Is there any nation that gives aircraft pilots enlisted rank?

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

As you know, mechwarriors are usually start with sergeant, if the warrior is not the officer. That's some kind of tank commander of our real world. And the leader of the lance(that is the same level with platoon) is a lowest ranked officer(around O1 to O2) or high ranked enlisted(around E8 to E9).

But the aircraft pilot on our real world is different with tank commander. On vast majority of armed force in our time, every single fixed wing pilot is an officer without exception. Only rotary wing pilots are either officer or warrant officer(and the very idea of 'warrant officer' is almost extinct on Battletech universe).

And... what about Battletech universe? Aerospace Fighter and Conventional Fighter still needs extensive training, but are they still treated with the same respect?

Air force/naval chain of command are separated with the ground, so even with the different ranks either sides are not able to interfere with the others easily. But is an aerospace fighter pilot treated at least equal to the lance commander or company commander, or they are just treated as same as a normal sergeant? Are there any armed forces that gives them enlisted rank instead of an officer rank, just as a mechwarrior just graduated the academy gets sergeant?

And what about mercenary units? Are each individual aerospace/conventional fighter pilots are treated as much as a mechwarrior or a tank commander?


Asides, what is the lowest rank of the rotary wing pilot/co-pilot in the most nations? Since the idea of WO is almost extinct, is every single rotary wing pilots also the officer as well, or many of them are enlisted just as enlisted tank commanders?

[Elmoth]

Given the relative focus of the game, si would say that they are officers, but LOWER than those of mechwarriors. Maybe aircraft have electronics that allow the plane to basically fly on its.own except for they tricky stuff or.something, but air wings are not a major thing here. The fact that planes and ASF are (I think) mechanically less complex than mechs might explain why as well.

[Emcha]

modern real life militaries make officers pilots mainly due to a bias against enlisted soldiers, who are not required to be college graduates or properly vetted in the military administration. likewise, mechwarriors tend to be similarly restricted to people who are at least somewhat trustworthy, I would imagine that a sort of flying sergeant equivalent to an entry level mechwarrior is not uncommon, but requires a certain amount of expertise such as able to understand and plot orbital trajectories and keep up with delta V expenditure on the fly.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

Perhaps. Some kind of WO then?

But anyway, it seems that still the fixed wing pilot is required to be an officer.

[Emcha]

Perhaps. Some kind of WO then?

But anyway, it seems that still the fixed wing pilot is required to be an officer.

warrant officers are still officers, they just don't have command responsibilities. like how specialist and corporal are essentially the same rank but specialist isn't a leadership role while corporal is.

warrant officer began as a way to commission critical personnel like blacksmiths and carpenters without running into problems like a quartermaster hijacking the division's marching band to haul bridging equipment 30 miles behind the enemy lines to help a half-strength recon company and a single tank crew steal a pile of Kuritan gold.

[Hellraiser]

like how specialist and corporal are essentially the same rank but specialist isn't a leadership role while corporal is.

I don't think that is correct.   Specialist & Corporal are the same paygrade.

I've been out for a couple decades but I'm pretty sure WO are in between E9 and O1 in both pay grade & rank.

A WO4 is not the same as a Major & is paid less.

[Nav_Alpha]

Battletech  universe ranks Are weird. You can tell the original founders and writers were Navy/Air Force not Army.

I’d suggest - did you go to a military academy to be trained in your MOS, be it Mechwarrior, VTOL jock, etc? Then you come out a sergeant.
Unless you then also do OCS or some fancy finishing school.
This is actually mentioned in the novel, Flashpoint. They have a corporal Mechwarrior among the sergeants because he came through like a regional training battalion setup

[Intermittent_Coherence]

The only one that comes to mind is the US but this was back in WW2.
They needed a lot of warm bodies for the nascent Army Air Corps, so they set up a Flying Sergeant program to recruit promising enlisteds. Chuck Yeager was a notable product.

[Hellraiser]

I’d suggest - did you go to a military academy to be trained in your MOS, be it Mechwarrior, VTOL jock, etc? Then you come out a sergeant.
Unless you then also do OCS or some fancy finishing school.
This is actually mentioned in the novel, Flashpoint. They have a corporal Mechwarrior among the sergeants because he came through like a regional training battalion setup

This.
Regional Training Battalion could be Corporals   (Not sure if they have these for ASF however)
Recent Academy grads are Sgts.
OCS grads are Lts.


