The Master-Gunner Warrant Officer Alex Turkatte

Fall 2018 The Master-Gunner Warrant Officer by Alex Turkatte As near-peer adversaries rise again throughout the Eastern European and Indo-Asia Pacific theaters, the masters of mounted warfare must be prepared to defeat enemy ground forces and maintain land dominance.1 Armor and infantry master gunners within armored brigade combat teams (ABCTs) and Stryker brigade combat teams (SBCTs) have earned the respect of leaders for their technical and tacti cal knowledge and experience, but the Armor Branch is seeking even more ways to win the fight. Therefore the Ar mor Branch proposes to develop the master-gunner warrant officer (MGWO) concept, which this article re views. The MGWO As discussed in a 2009 Army War Col lege proposal for maneuver-operations warrant officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs),2 the MGWO would be the subject-matter expert (SME) who brings operational experience and technical expertise to the battalion-and brigade-level S-3 tactical-opera tions center. The MGWO provides the link between platform systems and commanders. As the resident SME, the MGWO serves as the organization’s trainer on platform gunnery opera tions. The billpayer positions required as trade to create warrant-officer posi tions would come from the existing master-gunner positions at battalion level and above. Figure 1 provides the proposal to use the sergeant first class military-occupation specialty (MOS) 19K K8 (or A8) master-gunner positions as the billpayer option for the ABCT combined-arms battalions and the cav alry squadron. The SFC 19D R8 would be used as the billpayer option for the

SBCT.

Other options include only placing MGWO at the brigade level and above to allow NCO development at battalion level and below. Requirements There are requirements to establish and professionally develop an MGWO. The initial feeder into the warrant-of ficer program would come from NCO master gunners already serving at company and troop level. Minimum prerequisites would be:

• Must hold MOS 19D, 19K or 11B;

• Must be staff sergeant or above;

• Must be a graduate of any of the platform-specific master-gunner courses and hold the additional-skill identifier (ASI) A8 (M1A1 Abrams), K8 (M1A2 Systems Enhancement Program Abrams), J3 (M2/M3 Bradley) or R8 (Stryker);

• Must have a minimum of 24 months’ experience assigned as master gunner, documented on an NCO Evaluation Report;

• Must be an Advanced Leader’s Course (ALC) graduate documented on a Department of the Army (DA) Form 1059;

• Must have a minimum 110 General Technical score; and

• Must be fully deployable. Like all warrant-officer MOSs (WO MOSs), NCOs must successfully apply and be accepted through the U.S. Army Recruiting Command’s warrant-officer selection board. Warrant-officer selec tion boards are held about seven times per year, with most WOMOS applica tions considered two or three times per year. MOSs impacted There are currently three WOMOS available for which Career-Manage ment Field (CMF) 19 NCOs may apply.3 These include warrant officers from the Field Artillery, Aviation and Ord nance Branches:

• Rotary-wing aviator (MOS 153A) is open to applications from Soldiers of all MOS;

• Field-artillery technician (MOS 131A) (previously field-artillery-targeting warrant officer) is open to 19D NCOs; and

• Armament-systems maintainer (MOS 913A) is open to NCOs who hold the Figure 1. Battalion- or squadron-level master gunners. Figure 2. Current WOMOSs available to CMF 19 NCOs.

Fall 2018 master-gunner ASIs of A8, J3 and K8. The 913A Ordnance Branch warrant of ficer is the most interesting since it specifically recruits combat-arms mas ter-gunner NCOs to become weapon-systems maintenance officers working in support battalions and sustainment brigades. Even if the increased pay grade is appealing, Ordnance Branch maintenance duties may detract from recruiting efforts. Also, MOS 913A con verts to a 915E Senior Automotive Maintenance Warrant Officer upon promotion to chief warrant officer four. For the 190A MGWO program, select ed NCOs would be scheduled to attend Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) at Fort Rucker, AL. Graduation would result in accession as a warrant officer one, with follow-on mandatory WOMOS training at a basic course taught at Fort Benning, GA. Even though the Soldier would already be a graduate of a platform-specific master-gunner course, the Warrant Officer Ba sic Course (WOBC) would provide more training on the requirements a warrant officer would encounter upon first as signment to an ABCT or SBCT. WOBC could also include training found in other functional courses such as Battle Staff and the Mission-Command Digi tal Master-Gunner Course. While the pros and cons of a new WO MOS are debated, by implementing the MGWO, the Army will further com mit to land dominance and the mas tery of mounted-maneuver warfare. Alex Turkatte is a human-resources specialist with the Office of the Chief of Armor, Fort Benning. His previous as signments include CW3 420A at U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Com mand’s G-1/AG, Fort Monroe, VA; Headquarters U.S. Army Europe, Hei delberg, Germany; Headquarters V Corps/Combined Joint Task Force-7, Baghdad, Iraq; 1st Special Forces Oper ational Detachment-Delta, Fort Bragg, NC; and 3-12 Infantry (Mechanized), Baumholder, Germany. His military schooling includes Defense Civilian Emerging Leader Program, WOCS, Ad jutant General WOBC and Airborne and Jumpmaster schools. Notes 1 The Army Vision, https://www.army.mil/ e2/downloads/rv7/vision/the_army_vi sion.pdf. 2 Dr. John A. Bonin, “Maneuver Operations [Warrant Officer] and NCO,” U.S. Army War College. 3 U.S. Army warrant officer recruiting MOS information Webpage as of June 13, 2018, http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/ warrant/Wogeninfo_mos.shtml. Figure 3. MOS 913A warrant officer, warrant officer one through chief warrant officer three positions, according to DA Pamphlet 600-3. ABCT – armored brigade combat team ACOM – Army command ALC – Advanced Leader’s Course ASG – area support group ASI – additional-skill identifier CMF – career-management field DA – Department of the Army DLA – Defense Logistics Agency IBCT – infantry brigade combat team MG – master gunner MGWO – master-gunner warrant officer MOS – military-occupation specialty NCO – noncommissioned officer SBCT – Stryker brigade combat team SCOE – Support Center of Excellence SFG – Special Forces group SME – subject-matter expert WOAC – Warrant Officer Advanced Course WOBC - Warrant Officer Basic Course WOCS – Warrant Officer Candidate School WOILE – Warrant Officer Intermediate Leader Course WOMOS – warrant-officer military-occupation specialty WOSSE – Warrant Officer Senior Staff Education Acronym Quick-Scan

Fall 2018 Figure 4. Draft 190A MGWO career map. Send Us Your Manuscripts ARMOR magazine’s manuscript suspenses for 2019:

• Winter 2019 edition: Nov. 20, 2018

• Spring 2019 edition: Feb. 24

• Summer 2019 edition: May 15

• Fall 2019 edition: Aug. 21 For planning purposes, ARMOR magazine suspenses are an average of 10-11 weeks before the edition is published.