Think Tank Application Paper for Class 18C This Think Tank application focuses on the debatable value of Warrant Officers (WO) within the United States Air Force (USAF). The WO was a specialist recognized between the ranks of Enlisted and a Commissioned Officers within the USAF after the service branched away from the Army in the years after WWII. The WO provided a distinguishing level of technical expertise that provided units with a recognizable skillset that unit leaders could leverage. The skillset that a WO would potentially posses would be developed through his years of experience, training, and investments that led to creating the distinguishing characteristics that made the hallmark of a WO. Today, the responsibility of being fiscally responsible with unit funding is an ever-growing concern across many levels. This has the potential for units to seek efficiencies in their organizations by having unit members do more with less. This saying of do more with less has the risk of reducing technical skills in today’s warfighter officers and skilled enlisted operators. This coupled with retention concerns begs the question if the right level of technical expertise in our warfighters is being retained for the execution of tactical and operational mission sets in the …show more content…
Today, the USAF trains Combat System Operator (CSO) in the what was formerly the Navigator’s specialized fields of Navigator track, Weapons System Operator, and Electronic Warfare Officer. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) employs a WO in the execution of Electronic Warfare duties onboard their Airborne Command and Control platform knows as the E-7 Wedgetail. Unlike the rest of the mission crew, these WOs remain in this technical position to maximize their knowledge and skillsets developed over years of experience and training in this essential wartime