By Sgt. 1st Class Erick Studenicka
Joint Force Headquarters
CARSON CITY -- Experienced Soldiers willing to keep their boots on terra firma for the remainder of their military career can quickly transition into the Nevada Army Guard’s warrant officer corps. Warrant officers are the Army’s experts who perform specialized missions and train Soldiers and advise commanders on technical military topics.
There is unprecedented demand for ground technical warrant officers in the Nevada Army Guard, especially in the ordnance and signal corps career fields, according to Warrant Officer Strength Manager Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joshua Bunker. Demand for warrant officers in Army aviation also remains high, but the transition period to become a full-fledged aviation warrant officer will likely take a longer period of time in comparison to Soldiers willing to take a ground-technical position.
“Soldiers with 4-5 years of leadership experience are extremely desirable candidates for technical warrant officer positions,” Bunker said. “For example, a sergeant with a signal or maintenance occupational skill who has been a squad leader would be an ideal applicant for the warrant officer corps.”
The Nevada Guard has 100 authorized warrant officer positions. The majority of the positions are filled but there are more than a dozen vacant positions and more are pending because a high percentage of Nevada’s warrant officers are approaching retirement age.
“We need a minimum of eight new warrant officers in our state each year to offset the retirement exodus of warrant officers. That is the minimum – I would like to get 10 new warrants per year,” Bunker said. “In some occupational fields, we are ‘overdriving’ and recruiting at 200 percent in some vacant positions in anticipation of future retirements.”
Bunker said an experienced enlisted Soldier qualified in an attractive military occupation series of aviation, motor transportation, signal corps, ordnance, maintenance or quartermaster (MOS Nos. 15, 25, 88, 89, 91 or 92) could likely become a full-fledged technical warrant officer in less than a year. He noted now-Warrant Officer 1 Elizabeth Zamora-Lechuga completed her transition from sergeant to warrant officer in just five months this year (April-August).
For those Soldiers with their heart set on becoming an aviation warrant, Bunker said there are vacancies but candidates should anticipate a longer wait for their requisite military schools versus ground-based warrant occupations.
Bunker noted it’s important for most warrant officer applicants to have experience in the military occupation for the career field they are seeking. Although an aviation warrant applicant’s MOS is immaterial, there must be a strong tie between a Soldier’s enlisted MOS and his/her future ground-technical warrant field.
“A strong applicant will have experience and expertise in the ‘feeder MOS’ for their chosen warrant officer field,” Bunker said.
(Soldiers interested in seeing which warrant officer career field their current MOS is associated with can visit: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/ARMY_FEEDER/.)
Applicants for the warrant officer corps will need to meet age requirements, earn a minimum score on the General Technical test and pass a physical examination. Soldiers interested in seeing the entire list of prerequisites can visit: https://recruiting.army.mil/ISO/AWOR/BASIC_QUALIFICATION/.
For specific requirements, call Bunker at office 775-348-5128 or cell 702-460-5407 or write to: Joshua.c.bunker.mil@mail.mil.