A Totally Warranted Podcast

A Totally Warranted Podcast is a podcast about Warrant Officer Life. It contains information about everything from how to become an Army Warrant Officer to when to retire. In this podcast we’ll discuss topics surrounding your board packet, attending school, your first duty station and beyond. This podcast isn't just for aspiring Warrant Officers, it's also for current Warrant Officers. As we progress we will discuss how to manage stress, mentorship, retirement and beyond.

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A Totally Warranted Podcast

What It Takes To Be a Chief

July 11, 2023 • Chief D • Season 1 • Episode 2

In this episode of "Totally Warranted: Your Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Warrant Officer," Chief D explores the qualifications and eligibility requirements for Army warrant officers. She defines the role of a warrant officer as a highly specialized expert and technical leader in the U.S. Army who bridges the gap between enlisted personnel and commissioned officers.

Chief D highlights the technical proficiency and expertise of warrant officers, she discusses their responsibility as advisors to commanders, trainers of soldiers, and key contributors to the Army's readiness.

Chief D then discusses eligibility criteria and the packet submission process, emphasizing the significance of completing forms accurately and assembling supporting documents.

Moving forward, Chief D explains the review process conducted by Warrant Officer Recruiters and the determination of technical qualification. she directs listeners to the board schedule to ensure timely submission of packets and provides a link to find Warrant Officer Recruiters in their respective regions.

In closing, Chief D outlines potential outcomes after the board review. She teases the next topic—what happens after being selected—and encourages listeners to stay tuned for more insights and guidance.

Links:

Recruiting Page: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/

General Qualification: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/BASIC_QUALIFICATION/

WO Feeder MOS List: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/ARMY_FEEDER/

Packet Forms and Examples: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/PACKET_DOWNLOADS/

Getting Familiar with your Resources: https://www.totallywarranted.com/blogs/a-totally-warranted-blog/resources

What to expect after selection: https://www.totallywarranted.com/blogs/a-totally-warranted-blog/what-to-expect-after-selection

ETP/Waivers Processing Page: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/WAIVERS_ETP/

Submission Instructions: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/SUBMISSION/

Need a WO Recruiter: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/CONTACT_US/

Warrant Officer Recruiting Brief: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/TOOLS/

Board Schedule: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/BOARD_SCHEDULE/

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Hi, I’m Chief D, and you’re listening to a Totally Warranted Podcast. A Podcast where we discuss all things Chief. From how to become one, to when to retire and everything in between. In this podcast we’ll discuss topics surrounding your board packet, attending school, life as a warrant officer and beyond. So grab your favorite beverage, and sit back as I take you on the journey of life as a Chief.

Opener:

Hello, Hello, Hello Everyone! How’s everyone doing today? I’m excited to bring you our first official episode. If you haven’t listened to the trailer, that is where I go over everything you need to know about the podcast. I touch on who I am, why I’m qualified to take you on this unique journey and exactly what kind of journey we’re headed out on.

To briefly recap, my name is Chief D. I am a 420A by trade and I’m here to give you the scoop on how to become a warrant officer. I’ll even walk you through part of the process. I am not a Warrant Officer Recruiter, but I am a real live person giving you my thoughts and opinions along with the facts. I plan to take this podcast from the birth of a Warrant Officer to retirement and everything in between. The journey is going to be long, but don’t worry I’ve got time today!

You can expect a new episode every Tuesday. This first season of the Podcast is Called: How to become a Warrant Officer. In this season we’ll go over every step of the process, from packet submission to completion of the Basic Course. Then that’s where the fun starts. So now that you know what you can expect, let’s jump into the episode.

Episode 2:

So, you want to become a Warrant Officer. In this episode we’ll discuss the qualifications for becoming an Army Warrant Officer (as of July 2023, remember to always check the Warrant Officer Recruiting webpage for updates to qualifications and forms as they can occur often, (I’ll link the Recruiting page in the show notes). But before we get into the qualifications, let’s briefly talk about what a Warrant Officer is.

What is a Warrant Officer:

A Warrant Officer is a highly specialized expert and technical leader in the U.S. Army who possesses advanced skills and knowledge in a specific area of military operations. Warrant Officers are appointed by the Secretary of the Army and serve in various leadership positions across the Army, including in combat arms, combat support, and combat service support branches.

Warrant Officers are uniquely responsible for bridging the gap between enlisted personnel and commissioned officers. They are highly respected for their technical proficiency. They are often sought out by both enlisted soldiers and commissioned officers for guidance and expertise in their area of specialization.

The role of a Warrant Officer in the U.S. Army varies depending on their specialty. Still, they serve as technical experts and advisors to commanders and senior leaders. They may also lead teams and train soldiers in their areas of expertise. Warrant Officers are critical to the Army's success as they bring deep knowledge and experience to their roles. They are essential in ensuring the Army's readiness to meet the challenges of today's complex operational environments.

