The U.S. Department of the Air Force (DAF) is reinstating its warrant officer (WO) program. To provide insights into WO talent management in the sister services, this report details the accessions and selection, training and education, and promotion policies and practices of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. The authors also examine the DAF’s historical WO program.

Warrant Officers Across the U.S. Military Services

Adam Givens, Angela K. Clague, Baileigh McFall, Lauren Taylor

ResearchPublished Apr 4, 2025

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The U.S. Department of the Air Force (DAF) discontinued its warrant officer (WOs) program in the late 1950s but is now reinstating the program. To provide insights into how WO talent management is in sister services, this report details the accessions and selection, training and education, and promotion policies and practices of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. The authors also examine the DAF’s historical WO program. The authors examined relevant statutes, legislation, policies, instructions, manuals, regulations, guidelines, memorandums, historical sources, and journal articles. The report includes an annotated bibliography of relevant RAND research in the appendix.

Key Findings

  • Sister service WO programs developed in response to technical demands.
  • The U.S. Navy’s WO program is primarily used to retain senior enlisted technical talent. Navy WOs typically have longer service careers at the time of selection than do Army and Marine Corps WOs, which influences Navy WO training. The Marine Corps WO program shares similar qualities to the Navy WO program because of its institutional relationship with the Navy.
  • In the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, WO programs are meant to attract and develop personnel. Both services offer WO career tracks for junior enlisted and civilians. Most Army WOs are in the aviation field because of the demand for aviator specialists with expertise in rotary-wing technology. The Navy has high demand for personnel with cyber and computer network operations expertise, which is complicated by competition with the civilian sector for talent.

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Givens, Adam, Angela K. Clague, Baileigh McFall, and Lauren Taylor, Warrant Officers Across the U.S. Military Services. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2997-2.html.
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This research was prepared for the Department of the Air Force and conducted within the Workforce, Development, and Health Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE.

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