HAL Pilot
What you say is absolutely correct - in its application within the US.
But, as ORAC ably points out on page 8:
quote:
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… within NATO, there is an agreement, and this includes the definition of equivalent ranks. Within this agreement, Warrant Officers are ranked below officers and above enlisted servicemen (sic).
The US may have decided to give some of their WOs commissioned officer status, but they have not had an amendment made to the NATO equivalent rank structure and, since NATO only works with unanimous agreement…
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So, with great respect, and with no disrespect to our gallant US allies, when in Rome …
Give me a reference, an official web page or something that says this.
While on the Joint Staff, I worked with my counterparts at SHAPE frequently. We had a USMC WO5 in my office. He was always treated as an officer on all our TDYs to SHAPE HQ. Never was he not called "Sir", denied officer billeting or mess, and he was always saluted. You can bet your ass (or arse) that he would have corrected any enlisted from any service who did not. That's just the way the USMC is...
He also had the same Geneva Convention category on his ID card as I did. I forget what it was, but I was a Lieutenant Commander at the time.
In my P-3 squadron we also had a TACCO that was a CWO4. He was treated as an officer by the Austrialians at RAAF Pearce and by the Brit Nimrod guys at RAF Kinloss.
So the only "Romans" that I've ever seen have a problem with U.S. Warrant Officers are the British "Romans" on this board.