Wow, that is probably the most Army thing I’ve said all week. But it is true. Warrant Officer’s know a thing or two because generally speaking they’ve seen a thing or two. Now for the sake of putting it out there, you should know my focus is going to be on Active Duty Army Warrant Officer. Why, because I want to speak to you from experience. So I will be focusing on Technical Warrant Officers more specifically than Aviation warrants. However, if I get enough interest, I will certainly reach out to some of my Guard, Reserve and Aviation WOMIES for their input. If you’d like information on those areas shoot me an email at ChiefD@totallywarranted.com and let me know what you’d like to know. I’ll link my email address in the show notes.

Eligibility:

Now let’s talk about eligibility. There are two types of eligibility requirements to become a warrant officer, those are general or basic eligibility, and specialty specific eligibility requirements. General eligibility requirements are going to be those standards that all Warrant Officers must meet, consider this your minimum standard. They include things like having a 110 GT score and having at least a SECRET security clearance.

Specialty specific eligibility is going to be those things you must achieve in order to meet the qualifications for the Warrant Officer MOS you want. Some of these items include background experiences, college education, and certifications. I will put a link in the show notes to where you can find the basic qualifications and the MOS specific qualifications for the Warrant Officer MOS you would like to apply for.

So generally speaking all Warrant Officers must meet the following requirements: You must be a US Citizen, between the ages of 18 and 46 years old. (18-33 for Aviators), Be a high school graduate or have a GED, meet all height and weight standards,pass a standard 6 event ACFT without restrictions, pass a commissioning physical, have 12 months remaining on your enlistment contract, Be of solid moral standings, and not exceed 12 years Active Federal Service (although a waiver can be requested for this).

That’s a lot isn’t. In retrospect this isn’t even scratching the surface of the full scope of requirements for your specialty. So let’s talk about specialties. There are currently 47 different Warrant Officer MOS’s listed on the recruiting website. Each has a list of “feeder MOSs” associated with it. A feeder MOS is an enlisted MOS that will generally produce the technical knowledge necessary as a foundation to create the desired Warrant Officer MOS.

For example the feeder MOS for a 420A ( a Human Resources Technician) is only the enlisted MOS 42A. But the Feeder MOS’s for a 131A a Field Artillery Technician are 13B, 13J, 13F, 13M, 13R, 11C, 11B, 19D, and 19K. There are multiple Warrant Officer MOSs that are open to all enlisted MOSs like 153A Rotary Wing Aviator, 170D Cyber Capabilities Developer Technician, and all of the 255 series (as long as you have 4 years IT experience).

So, after understanding the general requirements, really sitting down and understanding what Warrant Officer MOS you qualify for is essential. You can apply for up to 3 Warrant Officer MOS’s on your application as long as you meet the requirements for all of them.

From the Feeder MOS page on the recruiting website (linked in the show notes) you are going to press the Warrant Officer MOS you are interested in and it will take you to the page designated for that MOS. Once you’re on the page for the MOS you're interested in you are going to see information from the Branch itself telling you what you need to know.

Each MOS page is run by the specific branch so they are formatted differently but should include prerequisites specific to that Warrant Officer MOS, information you need to know about putting in your packet or any applicable waivers, as well as appropriate point of contact information for the Warrant Officer Proponent in that branch.

This page for the MOS you are applying to is going to be your bread and butter! It will hold all pertinent information and generally tells you exactly what you need to know. Information here is specific to the branch so make sure you are looking at the correct page. Once you understand what you need to know to qualify and you meet or will meet those qualifications by the board packet submission deadline, then it’s time to get your packet together!

There are full examples of (semi-completed packets) on the Recruiting website (link in the show notes). They include examples for both Aviation and Technician packets which is an amazing update. The packet examples have highlighted fields to ensure you see certain information and it gives you a brief description of what needs to go in each section of the form.

You can walk through the information there or read my walk through in my blog post “Getting Familiar with your resources” which will be linked in the show notes. Currently there are about 10 required forms in a board ready packet for Technicians and additional forms for our aviation peeps. There are a minimum of 6 additional supporting forms each applicant will need, not including any necessary waivers. You should know that while supporting documents are necessary for your packet submission they do not go before the board.

Each form you need is linked into the page and can be pulled directly from there. Forms on this page with Red Asterisks are required for ALL applicants regardless of MOS so make sure you're paying attention. At a minimum the packet you submit should include the DA 61, USAREC Form 3.3, 3.2, and 3.1, a security clearance verification review, SRB or STP, DA Form 160, Statement of Understanding, DA Form 705, all NCOERs, all 1059s for service school completion, any college transcripts, and then any MOS specific forms or appropriate waiver requests.

Essentially you are preparing your Military Life story for the board and its members so make sure you are paying attention to detail and completing everything fully. Prior to going to the board, your packet will be reviewed, what I would guess to be, at least 25 times. Let’s face it, everyone who is signing it with the exception of your medical provider is going to want to see it. This is going to include those writing your letters of recommendation. Then after it gets completely signed and turned into the Warrant Officer Recruiters email for submission it will go through additional rounds of scrutiny to get you board ready.

Now that you know what the general packet process looks like, I just want to detour quickly and take you through a form that I feel doesn’t get enough love. That is going to be the Resume. The resume aka USAREC Form 3.2 is a beast. It is 17 pages of “what did I do, to deserve this” and it must be completely filled in! The Sections One through three of the resume are pretty simple and then in section four the fill in the blank adventure begins.

