Junior officers (JOs) lament their inability to stay in the cockpit because career milestones take them from the tactical fight. They want to serve their nation and ply their trade, but not in a joint billet or as department head. The Navy should take advantage of this passion to serve. There is a solution to keeping JOs officers where they want to be.
In 2006, the Navy established a Flying Warrant Officer program for enlisted personnel to serve as aviators or naval flight officers (NFOs) in helicopter and maritime patrol units; it was canceled in 2013. This should be replaced with a selection board for fully qualified unrestricted line aviation JOs to compete for chief warrant officer (CWO) slots and stay in the cockpit, as warrant officers, for the remainder of their careers. To do this, the Navy must address two process challenges: accession and career progression.
When the Flying Warrant Officer program was canceled on 1 August 2013, the explanation was that it was no longer required due to unrestricted line officer (URL) inventory. The problem with this is that inventory was never the reason for accessing Flying Warrant Officers: back in 2006, the program’s goal was to create aviation technical experts who could serve full careers without the requirements of a URL progression. Technical expertise bolsters our warfighting capability, prime among the CNO’s tenets.
Other aviation pilot and NFO programs have fallen by the wayside over the years, such as the Naval Aviation Cadet program. Most recently we decided to follow an accession model similar to that of the U.S. Army. This marginalized flying warrants from day one, when they were denied Fleet-wide opportunity despite their performance in flight school. It also went against the tradition of meritocracy that makes naval aviation special. In short, the model was inapplicable. What we need to do is to make technical experts out of those who have demonstrated aviation expertise: junior officers.
The JO development process of flight lead qualifications and division officer training in each naval aviation community would remain unchanged. By competing in a selection board, only those with preferred skills and superior performance would be allowed to transition. The Flying Warrant program was never envisioned to be as widespread as in the Army. A critical skill-accession bonus similar to that for department heads would compensate for the pay reduction of $1,174 per month for a lieutenant over eight years. Because the training investment is up front, Flying warrants would not be community-restricted. Their common formative experience with the wardroom affords them the same role as CWOs in other communities: technical experts and trusted advisers to commanding officers.
Reducing officer manning in aviation at the end of JO tours would provide relief at the true pressure point, since aviation remains top-heavy despite lieutenant-commander selection rates well below Fleet average. If we increased CWOs to 1 percent of the force—3,200—we could easily find space to attain the annual accession numbers envisioned in 2006. This would allow CWO promotion within competitive categories, and it should be accompanied by allowing CWO-5s to serve 40 years and CWO-4s 33.
The second challenge is not having a career progression. Unlike in the URL community, career tracks for flying warrants could be as follows: tactics, test, air control, training, and electronic warfare/threat systems. The selection-board precept should reflect warfighting requirements, targeting weapons-school and test-pilot graduates, airborne mission controllers, or those with training qualifications such as landing signals officer. During shore tours, CWOs would have at least two opportunities in a career beyond their initial commitment to work at centers of excellence such as the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, Naval Test Pilot school, or Fleet Replacement Squadrons.
While a change in officer status from unrestricted line to warrant will cause many to pause, career progression sends a clear message: this isn’t a flying club or an opportunity for personal indulgence. It is a fair opportunity for continued service outside URL progression.
The Navy should use the next two fiscal years to identify CWO manning opportunities in naval aviation, then launch a new Flying Warrant program with a different accession model that lets us better manage the aviation-officer inventory challenge and provide a CWO career progression. Thus, reacting responsibly to fiscal challenges, we will reap the benefits of technical expertise as originally envisioned, while keeping the focus on warfighting.