Army Warrant Officer Classification System

The following paragraphs provide background information on Army warrant officer MOS's and describe the warrant officer MOS classification system and the procedures used by the Army to select warrant officers and evaluate their MOS skills and knowledge.

The Army Warrant Officer MOS Classification System Army warrant officers are highly skilled technicians. They are normally assigned to middle management or administrative positions that require highly specialized or technical skills and knowledge, and the supervision of enlisted technical specialists.

The warrant officer MOS classification system currently includes approximately 76 MOS's grouped into 16 career fields. Each warrant officer MOS represents a set of duties and qualifications that are highly consistent from one duty assignment to another.

Warrant officer MOS's are normally identified by at least four characters (three numbers and a letter, e.g., 214E). Unlike enlisted MOS's, warrant officer MOS's consist of four characters, not three, and do not have skill levels.

A warrant officer's occupational qualifications may be expressed with as many as nine characters, but because the last five characters indicate special qualifications that are variable, the learning they represent is not evaluated. Only the skills, competencies, and knowledge represented by the first four characters are evaluated by ACE. The fifth character, a number or a letter, designates a Special Qualification Identifier (SQI); when a warrant officer has not been awarded an SQI, the fifth character is zero ("0"). The sixth and seventh characters (a number and a letter) are an Additional Skill Identifier (ASI) that relates a specific occupational skill or item of equipment to an MOS. The eighth and ninth characters represent competency in a specific foreign language.

Users may wish to conduct an individual assessment to grant credit for the additional learning represented by the last five characters. Because these additional characters are frequently awarded on the basis of successful completion of formal courses, the user may refer to the appropriate formal course recommendations in the Guide.

There are four grades of warrant officers: Warrant Officer, W-1 (WO1); Chief Warrant Officer, W-2 (CW2); Chief Warrant Officer, W-3 (CW3); and Chief Warrant Officer, W-4 (CW4) The grades reflect rank and do not signify differences in job duties.

Warrant Officer Selection and Evaluation

The procedures used in selecting warrant officers and evaluating their MOS skills and knowledge are different from those used for enlisted soldiers.

Selection. Warrant officers are appointed by the Secretary of the Army. Warrant officer vacancies are routinely announced, and interested persons undergo a competitive application process. Most applicants have had Army enlisted service experience, but such experience is not required.

To qualify for appointment, applicants must meet several criteria. For ACE purposes, the relevant criteria are:

• Achieve a standard score of 110 or higher on the Aptitude Area General Technical Test of the Army Classification Battery or the Army Qualification Battery (this score is also required for commissioned officer applicants).
• Demonstrate understanding of and proficiency in the English language.
• Have sufficient education, technical training, and practical experience to ensure outstanding technical ability in the MOS for which application is being made.
• Be a high school graduate or the equivalent and, when the MOS requires more than a high-school-level education, meet the additional education requirement for the specific MOS. (Two years of college or the equivalent is the desired goal for Regular Army warrant officers.)

Selected candidates must successfully complete a warrant officer candidate course before being appointed.

Evaluation. Under the present evaluation system, the normal procedure is for each warrant officer to be evaluated at least once a year. The evaluation is conducted by officers who serve as rater and senior rater. Each performs independently. The rater, the warrant officer's immediate supervisor, completes the full evaluation report. The senior rater, the officer who supervises the rater, ensures that the evaluation report has been accurately and properly completed and adds comments and a rating of the rated warrant officer.

Warrant officer evaluations focus on technical competence in the MOS. Raters assign adjectival and numerical ratings for each of several important duty areas.

The ratings are recorded on the Officer Evaluation Report (OER) (DA Form 67-8), which also contains a description of the specific functions, duties, and tasks that the rated warrant officer is required to perform during the assignment covered by the OER. Each report provides an appraisal of the rated warrant officer's professional attributes, quality of performance, and potential demonstrated during a specific period while in a particular duty assignment. Complete files of each warrant officer's OERs are maintained at the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command (PERSCOM), where all OERs are reviewed for accuracy and completeness.