I want to give you some tips that I’ve seen from my experience that will help you get the best results on your resume. Tip # 1. Follow the directions. Seems pretty silly, but I had to say it. Tip # 2 For your military experience you want to write about your assignments (beginning with your current assignment and going backwards until your enlistment).

You want to make sure the things you are highlighting are unique to you. If I can change the name on the resume and turn it in as my own then you’ve done yourself no justice. Be specific, tell us how that job got you ready to be a warrant officer, what did you achieve, what additional duties did you have or how have you exceeded the standards there. But make sure you’re not just taking the bullets from your NCOERs as they are already in the packet.

In the civilian experience section you are going to do the same thing but with your civilian work history. Tip # 3 It is ok if you don't have a civilian work history, just leave it blank, but you MUST keep those pages in the resume, don’t remove them. For military education you want to begin with the most recent and go backwards to the beginning.

Again, ensure that you aren’t just regurgitating the 1059, or the ATARRS description of the course you took. Tip #4 You want to highlight the importance of this course in your career, how it prepared you for roles and responsibilities, how it’s shaped you to getting to where you are today. But don’t include special skills courses like airborne, air assault, or pathfinder.

Now, the very last page of the resume is the Summary. On this page you are speaking directly to the board. You’re showcasing your ability to write effectively, pay attention to detail and keep on track. Tip # 5 It doesn’t have to be the whole page but it should be complete, and appropriately paint a picture of who you are and why you should be selected as an Army Warrant Officer. Speak about yourself, your skills, and what you bring to the table, but be careful of MOS specific jargon. You aren’t guaranteed to have a person from your potential MOS on the board so you want to make sure ANYONE will be able to tell why you should be selected.

Ok, I’m sure you get it by now. The packet is probably the single most important thing in this process of becoming a Warrant Officer, without being successful at this check point, the buck stops here. The only other thing that could be considered more important than your packet at this point is your mind. Bet you didn’t expect me to say that huh. We’ll touch on that in another episode.

So getting back on track, once your packet is submitted it will go through a series of checks by the WO Recruiters. They will give you any feedback and track any changes required with you. Once your packet clears them it will go to the proponent for your MOS who will make a determination on if you qualify Technically to apply. Once they make their determination your packet will move forward for any necessary waivers.

Prior to the board you want your packet to be in a “board-ready” status meaning it is simply waiting for the board to convene. Once you achieve this status, sit back and relax because the work is done. From here the board will convene and you will find out via MILPER Message if you were selected or not.

So I mentioned your packet being in a Board ready state, but I seem to have missed letting you know when you should be submitting your packets! So, it’s pretty simple, you just need to check the board schedule. There are 4 Accessions boards per year for Warrant Officers and each MOS usually is boarded at 2 non-concurrent boards per year. I’ve dropped a link to the board schedule page in the show notes.

Also, I’ve mentioned Warrant Officer recruiters, but didn’t tell you how to find one. Now Warrant Officer Recruiters aren’t going to be handing out at MEPS or your local recruiting stations. They are strategically placed and in regional teams. So to help you find the Warrant Officer Recruiter closest to you I’ve dropped a link in the show notes for you. It will give you the covered locations for each region and the contact information for each recruiter there. Fun fact, the majority of Warrant Officer Recruiters are actually enlisted! You can talk to any recruiter you’d like but I would suggest calling the one in your region so there is less of a hassle with time zones and follow up. Ok, back to the board.

There are a few different results that can occur at the board. You could be: Fully Qualified-Select (meaning you were selected); Fully Qualified-Non-Select (meaning you were fully qualified but not selected and your packet will go before the next scheduled board automatically); or Non Competitive- Non Select (meaning your packet has been seen before the board twice and not selected. You must now wait 12 months from the initial DA form 61 date to resubmit your packet. (there is a waiver for this if you look on the waivers page of the recruiting website, link in show notes).

Hopefully at this point your packet was Fully Qualified- Selected! If this is the case then within 45-90 days you will have emails from your new career manager giving your follow on guidance. And that my friends is where we are going to stop today. If you’d like more information on what happens next stay tuned to the next episode of a Totally Warranted podcast where we will discuss what happens after you get selected. If you’re like me and like to skip ahead you can jump over to my blog and read the blog post “What to expect after selection” I will link it in the show notes for you.

Well alright that is all I have for you today, hopefully this journey has served you well and you are ready to get the ball rolling. If you want to stay up to date on all the latest podcast episodes make sure you subscribe. By subscribing you will be notified whenever a new episode is released. Also follow us on Socials where I will keep you updated on days in the Life of a Warrant Officer :). Thank you again for joining me on this journey and I can’t wait to see you for the next leg of the race. I’ll talk to you soon!

Outro:

You’re listening to a totally warranted podcast. A podcast by chief for chief. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard, would you mind leaving a review. A review lets others know that this podcast is worth their time and will help them on their journey to embodying Chief. We’ll see you next time.

Links: