Go Ask Chief

Photo By Sgt. Lindsey Schulte | Warrant Officers from the 451st Expiditionary Sustainment Command out of Wichita, Kansas gather here at 1LT Larry J. Wallace Army Reserve Center on Sept. 8, 2020.  

WICHITA, KS, UNITED STATES

09.13.2020

Story by Sgt. Zeta Kennel 

366th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

In 1718, Benjamin Franklin was 12 years old. It was the year that Blackbeard the Pirate was killed in a battle off the coast of North Carolina, New Orleans was settled by French colonist Jean Baptiste le Moyne, and Spain founded Mission San Antonio de Valero. Three hundred and two years ago great things were happening in the land that would one day be the United States of America.
For the 451st Expeditionary Sustainment Command (ESC), 302 is the amount of years in service 13 of their Warrant Officers have given the Army. This expertise and experience keep the Army rolling along while ensuring Soldiers stay safe, fed, and equipped for whatever fight they face.
The Army Warrant Officer Corps was born in 1918 during World War I. According to Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-3, “The Army Warrant Officer is a self–aware and adaptive technical expert, combat leader, trainer, and advisor. The WO administers, manages, maintains, operates, and integrates Army systems and equipment across the full spectrum of Army operations.”
Field Manual 6-22 further explains, “Warrant officers possess a high degree of specialization in a particular field in contrast to the more general assignment pattern of other commissioned officers. Warrant officers command aircraft, maritime vessels, special units, and task organized operational elements.”
“We have to do more with less. You have to have efficiency to do that and know the systems, so the Soldiers aren’t just out there spinning their wheels,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Cy Nightingale, the support operations maintenance automotive warrant officer.
“If you look at the history of why the warrants even exist in the Army, it’s the training aspect, the ‘brain-work’ of it all, to keep it all moving,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph Sheets, the automotive maintenance warrant officer for the G-4.
Being tactical and technical experts while preserving corporate knowledge is the mainstay that drives the warrant officer corps and keeps even the smallest of mechanisms moving smoothly according to Chief Warrant Officer 4 Stephen Castagnola, the vessel master for the sea mobility section. This corps allows those most skilled in their job fields to reinforce the strength of the Army in ways that would be lost without their specialized knowhow.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robin Mitchell, the mobility officer for support operations transportation said, “I think it [the warrant officer corps] is the most important corps in the Army because you are the subject matter expert (SME) in that position. That colonel or general is going to come to you. They’re going to say, ‘ask chief.’”
“They say that NCOs are the backbone of the military, but that’s when you’re talking leadership, getting from here to there. But when you must know how to get things done you need to have an SME and that’s what warrants do,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alex Wagner, the information protection technician for G-6.
A warrant officer’s job is not only about being the technical expert in their field. According to FM 6-22 due to their comprehensive technical knowledge they are unparalleled role models and mentors for junior officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs).
“I wanted to be a warrant officer to project mentorship to others while retaining my skill set and making a difference,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Thomas Colecraft-Addison, the property book officer. He credits becoming a warrant officer to the mentorship he received early in his career.
This type of mentorship is especially beneficial for the warrant officers at the 451st ESC. The unit has a member from every rank of warrant, from warrant officer to chief warrant officer five.
The most junior warrant officer of the 451st ESC is Warrant Officer Ryan Tabolt, a support operations mobility officer. Tabolt recently graduated from his warrant officer training and the 451st ESC is his first assignment as a warrant. “I’m going to learn a lot,” he said.
“A WO1 coming to a division like this is going to have plenty of mentors to ask questions and model him or herself after,” said Castagnola.
For seasoned warrant officers reaching out to their junior counterparts could be equally beneficial. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rich Kuehn, the SASMO Army information systems technician warrant officer said, “It helps us as senior warrants to have that new warrant that just came from the school house with all of that new knowledge in his mind and will help us mentor down the line. It works both ways, we can help him, and he can help us.”
The warrant officer corps is not a large one. According to a 2018 Army.mil article only about 2.5 percent of the U.S. Army force are warrant officers. To the warrant officers of the 451st ESC it is imperative to let Soldiers know how important it is to help grow this elite group of experts.
“Don’t become a warrant officer because you think its cool, become a warrant officer because you want to give back and you want to teach, train and mentor others and contribute to the Army as a whole,” explained Chief Warrant Officer 3 Paul Miller, an information technician warrant officer for the G-6.
Mitchell echoed Miller’s sentiments, “Don’t talk about it, be about it. If you want to be a warrant officer, do the leg work, get the background. Research what it takes to become a warrant officer and make sure you’re squared away before you apply.”
There is no telling where the Army will be in 302 years, but rest assured, a strong warrant officer corps will guarantee the lessons learned today will be the foundation of tomorrow.

• Date Taken: 09.13.2020
• Date Posted: 09.21.2020 17:38
• Story ID: 378310
• Location: WICHITA, KS, US