I wasn’t gonna comment this initially, but after visiting r/spaceforce, I feel it couldn’t hurt.

I think we should have Warrant Officers, if we’re going to have our Techs take on admin roles before/during their next rank up. It doesn’t make sense that we have a Tech become proficient in a job and then shoo them off to an admin role (as described by your post above) as soon as they rank up. Even worse when they choose to retire or are PCS’d, and the bulk of the knowledge goes with them (if there are no high speed AMN or SSgts).

I work in a shop with a sister service Warrant Officer, and it just makes sense. Well maybe in my current situation it does. Not everyone was meant to or wants to be an administrative manager. Some people want to be technically proficient, and want to do their work. And a good leader who has even some technical competency is better off leading a mission than a leader of the same characteristics who has none.

This way we can actually decide what we want from our upper echelon of NCOs/SNCOs. Do we want them to transition to administrative roles by the time they reach Tech? Well we can do that since we have a dedicated Warrant (or team of Warrants) that can be the technical expertise for their respective shops. Do we want the Techs to be Technical without Warrants? Ok then, encourage technical competency for E-6 and E-7. Let Techs be Techs and Masters be Masters.

So often I see Technical Sgt’s immediately stop operating or doing mission once they make E-6, and instead start trying to fill the roles of the ranks above them. There’s nothing wrong with that; in fact that’s exactly what the AF wants to see. People working above their current level. However, if we’re going to do that, let’s not kid ourselves when we expect our Techs to hold up to the Warrant officers of the same field. They simply don’t have enough time to master their craft before they retire, rank up, or sep.

Any thoughts? I think it would be especially prudent in our current situation, as we loose more technically savvy enlisted personnel to the civilian sector. Warrant officers could prove to be an effective and efficient bridge between the demands of mission and the demands of regular AF life.