Army Warrant Officers Instrumental in the Revitalization of the Air Force Warrant Officer Corps

By CW5 Robert Hembrook

Article published on: June 3, 2026 | Gray Space, 2026 E-Edition

Read Time: < 6 mins

Warrant officer candidates from the U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Army National Guard participate in a 10-kilometer ruck march as part of a graduation requirement while attending the Regional Training Institute on Fort Pickett, Virginia, Jan. 25, 2020. The school at Fort Pickett is one of 26 locations around the country run by the National Guard that allow U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers to attend the warrant officer candidate training. With the benefit of these locations, Soldiers now have the option to attend Warrant Officer Candidate School without having a 10-month wait for the school run by the active component at Fort Rucker, Alabama. This total-force partnership between the Army Reserve and National Guard allows for more professional development opportunities across the U.S. Army. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret)

On December 6, 2024, the first class of 30 United States Air Force (AF) warrant officers since 1959 graduated from Warrant Officer Training School (WOTS) at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama. Integral to the success of this historic effort was a strong collaboration with Army and other service warrant officers.

The rise of the “Super Grade” NCOs (E8 and E9) across the services in the late 1950s gave the Air Force the opportunity to transfer the technician role to senior NCOs and dissolve its small Warrant Officer Corps in 1959. The last serving Regular Air Force WO retired in 1980, and one reservist continued until 1991.

In 2019, I was working as a civilian at the 24th Air Force/AFCYBER/JFHQ-C (AF) as the Deputy A3 (Operations)/Deputy A6 (Communications) when I was asked by Major General John Olson, our Reserve Mobilization Assistant, to write a paper for him supporting bringing warrant officers back to the Air Force. I created a document which included value propositions, economic analysis of the cost of the warrant officer vs mid-grade NCOs, and how the other services managed their populations. At CORONA (a biannual meeting with Air Force senior leaders and MAJCOM commanders) the idea was rejected, but a seed was planted.

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and CW5 Robert Hembrook.

In early 2024, former AF Secretary Frank Kendall gave the order to create the Warrant Officer Corps for the AF and graduate the first class by the end of the year. A West Point graduate, he was part of an Air Defense unit in Germany during the Cold War and saw how the maintenance warrant officers kept their Hawk missiles in top condition, greatly enhancing readiness on a complex system.

Just 10 days after the initial announcement, officials at Headquarters AF met with representatives from the other services to learn the institutional roles of their warrant officer programs. Then, they met with AF Information Technology (IT) and cyber experts to figure what functional roles warrant officers ought to fill based on that guidance. The first class graduated 296 days later. Herculean tasks such as adapting the entire pay and personnel systems to use the nascent warrant officer ranks took place across the personnel, pay, and organizational arms of the AF. “We found out about it a few weeks prior to the Secretary of the Air Force’s announcement, and from that point forward, it’s been all hands on deck,” said Lieutenant Colonel Justin Ellsworth, career field manager for cyberspace operations officers.

The emphasis has been to create IT and Cyber Operations Warrants by creating the 17W and 17Y AF Specialty Codes (AFSCs).

Creation of the warrants was put under Air Force Chief Information Officer Venice Goodwine. One of her strongest advocates was the Principal Cyber Advisor to Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF), Dr. Wanda Jones-Heath, who quickly rallied together an excellent tiger team. She hit the road to meet with units who would receive the new warrants to gather their requirements and get a sense of the community about the new warrant functions. I knew her from my time at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), so I reached out and connected her and the AF team to the Army Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Eisenhower (now Fort Gordon) and supplied her with information about the related Army Military Occupational Specialties for Signal (255A, 255N, 255S) and Cyber (170A) as a starting point. I also made recommendations about the uniform and rank insignia.

Other career fields are also under consideration (but not pilots). “I think at some point, we’ll want to think about ‘Are there other fields this will make sense in too?’” former SECAF Kendall said. I spoke to him at the December 6, 2024, graduation and recommended that next we include maintenance, medical, and intelligence career fields because of the specialized skills.

Recognizing that the schoolhouse could not make up for a 65-year gap in experience alone, they reached out to their sister services. “Warrant officers from every service have been willing to help us stand up a program of instruction and mentor the AF’s new warrant officers,” said Major Nathaniel Roesler, Commandant of the Warrant Officer Training School since it was activated in June 2024.

The National Guard Bureau activated two Army CW4s, both former TAC officers, to act as “observers” to help the WOTS build their cadre of NCO instructors. “Having two Senior Army Warrant Officers on the ground to assist the AF in establishing their WOTS was instrumental in inserting the WO history and culture. We were able to highlight firsthand the importance of the technical expertise, capabilities, professionalism, and critical thinking, that Warrant Officers bring to the force,” said CW4 Jeremiah Miller, Minnesota Army National Guard.

From Left to Right: Venice M. Goodwine, Chief Information Officer, Dept of the Air Force, CW5 Robert Hembrook, Dr. Wanda T. Jones-Heath, Principal Cyber Advisor for the Dept. of the Air Force.

Senior Warrant Officers from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard were invited to attend round-table events with each graduating class. The one I attended on December 5, 2024, was a two-hour, free-form Chatham House Rules-style question-and-answer session. Topics were wide ranging with insightful questions from the candidates on customs and courtesies, career development, and, most importantly, on how to transition from NCO to warrant officer, particularly as most graduates will return to the same unit. “The success of the program has depended on help from our joint service partners, particularly the Army,” said Roesler.

The return of the USAF Warrant Officer has been a long time coming. The capabilities they will bring and the potential to expand from the current two AFSCs will harken a bright future for the cohort and for the US Air Force. I was honored to be a part of this history-making initiative.