HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – A Worcester, Massachusetts, native recently graduated from the newly reinstated Warrant Officer Program at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
One of just 120 to date, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Louis Phan is helping to blaze a new path for a program that hasn’t been active in the Air Force for 66 years.
The warrant officer program is designed to educate and train candidates with specialized knowledge or technical skills, turning them into professional warrant officers who can advise and integrate at varying organizational levels, serving as technical advisors to command leadership.
“When the program was announced I thought, this has to be my calling,” said Phan. “I spoke to friends who became warrant officers in other branches, and what they did sounded exactly like what I wanted to do.”
Unlike a traditional military commission, which requires a bachelor’s degree, earning a warrant officer commission allows candidates like Phan to leverage their experience and technical acumen.
Originally an electrician, he elaborated that although he had gained valuable trade skills, he wasn’t sure what to do with them. One of his friends, a veteran, encouraged him to consider military service.
After speaking with a recruiter, he joined the Air Force in 2012 to become a Cyber System Operations specialist.
“I had no real computer experience before that, and the technical training was a huge learning curve for me,” said Phan. “I had to put in extra hours to become proficient, but I fell in love with IT.”
Because Phan enjoyed his work and the Air Force so much, he even convinced his younger brother to enlist.
Twelve years later, after becoming a senior noncommissioned officer, Phan would again re-examine his career. He found his day-to-day work was focused more on administrative functions than the technical work he enjoyed earlier in his career.
It was around that time the Air Force announced the warrant officer program.
Phan discovered the next step in his career.
He applied and was accepted into the first cohort of U.S. Air Force warrant officer candidates, along with his brother and two Hanscom AFB candidates.
According to Phan, one of the primary incentives for becoming a warrant officer is that unlike other officer roles, commissioned or noncommissioned, warrant officers can focus solely on their technical skills.
“We’re responsible for leading through technical expertise and excellence,” said Phan. “We translate the technical and tactical needs of the mission from the enlisted force and provide that perspective to the officers in a way they better understand.”
Phan’s new assignment has brought him to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where he’s representing the U.S. Air Forces in Europe dedicated to warfighter communications and cyber systems. In this role, he focuses on key initiatives for the Air Force expeditionary community that will transform the way it extends communications to the tactical edge.
To apply to the Warrant Officer Selection Board, candidates must have earned a high school diploma and have taken an Armed Forces Qualification Test. Civilians must have at least two years of specialized experience, and military members must be at least an E-5.
Unique to the warrant officer application is the requirement for a technical letter of recommendation. The letter must be from a credible and technically competent source that can vouch for the applicant’s expertise, and any special skills, projects or experiences.
Currently, the warrant officer selection board is only accepting applicants for two cyberspace related career fields: Warfighter Communications and IT Systems Operations, and Cyber Effects and Warfare Operations.
Once selected, individuals attend Warrant Officer Training School, like Phan.
For more information on applying to become a U.S. Air Force warrant officer, visit the Warrant Officer Program website and read the FY26 Warrant Officer Selection Board Announcement.