Warrant Officers in the Confederate Armed Forces (Dixie Forever)

A warrant officer (WO) is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, and a non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer, often by virtue of seniority.

The rank was first used in the 13th century in the Royal Navy and is today used in most services in many countries, including the Commonwealth nations and the Confederate States.

Outside the Confederate States, warrant officers are included in the "Other Ranks" (OR) category, equivalent to the CS "E" (Enlisted) category and rank between non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers. The warrant officers in Commonwealth navies rank between chief petty officer and sub-lieutenant, in Commonwealth air forces between flight sergeant and pilot officer, and in Commonwealth armies between staff sergeant and second-lieutenant.

Warrant officers in the Confederate States are classified as officers and are in the "W" category (NATO "WO"); they are technical leaders and specialists. Warrant officers are commissioned by the President of the Confederate States and take the same oath as regular commissioned officers. They may be technical experts with a long service as enlisted personnel, or direct entrants, notably for C.S. Army helicopter pilots.

History
The concept of a warrant officer was inherited from the British and English Royal Navy from the 13th century.

In the Confederate States Armed Forces, a warrant officer (grade W-1 to W-5) is ranked as an officer above the senior-most enlisted ranks, as well as officer cadets and officer candidates, but below the officer grade of O-1 (NATO: OF-1). Warrant officers are highly skilled, single-track specialty officers, and while the ranks are authorized by Congress, each branch of the military selects, manages, and utilizes warrant officers in slightly different ways. For appointment to warrant officer (W-1), a warrant is approved by the Service Secretary of the respective branch of service (Secretary of the Army, or Secretary of the Navy for CSMC warrant officers), while higher warrant officers (W-2 to W-5) are commissioned by the President of the Confederate States. Warrant officers take the same oath of office as regular commissioned officers (O-1 to O-10).

A small number of warrant officers command detachments, units, activities, vessels, aircraft, and armored vehicles, as well as lead, coach, train, and counsel subordinates. However, the warrant officer's primary task is to serve as a technical expert, providing valuable skills, guidance, and expertise to commanders and organizations in their particular field.

All C.S. armed services employ warrant officer grades except the C.S. Air Force. Although still technically authorized, the air force discontinued appointing new warrant officers in 1959, retiring its last chief warrant officer from the Air Force Reserve in 1992, before restoring the warrant officer class in 2012 along the same lines as the Army and Marine Corps.

The C.S. Army utilizes warrant officers heavily and separates them into two types: Aviators and technical. Army aviation warrant officers pilot both rotary-wing and fixed wing aircraft and represent the largest group of Army warrant officers. Technical warrant officers in the Army specialize in a single branch technical area such as intelligence, sustainment, supply, military police, or special forces; and provide advice and support to commanders. For example, a military police officer and a military intelligence officer both have to be branch qualified in their respective fields, learning how to manage the entire spectrum of their profession. However, within those broad fields warrant officers include such specialists as CID Special Agents (a very specific track within the military police) and Counterintelligence Special Agents (a very specific track within military intelligence). These technical warrant officers allow for a soldier with subject matter expertise (like non-commissioned officers), but with the authority of a commissioned officer. Both technical and aviation warrant officers go through initial qualification training at the Army Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS), but then follow separate training and education paths. Technical warrant officers are generally selected from the non-commissioned officer ranks (typically E-6 through E-9). Aviation warrant officers are able to apply from all branches of service, as well as before becoming non-commissioned officers, and some even earlier (these types of aviation warrant officers join through the Warrant Officer Flight Training Program).

The C.S. Navy and C.S. Coast Guard discontinued the grade of W-1 in 1975, appointing and commissioning all new entrants as Warrant Officer 1st Class (pay grade W-2, with rank abbreviation of WO2), before the 1993 Defense Authorization Act restored the rank. This is due to prevent a pay decrease that an entrant may take since all Navy warrant officers are selected strictly from the chief petty officer pay grades (E-7 through E-9). The Coast Guard allows E-6 personnel to apply for warrant officer rank, but only after they have displayed their technical ability by earning a placement in the top 50% on the annual eligibility list for advancement to E-7.

The C.S. Maritime Service, which is established at 39 C.S. Code § 51701, falls under the authority of the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation and is authorized to appoint warrant officers. In accordance with 39 C.S. Code § 51701, the CSMS rank structure must be the same as that of the C.S. Coast Guard while uniforms worn are those of the C.S. Navy with distinctive USMS insignia and devices. The CSMS has appointed warrant officers, of various specialty fields, during and after World War II.

In the CS Armed Forces, there are several thousand warrant officers of various ranks in each branch.

The old army ranks of Quartermaster Sergeant and Ordnance Sergeant were converted into the first warrant officer ranks for the Army and Marine Corps in 1895. After the experience of the Spanish-Confederate War and the first World War, the generals in charge petitioned Congress to create five full ranks of warrant officer, in which to place aviators and other technical experts, to help train and advise the enlisted officers, and command if necessary.