The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

's Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS), located at

Fort Novosel Fort Rucker is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was formerly named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously name ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, provides

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

for Soldiers to become a

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

in the U.S. Army or U.S. Army National Guard (also conducted via state Regional Training Institutes—RTI programs), with the recent exception of

U.S. Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The core missionset of Special Forces ...

Warrant Officers. Since 2007, Special Forces Warrant Officers attend the Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification Course (SF-WOTTC) at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, North Carolina. , WOCS and SF-WOTTC are the only two training institutions which are authorized to appoint warrant officers in the U.S. Army. Warrant officer candidates are typically drawn from enlisted members (up to Command Sergeant Major) and inter-service transfers.Warrant Officer Candidate School overview
/ref> In this case, Inter-Service Transfer refers to enlisted members of the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

, U.S. Coast Guard,

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, or

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

transferring to the U.S. Army to attend WOCS, or civilian high school graduates who enlist for guaranteed attendance as

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

(flight) candidates at WOCS after they complete

Basic Combat Training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique dema ...

(BCT). Warrant officer candidates without prior enlisted service are informally referred to as ''high school to flight school'' or ''street to seat'' recruits by warrant officer candidates with prior enlisted service.About Warrant Officers
Retrieved 25 January 2011.How to Become an Army Aviator with the WOFT Program
Army-Aviation-Pilot.com. Retrieved 25 January 2011.

Overview

WOCS is a five-week course designed to train, assess, evaluate, and develop

s for fourteen of the U.S. Army's sixteen basic branches (excluding Infantry and Armor). The course is designed to provide a base to assist in the development of Army Warrant Officers into self–aware and adaptive technical experts, combat leaders, trainers, mentors, and advisors to both soldiers and commanders. Later, through progressive levels of expertise in assignments, training, and education, Warrant Officers administer, manage, maintain, operate, and integrate Army systems and equipment across the

full-spectrum Full-spectrum light is light that covers the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared to near-ultraviolet, or all wavelengths that are useful to plant or animal life; in particular, sunlight is considered full spectrum, even though the solar spectral ...

of Army operations. Warrant officers in the Army are accessed with specific levels of technical ability. They refine their technical expertise and develop their leadership and management skills through tiered progressive assignments and education. WOCS focuses on officer training and candidates serve in various student leadership positions throughout the course. The course includes classroom instruction focusing on officership, military history, problem solving, professional development, and other topics. Graduation from WOCS is held at the

United States Army Aviation Museum The United States Army Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located on Fort Novosel near Daleville, Alabama. It has the largest collection of helicopters held by a museum in the world.Phillips 1992, p. 37.Purner 2004, p. 204. The museum feature ...

on Fort Novosel, where a candidate is appointed to WO1 and moves to their respective branch schools to attend the

Warrant Officer Basic Course Warrant Officer Basic Course (WOBC) is the technical training program a newly appointed U.S. Army Warrant Officer receives after attending Warrant Officer Candidate School. WOBC is designed to certify warrant officers as technically and tactic ...

. For example,

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army responsible for creating and managing Military communications, communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was ...

branched Warrant Officers attend WOBC at Fort Gordon, where

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

branched Warrant Officers attend WOBC at Fort Novosel.

Notes and references

External links

*
Army Warrant Officer History since 1918
Warrant Officer Heritage Foundation
USAJFKSWCS
(Official website) {{coord, 31.3237, -85.7179, display=t United States Army schools United States Army education Warrant officers Schools in Dale County, Alabama Fort Novosel

Overview

See also

Notes and references

External links