more military questions

A commander of a post as large as Ft. Benning would be a general, probably either a brigadier (one star) or major (two star) general.

ETA: I went to school for a time at Auburn University, which isn't too far from Ft. Benning. I was never on the base while I was down there, but if you need some general information on the area (topography, vegetation, that sort of thing, just let me know). I might even know a guy who served at Ft. Benning.

GeorgeK said:

I have some military questions for a novel I'm slowly working on. Setting is about 30 years from now.

How does an officer address a warrant officer? I assume enlisted would address him as, "sir".

Ft. Benning Ga.: Would it be run by a colonel or a general?

I have a captain (O-3) and a warrant officer (W-4) doing a sort of project blue book thing on special orders from the White House. If they need supplies from the fort and it's in their orders that they can requisition stuff, would they go to the commandant or the armory officer? What rank would the armory officer be, or are those the wrong terms?

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Officers address a warrant as either "Mister" or if he's feeling especially convivial, "Chief". Enlisteds and lower warrants refer to him as "sir".

Ft. Benning is run by a two-banger.

I think you're talking about the Quartermaster, but I wouldn't know how to set about getting something that wasn't issued to me. That stuff would usually come from the DISCOM (divisional support command) that was onsite. And I believe the quartermaster would be a colonel, an O-6. Unfortunately, you're moving out of an area I recall with any clarity.

1) Depends on the rank of the warrant officer. W-1 would be Mister. W-2 and up are Chief Warrant Officers and are normally called "Chief" by officers and enlisted. (Which gets fun on a joint service base since Naval E-7 and up are called Chief (Chief Petty Officers).

2) Lots of groups on Ft. Benning. It depends on who you're saying is in charge down there.

The Garrison commander is a full colonel (O-6) currently.

https://www.benning.army.mil/fbhome/sites/local/ - The Benning Garrison Command web site

http://www.army.mil/info/organization/benning// - The Ft. Benning web site

There are several orgs on Benning you could draw supplies from if you were on a special mission, depending on your orders. The Ranger Battalion could be a source, there are several military schools there who could supply you or else the Garrison itself. It depends on who you were OPCONned to (put under the operational command of for command/support/UCMJ). A Battalion Supply Officer is usually a captain or a very junior major. A Garrison supply officer likely would be a LTC or a very junior COL. A seperate company like I was assigned to back in the 80s had a 1st Lieutenant as our supply officer, but normal companies have the XO (usually a 2nd Lt.) as the supply officer.

Remember too, odds are, your CWO4 is going to have YEARS of experience over the Captain. While the captain will be nominally in charge of this, if he has any sense, he'll listen to the Chief . . . a lot.

GeorgeK said:

I have some military questions for a novel I'm slowly working on. Setting is about 30 years from now.

How does an officer address a warrant officer? I assume enlisted would address him as, "sir".

Ft. Benning Ga.: Would it be run by a colonel or a general?

I have a captain (O-3) and a warrant officer (W-4) doing a sort of project blue book thing on special orders from the White House. If they need supplies from the fort and it's in their orders that they can requisition stuff, would they go to the commandant or the armory officer? What rank would the armory officer be, or are those the wrong terms?

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Just speaking from my tour in the Corps. As a Cpl, I worked closely with a CWO4 and my company commander was a Captain. These guys knew one another so they dispensed with the "Sir" business. Most enlisted called the CWO4 "sir" but the SNCOs (GySgt, MSgts, 1st Sgt) did call him "Chief".

I'm not familiar with Ft. Benning but looks like you got your answer.

Richard White said:

1) Depends on the rank of the warrant officer. W-1 would be Mister. W-2 and up are Chief Warrant Officers and are normally called "Chief" by officers and enlisted. (Which gets fun on a joint service base since Naval E-7 and up are called Chief (Chief Petty Officers).

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Left the service as a CW3 and was almost always called "Mister". "Chief" was a bit more informal, but used more by officers than enlisteds, if memory serves. But most still used "Mister", be I a wobbly one or a CW3. Maybe the aviation community is different from the rest of the Army in this regard, but I don't think so.

Different units, different experiences *grin*

I was in MI and almost all the warrants were Chief unless they were a wobbly.

Course I was an 'enlisted puke', so my take is probably different than others.

