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.
"We need operational units with all the capabilities they need to deter and compete with our pacing challenges and ready to enter a conflict on short or no notice," Kendall said in a statement. "In those units, we need the right mix of skills necessary for high-end combat and to ensure technological superiority, particularly in information technology and cyber."
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 chief master sergeant ranks, the service said.
The last active-duty Air Force warrant officer was CWO-4 James H. Long, who retired in 1980, according to the Warrant Officer Historical Foundation. The last Air Force Reserve warrant officer, CWO-4 Bob Barrow, retired from the ranks in 1992 and was honorarily promoted to CWO-5. He is still the only person in the Air Force ever to hold that grade.
Applicants can be from active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve and must hold the rank of at least staff sergeant and have at least one year of active federal service. Officials told reporters Thursday that the roles are not open to the Space Force. Airmen can apply on the MyFSS web platform.
There will be two new Air Force Specialty Codes, or AFSCs, associated with the jobs: 17W -- Warfighter Communications & IT Systems Operations, and 17Y -- Cyber Effects & Warfare Operations.
Applicants for the Warfighter Communications & IT Systems Operations (17W) AFSC must have "a minimum of 24 months of documented operational experience with enterprise IT or warfighter communications systems in areas such as voice and data internetworking, local and wide area networks, including terrestrial, satellite and aerial systems, as well as network planning," the service said.
Those applicants must also have a minimum Department of Defense-approved certification for Information Assurance Technical Level II or higher.
Applicants for the Cyber Effects & Warfare Operations (17Y) AFSC must hold senior-level expertise in "one or more U.S. Cyber Command work roles as defined in the Commands Job Qualification System, or National Security Agency equivalent."
Additionally, if airmen are interested in a Cyber Capability Developer work role, they need to be a "certified U.S. Cyber Command Senior Cyberspace Capability Developer or a Computer Network Operations Development Program graduate or have three years of experience in system level programming," according to the Air Force.
Once the application window closes on May 31, the selection board will be scheduled from June 24 to June 28, and top candidates will be chosen and notified in July.
Selected candidates will start eight weeks of preparation at Maxwell Air Force Base's Warrant Officer Training School in Alabama starting in the fall or early 2025. When they graduate, the new warrant officers will be sent to operational units across the service.
"These are highly in-demand, and also extremely perishable, skills in today's rapidly evolving landscape," Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi said in a statement. "As we navigate the complexities of great power competition, our ability to adapt and innovate hinges on the expertise of our airmen."
Air Force officials told reporters Thursday that they're not currently looking at expanding the rank to other career fields, such as pilots, but did say they plan to train other cohorts of warrant officers following this inaugural class.
"The question isn't whether or not we want another class of cyber warrant officers," an Air Force official said Thursday. "We definitely are going to stand one up, but we don't have the when and we don't have the target of numbers at this point."
Editor's note: This story was updated with a more recent quote from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
Related: Air Force Eyes Bringing Back Warrant Officers After Decades-Long Absence
