Originally Posted by
AirBear
Mostly to retain pilots. W/O's typically don't have collage degrees so are not as competitive for the major airlines and therefore more likely to stay in for 20 years. That's the idea anyway, but as with most their ideas it probably won't work.
This is an ex-enlisted man's point of view but most warrant officers I knew had college degrees at the very least and often master's degrees. Most staff NCO in the Marine Corps have associates to bachelor's degrees. I have met NCO's and Staff NCO's in the Marines (the "dumb" branch) with Master's degrees and PhD's from ivy league schools and they stay in the Marines because they love what they do (everyone is built differently.)
The best pilots I have ever worked with were previous enlisted warrant officers that worked in aviation before becoming a pilot. They are technical experts on the specific platform and for some reason have way better aim than straight commissioned pilots. Some in here may disagree but this was my experience (ground guy).
I think warrant officer pilots can work for all branches but I would prefer that those selected serve at least 3 years in an aviation related role on that specific platform (if possible) before beginning flight training. The main goal of military aviation is to help close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver. Your weapon is human as you are human, the best person to fly the platform is the guy that knows every nut and bolt on it.
S/F