FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. - The 704th Military Intelligence Brigade hosted an observance of the 95th birthday of the Army's Warrant Officer Corps July 9.
Though the concept of warrant officers in the military is said to date back to Napoleon’s time, the official birthday of the Army’s Warrant Officer Corps was July 9, 1918.
The 704th Military Intelligence Brigade observed the Warrant Officer Corps’ 95th birthday July 9 at Fort Meade, Md. Chief Warrant Officer 5 Wendy Wayman, the signals intelligence senior technical adviser, hosted the event.
Wayman, the brigade’s senior warrant officer who has a total of 29 years in the Army, with 17 of them as a warrant, began by reviewing the history of the corps. After a look back through the years past, Wayman summarized the future of the corps.
“To boil it down, it is our job to find the best and the brightest noncommissioned officers to follow in our footsteps,” she said.
The most experienced warrant officer present and the newest, Warrant Officer Ava Thompson, with Bravo Company 742nd MI Battalion, cut the birthday cake. Thompson, who has only been a warrant officer for six days, expressed a common sentiment about wanting to be a warrant.
“The first warrant officer I ever met was the most knowledgeable person I ever met,” she said. “He made me decide this is where I want to go in my own career.”
Wayman shared a similar sentiment about one of her first mentors.
“He was the epitome of warrant officers,” she said. “He knew everything and if there was something he didn’t know, he would find out. He was a mentor, friend and an example to live up to.”
According to the definition developed by the Army in 1985, a warrant officer is “an officer appointed by warrant by the Secretary of the Army, based upon a sound level of technical and tactical competence. The warrant officer is the highly specialized expert and trainer who, by gaining progressive levels of expertise and leadership, operates, maintains, administers, and manages the Army’s equipment, support activities, or technical systems for an entire career."
Wayman said that is why she wanted to become a warrant officer.
“I love my job, and I knew I wanted to keep doing it long-term.”