I also wonder if in BT you can be promoted from Sgt to Lt w/o going to OCS.
It seems like you would have to be able to for more elite units at least to have highly skilled lance commanders.
I think I recall seeing an example in canon but I can't recall where.

[Auberan]

In the Federated Suns book it mentions that they all graduate at Sergeant, but when a Mechwarrior would earn a promotion, they would be commissioned as a Subaltern. I would assume they attended an OCS course during their time in the Academy in that case.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

In the Federated Suns book it mentions that they all graduate at Sergeant, but when a Mechwarrior would earn a promotion, they would be commissioned as a Subaltern. I would assume they attended an OCS course during their time in the Academy in that case.

Interesting. Then although non-officer mechwarriors are start with a NCO, but they are treated as a pseudo cadet and can directly promote to the officer? A cadet that 'graduates' when they proves themselves and become a full officer?

If it is true, then it will reduce the gap between mechwarriors and aerospace fighter pilots - pilots are virtually officers, and although mechwarriors are start with NCO but they are considered as the officer candidates.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

And... it seems that the assumption is correct. In A Time of War, Military Academy section of the character creation says that;

.. As the place where MechWarriors learn their craft and all recruits are viewed as potential officer candidates, military academies have stricter entry requirements than simple enlistment.

And, although it is not forced, but Military School in A Time of War is divided to three groups;
-Academy: Provides advanced curriculum. You can learn...
--Advanced: Cavalry(Combat Vehicle), Infantry, Marine, MechWarrior, Aerospace/Conventional/Dropship Pilot, Scientist, Scout, Ship Crew, and analysis.
--Special: Doctor, Anti-Mech(infantry), Military Science, Battle Armor Pilot, Jumpship Pilot, Special Force.

-Enlisted: It is a lesser school that is focus on the conventional force. You can learn...
--Advanced: Cavalry, Infantry, Marine, Medical assistant, Police officer, Scout, Ship Crew, Military Technician.
--Special: Police Tactical Officer, Anti-Mech(infantry), Special Force, Vehicle/Aerospace Technician.

-House: Trained in the individual noble house rather than the normal military school.

You can learn basic(not on the list I have shown), then can also learn either advance or special, or all basic, advance and special.

And, there is an another optional school named Officer Candidate School, that only accepts the person graduated military, paramilitary, or police school. It takes one year of training and and it allows the officer rank to the character. The basic military training above doesn't give the officer at all, and you must also pick the OCS as well(you can pick multiple schools as long as you want to pay for the years).

So, it seems that the 'academy' doesn't gives all the graduates officer ranks, and the term academy in Battletech only means the 'advanced military training school' rather than what we think of the word 'academy' - the military school that make the officers. Although some graduates starts their career with the lowest ranked officer, but they are just have the OCS curriculum on their school.

Yes, it is only the character creation mechanism on A Time of War, but I am surprised that the word 'academy' doesn't make them officer.
---------------

edit: I found that it was originally SLDF's tradition that the graduates of the academy doesn't commission immediately and have sergeant instead, and after they prove themselves they are commissioned.

...And, I also found that Taurian aerospace pilot start their career as force sergeant which is enlisted rank, rather than officer. Wow, I didn't aware that there are any major nations that have enlisted pilots. Although they are also promoted to ensign same as most nation's mechwarriors.

[Emcha]

I don't think that is correct.   Specialist & Corporal are the same paygrade.

correct, they are technically peers as far as skill level and time in service. the point i'm making is that a corporal is a NCO and therefore is expected to be able to lead soldiers in the field, while a specialist is not expected to. one is a leadership position, the other is a specialty position.

specialist is a holdover from when we had technical sergeants who were basically the enlisted equivalent of warrant officers: subject matter experts who for administrative purposes were peers to actual NCOs but were not leadership positions.

although nobody adheres to the original intent of the CPL/SPC divide anymore, the specialist is/was supposed to specialize in something, while the corporal was supposed to be a team leader. one had leadership responsibilities, the other did not. the same is true for officers(all of them) and warrant officers(all of them).

