Danny, they make them Sgts now. Direct entry as well as promoting assistants.
Commissioned Officers are becoming rare in towers, and in Area Radar.
A short course for aircrew is not the answer, more people who want to do air traffic is what's required. I suspect that part of the reason that so few people doing it want to recommend it, is that everywhere is short staffed. Also relevant is that as one of the very few blue suit jobs on camp, ATC are getting dicked for secondary duties more than they used to.
I loved my time in Area Radar, I dreaded it, based on what everyone in towers told me, but once I mastered the art of chinagraph and coffee in the dark, it was great. Nowadays the average Area Radar unit looks like a call centre.