Comment by 542354234235
7 months ago
While I can’t speak to their individual temperaments, this is not an issue in the Army. Warrant officers are probably the least likely to worry about rank being confused with authority. They have the military experience from serving in the enlisted ranks as an NCO, with the protection of being officers that are above enlisted but still fall outside the commissioned officer ranks. They aren't untouchable but are highly insulated from petty tyrants.
I don’t know why the instructor didn’t take a more forceful/active role leading up to the crash, but I don’t think rank was a contributing factor.
I agree with everything you said, just want to point out that there's a "street to seat" program for Army aviators, so the warrant may have never served as an enlisted soldier. I still don't think a reluctance to act based on rank was the issue, like at all. Aviation is different from the rest of the military, there is generally a culture of safety that supersedes the rank structure.