Photo By Alun Thomas | Warrant Officer Jonathon Carreno, formerly a recruiter in Sierra Vista, Ariz., has his...... read more read more
PHOENIX – The leap from recruiter to warrant officer is not easily done, with the obstacle of Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) proving a barrier to gaining a commission.
The intense physical and mental pressure is meant to test candidates to their limits, earning them the right to wear the coveted rank of Warrant Officer 1.
Former Sierra Vista, Arizona, recruiter Warrant Officer Jonathon Carreno overcame this hurdle, when he swore in as one of the newest warrant officers in the U.S. Army, after graduating WOCS, March 21, Fort Rucker, Alabama.
For Carreno becoming a warrant officer was something he had always aspired to, since entering the Army 11 years ago.
“I’ve always wanted to be a warrant officer. I came to Sierra Vista as a recruiter 18 months ago and decided to put in my packet in July of 2016,” Carreno said. “I got letters of recommendation from my old company commander and the battalion commander and submitted my packet. In September I was accepted for WOCS."
Carreno said his career path initially veered off course when first enlisting in 2006.
“When I first joined the Army I was placed in artillery. Back in those days MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) chose your job for you, not the recruiter,” Carreno said.
Years later while in Iraq and at the end of his first term of enlistment, Carreno decided on a new course, reenlisting to become an information technology specialist, which he performed for seven years, before becoming a recruiter.
“Recruiting is a very stressful job and the pressure set me up for success at WOCS,” he said. “WOCS is stress, all day, every day. You have officers yelling at you, giving you time limits and crunches. But it didn’t bother me.”
“As a recruiter you’re under pressure every day. So while everyone else was failing, I just thought to myself ‘recruiting is tougher than this,’” Carreno added.
Carreno said aspects of recruiting helped him at WOCS, especially public speaking, which he became attuned to as a recruiter.
“There’s a lot of public speaking you have to do at WOCS and as a recruiter I was presenting a lot in front of kids,” Carreno explained.” So at WOCS I was never scared to talk or present in front of the officers.”
The demanding nature of WOCS was challenging, he said, something which proved too strenuous for other candidates.
“We lost 24 people at WOCS. We started out with 96 and graduated 76, with four inserts from a previous class,” he said. “The whole process is designed to single out those who really want it.”
Carreno said he was pushed to his physical limitations by the course, especially during one grueling run.
“We did a six-mile rifle run with our assigned weapon. Every mile the TAC (Training, Advice and Counseling) officers would stop us and perform weapons drills for 30 minutes,” Carreno said. “Then we’d start into a dead sprint again, running seven minute miles.”
“That was the one physical event that got me … I wasn’t prepared for it,” he laughed.
Due to his previous rank as a staff sergeant, Carreno’s WOCS experience was pared down to five weeks, but he now faces an eight month Warrant Officer Basic Course at Fort Gordon, Georgia, to graduate as an information services technician.
“I’m looking forward to my basic course and seeing where the Army wants me next,” Carreno said. “I’m definitely in this for the full ride of 20 years or longer.”
Carreno is grateful for his recruiting experiences in Sierra Vista giving him a pathway to becoming a warrant officer.
“If it wasn’t for recruiting I’d never have made the contacts I needed to get me here,” he said. “The work ethic, long hours and dedication it takes to be a successful recruiter certainly paid off for me. I wouldn’t be here without it.”
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2017 18:12 |
| Story ID: | 228041 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, AZ, US |
| Hometown: | SIERRA VISTA, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 458 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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