If you want me to do that job, fine, but I'm taking the bars to go with it.
I know you understand - or hope you understand - the above wasn't MY argument. I admit I like to poke fun at the Army's Angry truth torpedos (totally stealing that line) but I get where you're coming from.
Here's what I want from my Warrant Officers:
- Be a pilot in command or be working your ass off on becoming one.
- Once a PC, become tracked.
- Once tracked, be very, very good at it. That "technical expert" thing shouldn't just be a slogan.
- Advise the leadership on all the things you're an expert at. But realize your scope is narrow while the commander's is broad. Your advise won't always be followed.
- Train your LTs to be the future commanders you want to have. And train them to be effective PCs and AMCs in the future.
- If you aren't the unit SP or unit Safety Officer, you're going to get an additional duty. Just do it. You have the time.
- Work. This isn't the Airlines. You can't argue you want to go home at 1300 because you aren't flying while simultaneously arguing you shouldn't do an additional duty.
My thoughts on Warrant Officers above the company level.
- Absolutely 1000 pay grades above me, but Warrants should stay at the company level for WAY longer than they are currently. There should be nothing wrong with multiple CW4s in a company.
- Battalions and above should only have warrants fill warrant MTOE positions. I don't see why a Battalion needs more than an SP, Safety, AMSO, and Maintenance Warrant.
- I'm unsure of the usefulness of "Command Warrant Officers" at the Brigade and higher echelons. Maybe that's a good thing - I don't know.
- I think smart warrants as LNOs in maneuver battalions is a good thing.
- Warrant officer promotions should be tied to what their primary war-fighting function is. (See CW4s in the company above).
Regarding Aviation Warrant PME:
- Seriously - there's nothing about flying, planning, executing, or anything in WO PME? I quiz all my guys who come back from the advanced course, ILE, and the staff course and wow... not much there about real-world operations.
I could go on all day, but bottom line if you give me a tracked PC who is good at what they do, that's a WO I'd want in my unit.