A WO4 is not the same as a Major & is paid less.

it's not the pay i'm referring to, it's leadership responsibilities. warrant officers are completely separate ranks because their role is completely separate from regular officers and their commissioning is likewise completely different. almost nobody in the military can demote or relieve a warrant officer of his commission, because the warrant officer is meant to be a subject matter expert. the WO is the one who runs a shop and can tell a colonel that "no, C company's mechs aren't mission ready yet and you can get the ****** out of my shop until they are and stop harassing my techs."

they can also say things like "I don't give a ****** how much brass you have pinned to your chest it'll still be 24 hours before we can make planetfall and i'm NOT going to land this 8,000-ton dropship anywhere near that hurricane."

all without worrying about some social general drumming them out of the service for back sass.

I imagine ASF operations are similarly expertise intensive, moreso than battlemechs, due to needing to keep one eye on your delta V and another on how much you're going to need to get back to the mothership or else you'll die a freeze dried corpse in space as you careen off on an orbital trajectory that nobody will be able to transit to for at least 150 years.

I'f there's somebody out there who allows enlisted personnel to fly ASFs then they will need to have some distinction between a flying enlisted and any old conscript.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

Yeah. Although I found that SLDF gives academy graduates sergeant rather than lieutenant, aerospace pilot's extra study for more knowledge makes them enough time to earn the full officer rank when they are actually battle-ready with their aerospace fighter.

It's all the same even on our real worlds - pilots candidates of air force academy graduates are trained for the pilot after they are graduates the academy and commissioned, and they are usually have O2 or O3 pay grade when they are enter their survice as the pilot depend on the nations.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

  There should be plenty (if not most) of nations that do that. Few countries are so lacking in pilots that they have to offer commissions and cash awards for them, even fewer countries could afford so many officers who are one-trick ponies.         
 
  Many WW2 aces were enlisted, as that was the rule among nations -a commission was earned, not a gift or term of service. Unless a character finishes OCS, they graduate from their respective academy (mech, aero, etc) as a NCO.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

  There should be plenty (if not most) of nations that do that. Few countries are so lacking in pilots that they have to offer commissions and cash awards for them, even fewer countries could afford so many officers who are one-trick ponies. 

   

Is it about the Battletech universe, right? Can you show the reference? I don't mean I can't trust that. I just didn't find the fluff about that so I want to check it by myself.     
 

Many WW2 aces were enlisted, as that was the rule among nations -a commission was earned, not a gift or term of service. Unless a character finishes OCS, they graduate from their respective academy (mech, aero, etc) as a NCO.

But commission also grants the pilots voices against stupid orders and plans that doesn't understand the aircraft, and give them privilege to encourage them to not defect. That's why almost all nations are just give them officer ranks during WW2, and vast majority of pilots through the whole war are actually officers, and only a fraction were NCO or enlisted(although Imperial Japanese makes the considerable numbers of enisted pilots). After WW2, develop of jet fighters makes pilots too precious asset as well. Both the aircraft and the pilot are so expensive to produce/train.

Imperial Japanese was the bad example of WW2 to not give them officer ranks. Most of such a precious soldiers were only remained at private to sergeant, and combined with their feudal culture makes them unable to have much voice on the plans. That's quite bad example, though, for at least sergeant MechWarriors in Battletech universe are directly promote to O1 grade officer and they can start the career with NCO rank when they graduate, unlike Imprerial Japanese that keep the pre-pilot training rank of the enlisted soldiers.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

Is it about the Battletech universe, right? Can you show the reference? I don't mean I can't trust that. I just didn't find the fluff about that so I want to check it by myself.     

  Is OCS a given in character creation? The BT universe exhibits a huge number of Americanisms, such as officer-heavy forces, instead of a backbone of NCOs and a huge emphasis is placed on wealth in the universe.   

But commission also grants the pilots voices against stupid orders and plans that doesn't understand the aircraft, and give them privilege to encourage them to not defect.

  Rank did nothing to prevent Market Garden or the Ploesti Raids. From personal military experience, sergeant has more of a voice than a lieutenant in a tactical environment, and officer rank does not magically bestow anybody greater intelligence or insight. Defection has only been a problem when governments had inherent problems... In American terms, more money and benefits serve to lure away military pilots from becoming civilian pilots, who may earn far more money and benefits based on ability instead of rank.

