I find this whole CO needs to be the expert of the experts line of thinking funny. Why? What's wrong with having a W-5 that has WAY more experience in the aircraft than the CO? Does that hurt or help the mission? I would argue that it helps the mission, and the squadron way more than having the current system that we have now. Imagine, in any other system where currency is a thing, doing what the Navy did.
Okay you just finished AAA baseball, hey man, we're going to send you to the stand to toss peanuts for a year in a half. I'd really like to you to get to know the business side of the baseball team and then come back in two years. We'll hand you the ball on opening day and see how well you do against the hitters who have been here the past two years. . . Plain and simple, our system is fucked.
Every single pilot could be replaced with a warrant and we would be better, tactically, for it. Figuring out the leadership role would be something you would have to figure out. It doesn't require a college degree to do what we do in the cockpit, anyone who thinks it does is blowing smoke up their own ass, and that of their buddies as they wax poetically about how awesome they are.
People argue that women in the infantry would degrade combat effectiveness because of their overall abilities being less than that of men overall. Yet we continually reduce our effectiveness in the mission with our current policies. The next argument is that it will require change . . . then change it. Tradition is generally a word that's tossed out when there is no other reason to justify what we're doing. I'm not advocating getting rid of every commissioned officer within aviation. I am however, advocating that the WO program is plenty feasible if PERS hadn't gone and screwed it away the first time by not providing a career path for the WOs.