One of 10 draftees still in Army retires

Charleston Daily Mail ^ | today | staff

[Centurion2000]

Is that above an NCO?

He's about on par with a Major / Lt Colonel ... he just does not have a commision and is not in the officer chain of command.

Think of him as a Master Plumber, Master Electrician or master machinist.

[silentreignofheroes]

Some men just stand a little taller than other equals and here is one of them.

Found his spot ,,did'nt he,,,?

[Centurion2000]

Damn, I would have just enlisted if I could have been a helicopter pilot.

You needed 60 hours of college to get into the warrant program.

[calex59]

There are only 4 levels of warrent officer.He is at the top rank, can't go any higher unless he went to OCS and was commissioned as an officer.

[Centurion2000]

There are 5 levels now in the Army. CWO-5 is a rank.

[silentreignofheroes]

Would like to see that Plymouth..?

[calex59]

All you had to do was enlist and pass the Officer Candidate test with a score of 120. I did, and went to helicopter pilot school instead of OCS. Never regretted it.

[Thumper1960]

What's the equivalent rank of a Chief Petty Officer?

[leadpenny]

An old saying went, "You can always tell a Warrant. You just can't tell 'em much."

E5 CW2 & 04.

[calex59]

Ok, I haven't been in for a few years and WO-4 was it when I got out. Thanks for the info.

[leadpenny]

Warrant Officers can be in command under certain circumstances.

[geo40xyz]

Not Navy, but I believe CPO can go to E-9 today..

[wtc911]

One of the smartest and best educated groups I ever met were all Warrant Officers in the CID. They have PHDs on staff.

[kms61]

Rangel's years in the Army included more than 200 parachute jumps with a special forces unit in Vietnam and Cambodia

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There were only a handful of combat jumps during the entire Vietnam conflict, and if he'd been on every single one, he'd have had nowhere near 200. They must be talking about training jumps, which is a little misleading given the context.

Nevertheless, thanks to Chief Rangel for his service, and best wishes for his retirement.

[leadpenny]

I re enlisted from civilian and did the same thing.

WORWAC 66-11.

[Pilsner]

One idea behind Warrant officers is that some jobs take a lot of technical skill. If you train an enlisted person to do the job, they have "up or out" rules, and may quit for a better paying job in the private sector, so you lose the member, and have to train a replacement.

If you train a commissioned officer to job, they have "up or out" rules and are kicked out if they don't get promoted. But they don't get promoted if they don't go to different schools, and don't hold several jobs demonstrating wide competence. Either way, the Army loses the member from the technical slot, and has to train a replacement. Warrant Officers, WO1-WO5, are supposed to have the perks on an officer, but still be able to just do their job and not worry getting their ticket punched by holding a new position every 18 months.

People who should be Warrant officers, but aren't, for historical reasons, are JAGs, Chaplains and Doctors.

[silentreignofheroes]

You needed 60 hours of college to get into the warrant program.
Not always,,I was offered the School(was a Spec 5),turned it down,,dumbest thing I ever did,,this was in '77,still can't think of anything dumber,,but the packet was ready,kind of want to think it was an honor to be selected..

[Who dat?]

My nephew once complained warrants are basically enlisted guys with officer perks. He was oversimplifying more than a little of course.

My uncle used to claim that warrant officers were the only people in the Army that retained their balls as (he claimed) they were to be addressed as “mister” rather than “sir.” Maybe that was just “at the time”…

[wtc911]

Think of him as a Master Plumber, Master Electrician or master machinist.

_____________________________________________

Or a Master Detective.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Tops on the list is restoring a 1964 Plymouth Sport Fury. He parked it in his mom's barn when he went off to basic training.

Thanks for posting this great story! Wonder what the total number of Viet Nam era draftees went on to serve until retirement.