That's why almost all nations are just give them officer ranks during WW2, and vast majority of pilots through the whole war are actually officers, and only a fraction were NCO or enlisted (although Imperial Japanese makes the considerable numbers of enlisted pilots).

  Of over 800 German pilots awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, about 170 ended the war (or were killed) as enlisted or NCO rank. Yes, one fifth is a fraction yet it is a large number, considering the Luftwaffe was bleeding pilots by the end of the war yet still saw fit to keep NCO pilots.
  An award in German terms is nothing like an award in American terms. An American given its nation's highest award would be taken from the front lines and sent on bond drives and treated like a movie star (Audie Murphy actually became a movie star), while a German soldier is thanked and sent back to fight, with full expectations that they will continue to fight at the same level of bravery and skill that earned their award, which makes far more sense.

After WW2, develop of jet fighters makes pilots too precious asset as well. Both the aircraft and the pilot are so expensive to produce/train.

 
  Again, you are just talking money. Are you implying that an Atlas pilot deserves a commission over a Locust pilot, simply due to a machine's importance on a battlefield and it's price on the market? I never saw butter bars humping expensive machine guns while I was in uniform, they usually carried pistols and were there, not to lead, but to learn how NCOs led, which OCS doesn't teach.

[idea weenie]

    Again, you are just talking money. Are you implying that an Atlas pilot deserves a commission over a Locust pilot, simply due to a machine's importance on a battlefield and it's price on the market? I never saw butter bars humping expensive machine guns while I was in uniform, they usually carried pistols and were there, not to lead, but to learn how NCOs led, which OCS doesn't teach. 

One person described the difference between an NCO and an officer is that NCOs lead people, an officer leads a unit.

So the NCO would know their people, while the officer's job is to know how that unit can work as part of a larger picture.

To me that could look like a sergeant wanting to get a training session set up for several members of the platoon, because one of the soldiers is reaching end of service, and part of the training is useful for after they get out of the army.  The officer would see an opportunity to get some useful training for the overall platoon.

Or the reverse would be an officer told to have their platoon to guard X area with platoons Y and Z on either side.  The lieutenant will tell the sergeant about where the flanking platoons are, so the initial layout the sergeant had in mind will be adjusted to communicate and coordinate with the adjacent platoons.  It may make that platoon's position a little weaker, but by coordinating with other platoons the whole defense is stronger.

Other bits of information showing the difference would be:
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/commissioned-vs-non-commissioned-officer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LKcW4AHyfE

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

  Is OCS a given in character creation? The BT universe exhibits a huge number of Americanisms, such as officer-heavy forces, instead of a backbone of NCOs and a huge emphasis is placed on wealth in the universe.   

It is optionally available , but it is not automatically on the academy. Any characters that graduated military, paramilitary, or police school, can also choose to have OCS curriculum for spend additional 1 year.

And, yes, Battletech universe doesn't consider NCOs much, and the rank of NCO is too thin. Although there is a fluff that Federated Suns values NCO greately, but I feel that the developers are not consider for the NCOs well.
 

  Rank did nothing to prevent Market Garden or the Ploesti Raids. From personal military experience, sergeant has more of a voice than a lieutenant in a tactical environment, and officer rank does not magically bestow anybody greater intelligence or insight. Defection has only been a problem when governments had inherent problems... In American terms, more money and benefits serve to lure away military pilots from becoming civilian pilots, who may earn far more money and benefits based on ability instead of rank.
 
  Of over 800 German pilots awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, about 170 ended the war (or were killed) as enlisted or NCO rank. Yes, one fifth is a fraction yet it is a large number, considering the Luftwaffe was bleeding pilots by the end of the war yet still saw fit to keep NCO pilots.
  An award in German terms is nothing like an award in American terms. An American given its nation's highest award would be taken from the front lines and sent on bond drives and treated like a movie star (Audie Murphy actually became a movie star), while a German soldier is thanked and sent back to fight, with full expectations that they will continue to fight at the same level of bravery and skill that earned their award, which makes far more sense.
 
  Again, you are just talking money. Are you implying that an Atlas pilot deserves a commission over a Locust pilot, simply due to a machine's importance on a battlefield and it's price on the market? I never saw butter bars humping expensive machine guns while I was in uniform, they usually carried pistols and were there, not to lead, but to learn how NCOs led, which OCS doesn't teach.

