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Warrant Officer History
The military grade of warrant
officer dates back two centuries prior to Columbus, during the fledgling years
of the British Navy.
For the US Army, the lineage of the warrant officer can be traced back to 1896,
specifically to the Headquarters Clerk (later designated the Army Field Clerk).
The official birthday of the Army Warrant Officer Corps is 7 July 1918. During
this time warrant officers were not commissioned officers; but in reality were
considered civilians. The Judge Advocate General later determined that warrant
officers held military status.
An act of congress in 1918 established the Army Mine Planter Service as part of
the coastal artillery. This is also when the official color of the Army Warrant
Officer Corps color came to be brown. The color emanated from the brown stands
from burlap bags that the Mine Planter Service personnel wore as their insignia
of rank.
In 2005, the Department of the Army developed a new definition to encompass all
warrant officer specialties and grades.
"The Army WO is a self–aware and adaptive technical expert, combat leader,
trainer, and advisor. Through progressive levels of expertise in assignments,
training, and education, the WO administers, manages, maintains, operates, and
integrates Army systems and equipment across the full spectrum of Army
operations. Warrant Officers are innovative integrators of emerging
technologies, dynamic teachers, confident warfighters, and developers of
specialized teams of soldiers. They support a wide range of Army missions
throughout their career. Warrant officers in the Army are accessed with specific
levels of technical ability. They refine their technical expertise and develop
their leadership and management skills through tiered progressive assignment and
education." (Para 3-5, DA Pamphlet 600-3, Dec 2005)
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