Photo By Sgt. H. Marcus McGill | Chief Warrant Officer 5 William L. Harshaw, senior Human Resources technician, U.S....... read more read more
Wildcats host current, future Army Reserve Warrant Officers
By Sgt. H. Marcus McGill, 81st RD PAO
FORT JACKSON, S.C. – The 81st Readiness Division hosted a Warrant Officer Training and Recruiting Workshop Oct. 25-27, with approximately 130 personnel attending.
Guests included troops across the Warrant Officer Corps, as well as noncommissioned officers interested in becoming warrant officers, commissioned officers exploring the option of converting and even a Navy Sailor looking at the possibility of becoming a U.S. Army warrant officer.
A variety of topics were showcased and ranged from promotion, entry into the Warrant Officer Cohort and training requirements. Personnel from the 4th Battalion, Army Reserve Careers Division on Fort Jackson helped support the event.
“The success of the event was due to the overwhelming support of senior leadership who allowed their Soldiers to attend, said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Joseph Berdis, the event organizer. “They understood the impact attendance could have on future readiness across the formation.”
Mentorship remained a common theme throughout the symposium. It is the backbone of what will make a Soldier successful; providing mentorship to others is what will make the Army ready to win the fight, Berdis said.
NCOs seeking to transition to warrant officers were offered assistance preparing their packets for board evaluation.
Sgt. Etebom Inyang, 415th Chemical Brigade, Greenville, S.C., who is a Nigerian immigrant currently living in Atlanta, said he has known early in his 13-year Army career that he wanted to be a warrant officer. He started the transition process almost immediately upon making E5 in April of this year.
“I have been provided valuable mentorship and opportunities from warrants that has given me insight into what I want to do. They embody the, ‘be, know, do’ mentality. They have given me an outline as to what I wanted my career to look like,” he said. “They have provided me direction, and something to strive for and I want to pass that on to others.”
He said he received a pleasant surprise upon arrival. “Within the first 10 minutes or so that I was here, I found out that I didn’t have to do one of the things I thought was required,” he said. “This was great, I was actually much farther along than I thought. This event has been great, lots of really good information.”
Warrant Officer David M. Allen, 392nd Chemical, Radiological, Biological, Nuclear Company out of Little Rock, Arkansas, echoed Inyang’s sentiments about helping others. As a former active duty noncommissioned officer, he said he uses his unique position to influence where he can.
“Since I have been back in, this has given me the opportunity to get in and fix things,” he said. “You aren’t too far removed from enlisted Soldiers, but are able to influence officers. You get the chance to make things better.”
Allen became a warrant officer about 18 months ago. He said the event is an extremely valuable tool to allow warrant officers to help one another.
“It’s about making connections. A lot of people need to know this stuff is out there. We need to get people to understand what a warrant officer is. That’s exactly what this event does, and it gives us the chance to network,” he said. “You come here and you get contacts, resources, even mentors.”
Warrant Officers are the technical experts in the Army. They have specific technical or tactical specialties and manage and maintain many of the Army’s combat systems, vehicles and networks.
“We have to grow the future force by recruiting good candidates,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Hal Griffin, Chief Warrant Officer United States Army Reserve Headquarters, who visited the symposium from Fort Bragg, N.C.
He said that while there are some similarities between warrant officers and both NCOs and commissioned officers, there are some significant contrasts as well.
“First and foremost, the warrant officer is an exceptional tactical leader combined with technical expertise that is unmatched. The combination of those two things allows a good warrant officer to be an expert leader and trainer,” he said.
With increased emphasis on Soldier readiness, Griffin agreed with Berdis, adding that he sees warrant officers as a critical piece to troop preparation.
“Warrants have to be part of the solution,” he said. “We must influence senior leaders to train in meaningful ways that help us prepare for ground combat, and that should be the big take away from today.”
Warrant Officers make up about 2.5 percent of today’s Army. The modern warrant officer came into existence in 1918 with the purpose of serving as a bridge between the noncommissioned officers and commissioned officers.
-30-
| Date Taken: | 10.26.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.29.2019 11:45 |
| Story ID: | 349606 |
| Location: | FORT JACKSON, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 158 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Wildcats host current, future Army Reserve Warrant Officers, by SGT H. Marcus McGill, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT