For goodness' sake... this thread seems to have deteriorated from being a bit of banter into a snide, vituperative slanging match. Surely we're all better than this?
SASLess, West Coast, et al... you demand that we respect your rank system, yet you have no appreciation of why we're making our arguments. In HM Armed Forces, if someone hears "Warrant Officer" they will assume - correctly for all but the US - that the individual concerned is a highly-experienced, massively well-respected senior Noncommissioned Officer. NOT a commissioned officer, and certainly not someone with less than 15 years' military experience. This is NOT intended as an insult or a form of disrespect - simply an indication of the fact that nobody has time to learn the nuances of the rank structures of each of our NATO allies. If anything, Warrant Officers as they are perceived by Brits have immense experience, and are generally the most battle-hardened and respected individuals around. Dry your eyes, and understand that we do not disrespect rank. The immediate assumption on meeting a Warrant Officer will be: "Aha - this man clearly knows what the hell he's talking about".
Oh, and West Coast... until you piped up about our Royal Family (all of whom, apart from Prince Edward, have genuine, decorated military experience) no-one had had a go at your system of government. Since your current President's military experience extends to dodging Vietnam, maybe you could find a more convincing argument about why our Royal Family should not command our respect? It will, of course, fall on deaf ears, because I'm sure that all of the British posters here are actually quite proud to serve the Queen. As proud as you are to serve... whomever.
And to my Brit fellows - why are we getting so wound up about this? New WO1 - the clue's in the name - has not toiled as hard as some other Warrant Officers have (I'm thinking 20-odd years' consistent effort and graft) to obtain his rank, by his own admission. He may have earned it, but only as much as I have earned MY rank (now into the 4th year of my commission). What New WO1 hasn't learned is the difference between deference and respect. He can make as many airmen salute him as he wants, but he probably won't earn one iota of respect for it. I think we can agree that on the whole we work very well indeed with our American friends. Why damage that relationship because of the naiveté of a single pompous arse?