It's been done. The Warrant I knew came in as an Ensign...there were some serious misgivings from the established Navy Sel-Res, not necessarily towards the individual, but towards higher for bringing in someone so junior (regarding rank)...the argument was the guy had no shelf life, which they were very jealous of since they were mostly senior O-4's and O-5's who never applied to command boards, developed themselves professionally with either JPME/Masters or deployed in their careers (ever) and were beginning to feel the heat for not having done any of those things. Also there was concern that the Navy would love the idea of comparibly cheap labor, open the flood gates, and then bump all the aforementioned disgruntleds out the top sooner than they were prepared. Add in the fact that this guy was going to get to fly all the way to 20 without ever having to put in for a waiver or hit the apply board and there was some resentment built up. I was uncertain how to receive this guy, too. However, his pilot resume was above criticism: lots of combat time, very professional. His ability as an Instructor Pilot was also very good. In the end, he was an asset, not a liability. BUT...there's an argument to be made for mentorship towards young Navy Officer Aviators...he acknowledged this openly. He couldn't tell you the first thing about the "fleet". Is this big deal? Meh... He could talk the talk and walk the walk as an Aviator. AND as long as you still have strong Navy presence and don't dilute the waters too much, not a factor in my mind. Things he had working for him: an impeccable career and very likable personality as well as a RCC that wanted this to happen probably more than the service member in question. I believe the "process" took him almost 2+ years because there was no process...he jumped through an A$$load of hoops...possibly even a metric $h!t-ton.