Photo By Sgt. Ryan Scribner | U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christopher Fernandez, an information services...... read more read more
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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- “You’re thrown in a room with equipment and wires and given a structure, by the instructors, of how it all has to be built,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christopher Fernandez, an information services technician with the 369th Sustainment Brigade, New York Army National Guard. “But from start to finish, you need to build an entire computer network along with all the automated systems.”
In the cyberspace domain, the U.S. Army information services technician manages the systems that enable information networks and other services. These technicians stand ready, are accountable and remain vigilant.
There are a lot of responsibilities that fall under system management such as designing, configuring, operating, maintaining and sustaining information systems and services; and becoming such a subject matter expert in the Army requires completion of an intensive, 6-week Warrant Officer Basic Course, or WOBC.
Fernandez completed the curriculum, but he took the Regional Training Institute, or RTI, WOBC path, which enables Soldiers to balance their civilian world with their Army world to complete the course over nine months.
For Fernandez, having the flexibility to balance competing worlds in his life mattered. As he remembered the journey that led him here, Fernandez briefly looked off into the distance, returning with a seriousness when he said how difficult nine months of juggling different worlds was.
“Up until just a little before I started WOBC, Soldiers were able to test out of portions of the course,” Fernandez said. “When I joined, that was no longer a possibility and balancing everything became so difficult that I seriously considered quitting.”
Fernandez said that Chief Warrant Officer 4 Peter Padilla, a human resources technician with the 369th SB, encouraged him to finish WOBC when he considered quitting and not give up on the warrant officer path.
Ultimately, he adapted, persevered, graduated and eventually deployed for the first time to Afghanistan.
During that deployment, he said he was in charge of rebuilding a technical control facility, which is basically a data center, with a small team.
“I got to spearhead that operation and I’m happy to say it went well.”
Over the course of his military career, which started with the Navy in 1997, Fernandez said he has helped more than five people become warrant officers.
A Navy warrant officer, Warrant Officer Sealy—Fernandez never learned his first name—greatly impacted his career trajectory simply by his dedication to his job, inspiring Fernandez to become a warrant officer himself.
Army warrant officers constitute a small corps of Soldiers but they are the technical officers whose expertise is critical for advancing and completing missions. Furthermore, they have critical managerial roles and are advisors to the commander.
“I am extremely proud to bring people in to the warrant officer forum because I believe in it,” said Fernandez.
Fernandez, who was recently promoted from the rank of chief warrant officer 3, has tackled a lot of challenges throughout his military career. Transitioning from the Navy to the Army National Guard, completing Warrant Officer Candidate School and then WOBC, seven deployments—his seventh and current deployment while engaged to a supportive partner.
“Being a warrant officer is such an amazing ride,” Fernandez said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and it’s just such a tight knit of individuals who sincerely care about the mission, about the unit, about their job and about doing the right thing.”
| Date Taken: | 11.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2022 13:29 |
| Story ID: | 433261 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Web Views: | 178 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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