View Single Post
Old 04-19-2011, 11:53   #32
Bennett
Quiet Professional
 
Bennett's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 92
Why Lieutenent to Warrant

I had some spare time so I thought I would look at the 180A thread. What is interesting to me is the way the Warrant is viewed by the different Groups one was in. While attached to 5th during OIF II, I was amazed that the senior enlisted were still having the “us against them” battle when it came to the Warrants. As a young NCO in 10th, I watch the first batch come to the teams; they were for the most part the most experienced SF Soldiers I had ever met when it came to UW. When my time came to make the decision on whether to stay enlisted or go Warrant there were only a few factors to consider. The first was my name was on the E-8 list with 12 years in the Army, as posted here previously, that meant only two more years on an ODA and by the way I was one year into a three year SWC tour. Secondly, would I be recommended by my Team Sergeant and SGM? This is not a mandatory or by any regulation need, but it’s the most important recommendation you can receive. As the years went by and I was moved to the ODB and eventually the Senior BN Warrant position, I still use this recommendation as the rule as did the Group Senior Warrant because if you are the guy they would want on their team as an Assistant Detachment Commander, you were the guy that I wanted to replace me. The Warrant program is continuing to change with the times as it should. The old LT vs WO has been dead a long time, anyone who thinks differently either hasn’t been in SF for a very long time or spent a very short time on an ODA. The SF Warrant is a very different animal from a shave tail LT. May be this should be post on the 18A thread also; just to give a heads up to anyone thinking of becoming one. By the by, of the 8 more years on an ODA becoming a 180A gave me, 4 were as the Detachment Commander, three of those while in a CIF, one as the SOCCE CDR in the Balkans. As the COW I assume the Company Command for the first two weeks on the ground during OIF II, the commander stayed behind to assist in his second daughter’s birth and wanted the 18As to concentrate on their ODAs. Trust is a wonderful thing and while I always preferred to have a CPT on the team so I could mentor the next Company, Bn and eventually Group CDR, I never knew an 180A to turn down a command. Lastly my mentors all the way up to my retirement were E-8s and 9s, towards the end of my career they were my peers and we had grown up together but I always sought out their knowledge and advice, still do.
__________________
Don Bennett
Special Forces Association
Region 10 Representative
De Oppresso Liber
[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="2"]
Bennett is offline   Reply With Quote