Is a warrant officer a real (commissioned) officer? Excuse my ignorance, all warrant officers out there, but is a warrant officer required to be a "gentleman?"
The distinction of "commissioned officer" is very old, and medieval in origin. In the feudal system, the royalty and nobility exercised all military command, their authority descending from the sovereign. The "King's Commission" was an instrument giving an officer command in the name of the sovereign, and as such it was restricted to the nobility and gentry. When captains went aboard vessels to take charge of them as men of war, they held their authority by virtue of their commission. The lieutenants were also commissioned officers, but none of the rest of the vessel's officers were deemed worthy of this distinction. As the master and others had to have some authority, they were given warrants. These warrant officers, though holding authority, were percieved as "second class" officers. Or, though they might be officers, they were not gentlemen.
Temples are, of course, for a few major life events, such as marriages, and other solemn ceremonies, and it is very seldom that any large number of persons is present at any one time.
For those who do not know, this temple in the story, the one at Nauvoo, Ill.--which is on the Mississippi River halfway between, but across the river from, Burlington and Keokuk, Iowa-- is in a sense a historical monument, for Mormons were once headquartered there and lived mostly there (c1837-47).
It was from there that the prophet Joseph Smith (1805-44) was grabbed in June of 1844 and taken to nearby Carthage, IL, where an anti-Mormon mob attacked and shot him and his brother Hyrum to death.
Other Temples exist in places centrally located, to serve Mormons in that general and extended area (including a lovely one overlooking Las Vegas (!)...but this one is put there mostly (I dare say) to commemorate Joseph's last home and his death, though perhaps the rest of the Midwest has few enough Temples that it will also see actual use...
PS To posters above, I would say that the very same people who deny that Mormons are Christians, also deny that Roman Catholics are Christians. What sillies, the Bible says that any church that says Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and will affirm that, is of God ...and therefore IMO Christian!!!
The the US Military, a warrant officer is usually a technical specialist. Many of them come from the ranks of NCOs and petty officers. Others are trained to the task (most Army aviators are WOs). The USMC calls them "gunners," which is just old Marine tradition, I think. (Foreign forces sometimes call long-service, very senior NCOs "warrant officers").
A WO holds a "warrant" from the service secretary, as opposed to a commission from the President. At the Chief Warrant Officer level (CWO-2) he or she does get a commission. A commission is required for some duties (like command).
But the second part of your question -- in the Army we expect all officers, commissioned and warrant, to behave as gentlemen (or ladies as the case may be, whatever matches their plumbing). We also expect decorous behaviour from noncommissioned officers (sergeants), at least in the combat units. (Support and service units often have lower standards of discipline across the board). The Navy is if anything more conservative in its expectations of decorum than the Army.
I do not think this chump is funny. He has sought publicity in a way that brings controversy on him, and then he drags the service into his situation by trying to hide behind his ID card. He is entitled to his religious views (as are his Mormon antagonists) but he is not entitled to drag the USN into his quixotic proselytizing. A jerk with an officer's ID card is still a jerk, but he has become a jerk that embarrasses the service. Time to retire, sailor.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Warrant Officers in the grades of W-2 through W-5 are Commissioned Officers (meaning that they are commissioned by the President). Warrant Officers in the grade of W-1 are not commissioned (their "commissions" come from their Service Secretary).