<thread hijack> Did you make it to retirement, Noah? I got to 15.5 and was up for 8 when the Army made me an offer I could refuse. I've been out since 99. </thread hijack>

What if the warrant officer is a lady?

I did not make it to retirement. I took a RIF package once stop-loss was lifted on my MOS. I separated in 1994.

Sarpedon said:

What if the warrant officer is a lady?

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"Miss" or "Ma'am" depending on the rank of the other individual. Though in this case, I'd use "Chief".

I have a captain (O-3) and a warrant officer (W-4) doing a sort of project blue book thing on special orders from the White House. If they need supplies from the fort and it's in their orders that they can requisition stuff, would they go to the commandant or the armory officer? What rank would the armory officer be, or are those the wrong terms?

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Ordering supplies is an enlisted man's job. The supply room is run by a non-commissioned officer, probably staff sergeant. Could also be a sergeant. Arms Room (not armory) would be run by an enlisted, with the responsibility of keeping track of the weapons. He'd probably be a corporal or specialist, and his military occupation would be supply. The arms room would be overseen by the supply sergeant, and any orders still would have to go through him.

Ordering supplies would be done at company level, not post level. The captain would just need to see the supply sergeant with his request. Don't believe the supplies are sent from the post though. Research "logistics" for more information on how it works.

Commandant is not a term I ever saw while I was in the army--just on TV for military schools. When referring to someplace like Fort Benning, call it a "post" not a "fort." That's how the soldiers will refer to it.

Gosh, no wonder I was always out of luck when I would dial the fort locator.

OH! Big difference.

A Warrant in the Marine Corps is called "Gunner" in casual conversations.,

Not Gunney (Gunnery Sergeant - E-7), but "Gunner". (Made that mistake once on a joint-service base.)

Rangers I believe fall under SOCOM for tasking, which is located at Ft. Bragg and under the command of a General (four stars). Yes, your people would almost certainly be advisors and probably NOT advisors in the field, but in a rear eschelon area. Rangers aren't likely to take "dead weight" along on a mission.

For something big and important, everyone who needs to know will probably get notification--so that means all the officers in the respective companies, battalions, regiments, and groups (might even have lots of meetings). How much they tell everyone is another story--and it may even be that they don't have a lot of information because things can change so fast or be unclear.

As for supplies, the two officers are going to have to come in contact with a headquarters or a company somewhere. They're not going to come to the post and wander aimlessly; they're going to report to someone. All they need to do is ask that person, "We need to order some supplies. Can we talk to your supply sergeant?" Or even better, why can't they come with what they need? Then you don't have to worry about ordering supplies.

Richard White said:

OH! Big difference.

A Warrant in the Marine Corps is called "Gunner" in casual conversations.,

Not Gunney (Gunnery Sergeant - E-7), but "Gunner". (Made that mistake once on a joint-service base.)

Rangers I believe fall under SOCOM for tasking, which is located at Ft. Bragg and under the command of a General (four stars). Yes, your people would almost certainly be advisors and probably NOT advisors in the field, but in a rear eschelon area. Rangers aren't likely to take "dead weight" along on a mission.

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US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is at MacDill AFB in Florida. US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) is at Bragg, and is commanded by a three-banger.

Ah, thanks, Noah.

Yeah, I do get SOCOM and USASOC confused at times. I blame it on my Army prejudice. *grin*

I should have rememberd that. My wife almost got transfered to MacDill to work at SOCOM. *sigh*

USASOM is a three-star, but SOCOM(MacDill) is a four-star? Correct?

Richard White said:

Ah, thanks, Noah.

Yeah, I do get SOCOM and USASOC confused at times. I blame it on my Army prejudice. *grin*

I should have rememberd that. My wife almost got transfered to MacDill to work at SOCOM. *sigh*

USASOM is a three-star, but SOCOM(MacDill) is a four-star? Correct?

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Yeah, but unlike USASOC, it's a rotational billet...not always an Army four star in charge (even though the Army has the biggest slice of the SOF pie).

Very true. But isn't that pretty common at all Joint Commands - to rotate through the services (Army/AF/Navy), or do they tend to have One service as the primary and one as the secondary at the other commands? (NORTHCOM/EUCOM/AFRICOM/SOUTHCOM/PACOM/CENTCOM)

Gah, get away from the service and stuff I used to know off the top of my head has slipped away.