Airmen who wish to become the Air Force's newest warrant officers can start applying Thursday as the service prepares for the first group of the technical experts since getting rid of the rank in the late 1950s.
Applications for the first information technology and cyber-focused warrant officers were set to begin Thursday and be accepted until May 31, the service said. The inaugural training class will consist of up to 60 candidates.
The plan to bring back warrant officers for cyber jobs — a plan first reported by Military.com — is one of many changes announced in February modifying training, and renaming and reorganizing many of the structures of the Department of the Air Force, which Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said is necessary as China prepares for war in the Pacific and, potentially, against the U.S. military.
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“We need fully capable units with all the assets they need to fight China or possibly Russia on short or no notice,” Kendall said in a statement. “We need the right mix of skills necessary for high-end combat and to ensure technological superiority.”
The Air Force had warrant officers when it spun off into a separate service branch in 1947, a role it had inherited from the Army. Air Force officials eliminated the rank of warrant officer in 1958 after the creation of the senior master sergeant and…
