Warrant officer (United States)

In the United States Armed Forces, the ranks of warrant officer (grade W‑1) and commissioned chief warrant officer (grades CW-2 to CW‑5)—NATO: WO1–CWO5—are rated as officers above all non-commissioned officers, candidates, cadets, and midshipmen, but subordinate to the lowest commissioned officer grade of O‑1 (NATO: OF‑1). This application differs from the Commonwealth of Nations and other militaries, where warrant officers are the most senior of the other ranks (NATO: OR‑8 and OR‑9), equivalent to the U.S. Armed Forces senior enlisted grades of E‑8 and E‑9 (NATO: OR-8 and OR-9).

Warrant officers are highly skilled, single-track specialty officers. While the ranks are authorized by Congress, each branch of the uniformed services selects, manages, and uses warrant officers in slightly different ways. For appointment to the rank of warrant officer-one (W‑1), since 2005, by executive order a warrant of authority is approved by the department secretary (Secretary of Defense or Secretary of Homeland Security) for each respective service, using delegated presidential authority. By statute, appointment to the grade of W-1 can also come via commission by the service secretary, the department secretary, or the president, but this is effectively an extinct practice. For the chief warrant officer ranks (CW‑2 to CW‑5), these warrant officers are commissioned, since 2005, by their department Secretary using delegated presidential authority. Both warrant officers and chief warrant officers take the same oath of office as other commissioned officers (O‑1 to O‑10).

Warrant officers can and do command detachments, units, vessels, aircraft, and armored vehicles, as well as lead, coach, train, and counsel subordinates. However, the warrant officer's primary task as a leader is to serve as a technical expert.