Yes, sergeants do have much better voices than lieutenant, on most army, but that's just because sergeants have more experience. And that's the matter of typical frontline ground unit(infantry and armor, or subdivisions such as engineer, mechanised infantry, so on), not the air force(or navy/army's) structure. Since the time was dawn of the very concept of armed force in sky(although the idea was already initiated on WW1) on our current viewpoint, I think that give the promotion seems essential. At least they need to have NCOs rather than keep low ranked enlisted as Imperial Japanese does(as I said they didn't raise their rank at all even if their low ranked enlisted are graduate pilot school). At least, Sergeant is a NCO, not just a typical enlisted.


Perhaps, that's the reason why Battletech universe values mechwarriors much, and most of them are officers and the NCO rank is too poorly described. I just have a guess - they intended to insitute the concept of aircraft pilot of our world when making the concept of mechwarrior, and because they are still the ground force they also add a NCO rank on the first step on the line.

That will solve the reason, why they are start with sergeant(despite they are graduates an ACADEMY) but directly promotes to O1 grade officer as their next step of promotion and just treated as a full officer career unlike keep NCO rank, and ridiculously weak NCO ranks (and virtually extincted concept of Warrant officer) in Battletech universe.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

Perhaps, that's the reason why Battletech universe values mechwarriors much

  The 'Mech is still considered by some the ultimate weapon in the universe, and despite the fact that there are far more pilots than 'Mechs, enough to skew the labor market to make any 'Mech pilot willing to work for food, let alone some meaningless rank, it only underscores the lack of knowledge of military life and basic economics.

I just have a guess - they intended to insitute the concept of aircraft pilot of our world when making the concept of mechwarrior, and because they are still the ground force they also add a NCO rank on the first step on the line.

  It's just another Americanism that makes BT fiction a drinking game, where every Americanism found calls for another shot. The early fiction made Kurita soldiers the kind of stock, buck-toothed, monkey-faced villains you'd see in a WW2 Hollywood flick.

That will solve the reason, why they are start with sergeant(despite they are graduates an ACADEMY) but directly promotes to O1 grade officer as their next step of promotion and just treated as a full officer career unlike keep NCO rank, and ridiculously weak NCO ranks (and virtually extincted concept of Warrant officer) in Battletech universe.

  An academy is just a school. Schools don't confer rank, political policy does. When I was in the Army, you weren't even considered a "hard-stripe" NCO without attending the equivalent of a basic NCO course (PNCOC, or "OCS lite") before earning corporal or sergeant stripes, although there were a few exceptions -I made SP5 in 3 years, despite the Reagan-Era promotion freeze, without attending PNCOC (My roomie attributed it to "good press" due to being active in the community). The vast majority of enlisted ranks were Specialists, a throwback to WW2 era Technical Sergeants, who maintained specific skills but lacked command authority but actually have authority over lower ranks, so the whole "hard stripe" issue has always been moot. Leaving an academy with the rank of corporal still can mean you can climb up the NCO ranks, all the way to Sergeant Major (and still have more street cred than a Lieutenant Colonel), still obtain the social title of knight, yet not even be considered for a commission without OCS.
  I've run enough campaigns where players take OCS, pump up their combat skills and become Min/Maxed gods of the battlefield, only to be utterly useless when sitting at a desk, which prompted me to model campaigns based on the "Archer" series, with corrupt, incompetents running rampant, with one character, Helmut von Wiener, appearing in several fanfic stories based on actual campaign plotlines: From "Rheinhardt's Corporate Raiders -First Mission"

“It figures,” the Hauptmann replied, “if it wasn’t for the Lyrans, those tea-swilling incompetents would already be speaking Japanese.” He steered his Griffin toward the barricade where the Whitworth fought, and furiously tapped at his display, “Hey Gloria, what keystrokes do I use for ‘God Mode’?”
  “Say again?”
  “How do I call up the ‘God Mode’?” he asked again, “While in the academy, one of the techs showed me, after I slipped him some cash,” explained the Hauptmann, “how do you think I aced the simulator final exam?”
    “Wait…You cheated on that exam?” Snockers was aghast, “That portion kicked my butt!”
  “I didn’t cheat,” argued von Wiener, “I made adequate use of available assets.”
  “I can’t believe it,” the Leutnant said, as she launched another volley of missiles, “and there is no such thing as ‘God Mode’ in a real battle.”
  “Liar,” accused the Hauptmann, “you just don’t want me to outshine you, as I did while we were at the academy.” He kept trying keystroke combinations, obviously without success.
  “Get your cheating, Lyran wannabe posterior over here,” the Leutenant ordered, “the Dracs are closing in!”

