Army Warrant Officer Recruiting Command recruiters from Fort Knox, Ky., were here March 8 and 9 providing interested Soldiers information on the warrant officer program at the Harry S. Truman Army Education Center.
CWO4 Benjamin Pletcher and Sgt. 1st Class Carmen McDavitt, gave presentations, provided application handbooks with links, answered questions, and, especially, encouraged Soldiers to apply to the warrant officer program. Jones was also there to answer questions.
"It's absolutely the best thing I've done in my military career," said Pletcher, the Army's chief of warrant officer recruiting and a former NCO, referring to his move into the warrant ranks.
A warrant officer is the highly specialized expert and trainer who, by gaining progressive levels of expertise and leadership, operates, maintains, administers and manages the Army's equipment, support activities or technical systems, according to literature given at the briefings. Warrants make up about 15 percent of the officer corps and 2 percent of the active-duty Army. The ranks range from warrant officer 1 to CWO 5.
There are 40 warrant military occupational specialties ranging from air and missile defense tactician to bandmaster to marine deck officer to food service technician. The warrant ranks are filled by Soldiers from related MOSs.
For example, the field artillery targeting technician WO MOS 131A is manned by Soldiers whose former enlisted MOSs include 13B cannon crewmember, 13F fire support specialist and 13P multiple launch rocket system operations/fire direction specialist.
There are also five warrant specialities that accept Soldiers from any enlisted MOSs, said McDavitt, a member of the recruiting team. Those specialities are rotary wing aviator, network management tech, information systems tech, signal systems support tech and mobility officer.
The basic requirements to apply for the warrant program are that the Soldier be a U.S. citizen, possess a general technical (GT) score of at least 110, earn a high school diploma or GED certificate, have a security clearance or interim clearance, pass the three-event physical training test or request a waiver for the 2.5 mile walk, pass either a technical warrant or flight physical, have less than 12 years active federal service (waiverable), and have at least 12 months of service remaining, McDavitt said.
The warrant officer program is a six-year committment and once pinned the member can serve in the Army an additional 30 years or up to age 62.
The Army looks for the same qualities in warrants as they do in NCOs, McDavitt said.
"Leaders, confident, dependable, decision makers," McDavitt said to the classroom of Soldiers. "That's what we want."
Materials to apply to the WO program are available online. Soldiers can electronically download the packet, sample application and a slide show shows the most common errors on applications and contact information, Pletcher said.
He encouraged interested Soldiers to consider the WO program.
"Go to our website, look at the MOS pages and see if you meet the prerequisites. If you don't meet them, take note of what they are and strive to achieve them and then submit a packet," Pletcher said. "It's worth it, it's life changing and you've got nothing to lose."
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