Originally Posted by
C130driver
It has been discussed before but Air Force Warrant officers is not a great idea.
Second, the Army operates in a very tactical environment where you can have technical experts flying helicopters around while the Captain/Major types make the operational decisions. In the Air Force, our flying mission is much more strategic and needs officers with their pink rear on the line making those strategic decisions - and those decision makers need to be tactical experts. It’s not about flying the plane, most can be taught to fly a plane. Think about all the various jobs (flying related) needed to run a Squadron. Those jobs require a level of organizational management and critical thinking that comes from some degree of higher education.
Now, if they really want to keep people? They need to provide bonuses comparable to year 1-5 salary as an FO AND address the QOL/morale issues.
I am not sure if I should be ****ed off by your comments or smiling from ear to ear. If you are saying that IF the AF had Warrant Officers that the eventually the upper echelon of AF officers would lack the tactical and technical expertise to make strategic decisions because that expertise would reside with their warrant officer corps, then I might agree with you.
If you think that a Warrant Officer does not have the equivalent aptitude or leadership qualities than that of an AF officer then I would say you are full of poo.
The very purpose of the Aviation Warrant Officer it is be a Technical AND TACTICAL expert and the critical decision making abilities of most CW4/CW5s would rival that of most AF O-5/O-6s.
You do realize that most CW3's and above have at least a bachelors if not a masters degree AND the PME required is essentially the same as that taught at the various O-grade levels.
If you can explain to me how an A-10 pilot's "pink rear" as you called it is more on the line than an AH-64 driver's when it comes to decision making in the combat environment... I would love to hear that.
Hmmm, now lets look at all these "jobs" you mention that are needed for squadron leadership; All of the "flying related" job that usually lead to to command in the AF are jobs done in the army by Warrant Officers; Weapons and tactics, Standardization, safety, Air Mission Commanders, Maintenance