FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (March 26, 2025) – Reflecting the Secretary of Defense priorities of enhancing lethality, ensuring warfighter readiness, and fostering the warrior ethos, lies an institution at the heart of the U.S. Army’s special operations forces that molds the next generation of tactical leaders: the Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute.
Under the umbrella of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, the Special Operations Center of Excellence, the institution equips warrant officers with the expertise and skills necessary to lead in the evolving landscape of modern warfare.
“Here, we train, educate, and certify warrant officer candidates,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Elwell, commandant of the Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute. “Special Forces warrant officers are technical experts in Special Forces operations and combat leaders. We’re trainers and advisors capable in operating in uncertain and challenging environments. We are the only MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) that is involved in ground combat, the 180A.”
The Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute plays a critical role in ensuring the next generation of Special Forces warrant officers not only receive the necessary training but also equipped to lead under the most demanding and high-stake conditions.
“The three courses that we offer are Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification Course, the Special Forces Warrant Officer Advance Course, and the Special Forces Warrant Officer Intermediate Level Education Course,” he said. “At any given time, we have two of those courses in session.”
Elwell added that the candidate school and basic course are combined at the Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute for Special Forces warrant officers.
“We’ve been doing that since 2007,” he said. “Prior to that, we attended candidate school at then Fort Rucker and then came here to Fort Bragg to do the basic course. After 2007, we divested of sending our applicants down to the candidate school and added those critical tasks into our basic course. That’s when we created our Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification Course.”
In staying abreast of the evolving landscape, the institution modernized their culmination exercise conducted at the end of the Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification Course, an 18-week course ran twice a year.
“It was transitioned from what was a legacy Global War on Terror-focused to one that is really focused on large scale combat operations,” Elwell said.
He added that the culmination exercise forces the students to apply everything they learned throughout the training in a 10-day period.
For Chief Warrant Officer 3 James Dougherty, the company operations warrant at the Special Forces Underwater Operations School in Key West, Florida, he recalls the Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification Course as impactful for his profession.
“It was one of the most professional courses I have been to in my whole army career,” he said. “Everything from academic exams to field exercises were put together very well to complete a good understanding of what it means to be ready to lead an SFOD-A (Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha) and the scenarios you will come across.”
Dougherty completed the course in 2017 and sought to become a Special Forces warrant officer to experience the full range of different missions an SFOD-A has to offer.
“The SFOD-A is special - not just in its military function - but in its intimacy and uniqueness during a Green Beret’s time in the military,” Dougherty said. “After I completed my time on an SFOD-A as an officer, I felt I had more to give to the operational side of my career.”
With the institute preparing the next generation of Special Forces warrant officers, training is focused on leadership and the profession of arms, the Army Planning Process, training management, targeting, intelligence, and Special Operations doctrine and operations.
“To prepare them for what they’re getting ready to face, my instructor cadre apply coach, teach, and mentor,” Elwell said. “To prepare them for the current operational environment, we expose them to some of the current threats that they may face in the modern battlefield – how to employ and protect yourself against small UAS, for example, how to protect the signature of your unit when you’re deployed.”
Elwell said that there’s a “heavy emphasis on critical thinking skills. They’re presented problems throughout the course that requires them to apply those skills and develop them out. They’ve got to be articulate and possess communications skills.”
Following the course, the institute provides the warrant officers with professional military education as they progress throughout their career to ensure they receive the latest and modernized material, instructions, and best practices.
For Elwell, he encourages noncommissioned officers and officers interested in becoming a Special Forces warrant officer to apply and offers insight.
“For any potential candidate who would be coming to the Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute, you’ve got to come ready to work every day. You got to be receptive to learning new skills and new concepts. They also need to come physically prepared; we’ll maintain their fitness throughout the course. We will challenge them, but they need to return to the operational force following graduation ready to deploy.”
Dougherty added that no two SFOD-As are the same and each tactical technicians “brings unique value.”
“As the warrant officer, you are there to be one of the leaders of the SFOD-A and bring your experience and knowledge to everyone on it,” Dougherty added. “You need to love the idea of the small team and enjoy people more than anything. In order to advise, counsel, and improve everything the SFOD-A does or strives to do, it requires tremendous effort and constant presence - the Chief should always be there - to give a second look, a second thought, to lend an ear, and to be a safe counsel.”
For more information, visit https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/180A.
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