[Daryk]

One thing to remember is that AToW doesn't require OCS to be consecutive with any other training.  You could conceivably enlist first, and be sent to OCS meritoriously (or otherwise...).

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

One thing to remember is that AToW doesn't require OCS to be consecutive with any other training.  You could conceivably enlist first, and be sent to OCS meritoriously (or otherwise...).

  Agreed, but it underscores the fact that officer rank is not a given, no matter how many years of academy a character attends. Rank and pay are conditions of employment; When slots are hard to fill, governments have to compete with the labor market. If 'Mech pilots were a dime a dozen, IS military numbers would reflect that, and not have militaries handing out commissions like candy at a Christmas parade -dispossessed pilots would be lining up at recruiting stations just to have a shot at being assigned a 'Mech.

  To be a US Air Force pilot, completion of ROTC or OCS is required, or, graduation of the Air Force Academy, which is OCS with technical training, with a commitment to serve, so it is virtual enlistment with conditions, as with the other branch academies, but you have to be an officer BEFORE you attend flight training, and still serve your term if you fail flight training and are reassigned. No matter what, the military will figure out a way to squeeze their investment out of you. BTW, only 4% of USAF officers are pilots.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

But I don't think that graduate a military academy and got commissioned is easy as a child's play either. Actually, all the ways for the promition to the officer does. Military academy is just a most stable source of provide able fresh officers.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

But I don't think that graduate a military academy and got commissioned is easy as a child's play either.

  It shouldn't be but AToW it just means spending points and aging. It's a given, even if the fluff claims that only 1 in 3 graduates, if you choose that path, you will be that 1 in 3. Yet I see the point of AToW -You build the character you want to play.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

  It shouldn't be but AToW it just means spending points and aging. It's a given, even if the fluff claims that only 1 in 3 graduates, if you choose that path, you will be that 1 in 3. Yet I see the point of AToW -You build the character you want to play.

I think that it can be ruled as this. Because mechwarriors graduates the academy starts with sergeant, not an officer in fluff, it only ALLOWS to get the promotion easier, or it allows to get the promotion during the next step easier(named 'real life', that is the character have the real experience after graduate the study curriculums. academy is on the former step, named higher education).

So, a character with OCS curriculum on step 3, can also get the officer title when the character have any field experience on the step 4, or the character starts with sergeant despite the character already graduates OCS curriculum.

A Time of War says that, after the character creation the character's rank is fully up to what they did, and the situations. But, although 'field promotion' in a dire situation is not uncommon, in the most times I'd said that the sergeants that already have OCS curriculum would be have the priority to get commissioned over just a sergeant. Although, a sergeant rised from private deserves a try of OCS as well, if the sergeant want it.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

  What about non-combat pilots? The US used quite a few of them: Flying Sergeants

https://archive.is/20120717164532/http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=31103853

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

Perhaps, is it possible for the conventional aircrafts? Although become a conventional pilot is not so easy as earning a car driver's license, but it is obvious that it would be far easier than become an aerospace fighter pilot. Because military helicoptor pilots of our era are at least have Warrant Officer or Officer, it seems not that weird to allow them to start with high ranked NCO or even WO.

After all, military personnel with very specialized duty, while does not needs to become the high ranked officer, are get the title of WO, so it seems not weird that WOs are piloting some aircraft.

[Daryk]

When I build units, I cost MechWarriors as Warrants, as well as other pilots.

[PuppyLikesLaserPointers]

It is funny that, the question was raised because I want to make a custom rank system, and set normal mechwarriors as plain NCO - I see(and want to treat) them no more than a low ranked NCO tank commander, not the prestigious de facto cadet on the field experience(I found that it was the reality on Inner Sphere, surprisingly), but I remember that generally mechwarrior and aerospace fighter pilots are treated as similar to each other.

So, while vast majority of mechwarriors are NCO, but their equivalent in air wings are start with an officer, which is not makes both of them equal.

[Daryk]

A zero-ranked officer is easy to cost.