Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. (December 8, 2024): How do you promote and retain highly capable senior NCOs whose knowledge and skills are vital to the Army? Why not give them a chance to become an “Officer by another means.” In this photo by Sergeant 1st Class Shane Smith, Sergent 1st Class Ratthiny Ly is promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer 1 with all the duties and privileges of that office.
WO1 Ly will join the roughly 26,000 warrant officers in today’s Army who serve as both technical experts and leaders who command units, aircraft, vessels, and armored vehicles. A warrant officer is a hybrid between enlisted personnel and commissioned officers.
Commissioned officers receive their rank via a college degree and formal officer training. Upon graduation, a new officer receives a formal “commission” from the President of the United States. A “warrant officer,” on the other hand, receives permission, or a “warrant” , from the service secretary because based on their highly specialized expertise in technical fields like aviation, intelligence, or medicine. Warrant officers are ranked above the highest enlisted ranks, but below the lowest officer grade. Yet they also receive competitive pay and privileges similar to those of a commissioned officer. Hence, the hybrid between upper and lower ranks. Warrant officers make up less than 3% of the Army.
The system is not new.
The commissioning of officers can be traced to the Roman Empire when wealthy noblemen would offer monetary “commissions” to raise armies to protect the realm. In the 13th Century, Royal Navy warrant officers achieved their designation by virtue of their accrued knowledge and experience rather than by a formal commission from the King. During the American Revolution, the term “military commission” was first used in the Mexican American War of the mid-19th century.
WO-1 Ly completed Warrant Officer Candidate school at Fort Novosel, Alabama earlier this year and is currently assigned to 4th Battalion,166th Regiment - Regional Training, Pennsylvania Army National Guard.