NIANTIC, Conn. -- Warrant Officer 1 Ashley Hripak graduated from the Connecticut National Guard's Warrant Officer Candidate School, becoming the first female warrant officer in the history of the program to graduate through the engineering branch on May 2, 2026, at Camp Nett, in Niantic, Connecticut.
Becoming a warrant officer is an accomplishment that requires vast technical knowledge, attention to detail and strong communication skills. For Hripak many of these skills were learned through a lifetime of experience.
Growing up on a small farm in New Milford, Connecticut, Hripak spent a lot of time around construction, farm work and maintenance. Her father was a carpenter who gave her foundational knowledge, while she went to trade school for carpentry, worked alongside him after high school and later built experience in the civilian sector through plumbing work and inventory management for a chain of Ace Hardware stores.
Now, Hripak brings her civilian experience to her newest role as a 120A construction engineering technician, newly assigned to the 192nd Engineering Battalion, where she will serve as the highly specialized and expert leader of her unit.
“To me, being a warrant officer is properly executing and advising,” Hripak said. “It’s not just having the people who know how to do it, but making sure they follow the steps in order to do it safely. If you can’t do it safely, then you shouldn’t be doing it.”
Hripak joined the Army at 18 years old not only for the love of her country but also to embrace the structure that came with it. She enlisted as a 12N horizontal construction engineer and reclassified to a 12R Interior Electrician.
For years, Hripak had contemplated the warrant officer route but, in her words, it was Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael Young that helped her move from idea to action. Young’s mentorship helped her understand the warrant officer's role as a technical position and the purpose behind it.
“I always knew I wanted to go this route,” Hripak said, “but he helped me learn why it’s such a fundamental role for the military.”
After discovering she was the first female graduate of Connecticut’s WOCS course, Hripak said the milestone was motivating and inspiring.
“Women are still a small group in engineering,” she said, “and seeing other female warrant officers including CW5 Stephanie Richard, the command chief warrant officer of the Connecticut National Guard was motivating.”
“I would like this to have the effect that they understand that there’s nothing that should be able to hold us back,” Hripak said. “If we train and we work and we educate ourselves, we can, in fact, do the same things that everyone else can do.”
Warrant officers are expected to lead enlisted troops and advise commanders, giving them a unique mission. Since Hripak began her career on the enlisted side, she was used to doing a lot of hands-on work which presented the challenge of taking a step back, advising and allowing others to execute.
“As a noncommissioned officer, you are the one who actually executes, as an officer, you oversee their ability to execute and complete the job,” she said.
The course helped emphasize staff roles, communication and research. Candidates were taught that being a warrant officer doesn’t mean that you will always have the answer, but it means knowing how to conduct the research and being able to find the solution. “I felt like I climbed Mount Everest,” she said. “I felt that I had accomplished a huge hurdle that was going to open up another step into my future.” Now that Hripak is a warrant officer, she plans on being the type of leader that not just commands her soldiers but also knows and understands them.
“My first goal is going to be making sure that when I come into this new unit, I have a solid foundation with all of the people I work with,” said Hripak. “I don’t intend to jump in and start a new project right away. I intend to make a solid foundation.”