In the
United States Armed Forces, the ranks of
warrant officer (grades W-1 to W-5) (
NATO: WO1-WO5) are rated as officers above the senior-most enlisted ranks, including all officer candidates (OC) and warrant officer candidates (WOC) (both of whom hold enlisted grades as E-5 or above, depending upon their grade upon appointment as an OC or WOC); and cadets and midshipmen (who are considered "officers only in a qualified sense", holding a special grade above E-9 and below W-1), but subordinate to the officer grade of O-1 (
NATO: OF-1). This application differs from the
Commonwealth of Nations and other militaries, where warrant officers are the most senior of the
other ranks (
NATO: OR-8 and OR-9), equivalent to the US Armed Forces grades of E-8 and E-9.