Fort Sill celebrates 96th birthday of Army Warrant Officer Corps

By Jeff Crawley, Fort Sill CannoneerJuly 17, 2014

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1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Warrant line
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Attendees sing "The Army Song" at the end of the Fort Sill Army Warrant Officer Corps 96th birthday celebration July 9, 2014, at Snow Hall. Dozens of warrant officers from throughout the post and retired warrants joined post leaders, fellow Soldiers ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Cake slice
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Chief Warrant Officer 5 Herman Burton, Col. Robert Kelley and Warrant Officer 1 Gregory Funk slice the cake to celebrate the 96th birthday of the Army Warrant Officer Corps July 9, 2014, at Fort Sill's Snow Hall. Burton, 57, is the post's most senior... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (July 17, 2014) -- As an E-7 cannon crewmember, Gregory Funk said he looked at warrant officers as subject matter experts available to advise leaders. It was a role that he, too, wanted to fill.

"I've always wanted to be on the short list of names who could give recommendations," Funk said. "I spoke to a lot of warrant officers. A couple of them came to me and said 'you would really fit the bill for this.'"

Now-Warrant Officer Funk, a student in the Field Artillery WO Basic Course, took part in the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill celebration of the 96th anniversary of the Army Warrant Officer Corps.

Funk, age 30, the post's most junior warrant, joined Chief Warrant Officer 5 Herman Burton, 57, the most senior warrant here, along with Col. Robert Kelley, to cut the birthday cake.

Dozens of warrant officers from throughout the post and retired warrants joined post leaders, fellow Soldiers and civilians to celebrate the Army's technical experts July 9, in a packed Costello Room at Snow Hall.

Burton, Air Defense Artillery Branch chief warrant officer (emeritus), is set to retire Aug. 1 after 38 years of service. Thirty of those years are as a warrant. He said cutting the cake was a bittersweet occasion for him.

"It's an honor to represent the (warrant) cohort, but at the same time I'm cutting the cake I'm also seeing my end coming up," Burton said. "It also sets the tradition for the junior warrants of the future."

Kelley, the guest speaker, is the Training and Doctrine Command Capability Manager (TCM) - Army Air and Missile Defense Command Capabilities, Development and Integration Directorate (CDID). The colonel began by recognizing about 18 warrants here who had just been promoted by the Army.

"How fitting it is to release that list on the Warrant Officer Corps' birthday," Kelley said.

Although the Army Warrant Officer Corps has developed and expanded since its creation in the Coastal Artillery July 9, 1918, the role of the warrant has not: "Technical expert, a trainer and an adviser at all echelons," he said.

As a young captain deployed to Saudi Arabia, Kelley recalled his second experience dealing with a warrant officer ADA Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Fischetti.

"He kind of took me under his wing, taught me how to operate my system a lot better than I had ever been taught before, and taught me things that made me a much better officer," Kelley said. "Ever since then I've relied tremendously on warrant officers in every assignment I've had."

A few years ago, the O-4 and O-5 billets in the ADA TCM shop were converted to CWO4 and CWO5 billets, Kelley said.

"I am, today, the envy of all the TCMs in CDID who wish they had the technical expertise that is resident in my shop," Kelley said. "Those guys are sustaining the force that's out there today, and they are truly mapping the future for my branch in particular, and I know they're doing the same on the field artillery side."

Kelley quoted Prime Minister Winston Churchill: "Gentlemen, we are out of money, so now we have to think."

"In my experience, there are not many better thinkers in the Army than a competent warrant officer," Kelley said.

WARRANT ROLES

Ceremony attendee CWO2 Tara Gibbs, 3rd Battalion, 6th ADA, is an instructor for the WO Basic Course - Patriot missile. She said the nine-month course goes beyond teaching technical proficiency.

"One of the main responsibilities on top of the technical aspects of the job is really teaching them how to be a junior officer -- providing mentorship and guidance because we're more involved now in leadership," said Gibbs, a former staff sergeant. "That's a big responsibility I feel that I need to provide."

Warrant Officer Lon Bennish, a FA WOBC student, participated in the ceremony reading the changing definitions of the warrant over 96 years. He said one of the roles of the warrant is to be a problem solver.

"A catch phrase within our community is: 'We generate solutions to problems,'" said Bennish, who will graduate at the end of this year. "If leadership has a problem, they look to us to fix it, make it right. End of story."

CWO5 Robert Whigham, FA Branch chief warrant officer, said that warrants make up only 2 percent of the Army active-duty force. There are about 50 FA warrants assigned to the FCoE and Fort Sill, but dozens of warrants from the 70-plus specialties are represented here in addition to FA and ADA.

"We have electronic warfare, food service, quartermaster, transportation, ordnance and more," he said.

Whigham said the birthday was a day for him to think about their history.

"This is a great day just to pause for a moment to reflect on just how far we have come as warrant officers," he said. "For me, it's remembrance paying homage for those who came before us to get us where we are today."