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does anyone have more insight into ellen Ripley's role as warrant officer on the nostromo in Alien(1979)? Happy Aliens day btw

Update: Answered in the comments much more thoroughly and succinctly than I can summarize, so head below for some great answers.


She's apparently the warrant officer, which I've seen hypothetical explanations state is the XO, the second in command, but she explicitly states that she is the third officer at the end of the movie, and throughout The movie she is the pilot and she checks the electrician's work and volunteers to go fight the alien first, and also states that she is in command while the others were off the ship.

So was Kane second in command?

And what is a warrant officer?

Thank you

BTW if there is a crazy Aliens expert, I have a few tiny questions that only a crazy fan who literally read everything ever written and watched every interview about the movie might be able to answer.

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  • In the American military a warrant officer is a subject matter expert in their career field. They are supposed to be advisors to commanders on the best tactics, techniques, and procedures at most levels, all the way down to the company level in army aviation. They are in most fields of the military like maintenance, personnel, property, aviation, special forces, etc.

    Warrant officers in the American military are commissioned officers, so in some instances they can be used as an XO or detachment commander. They usually have limited Uniformed Code of Military Justice(UCMJ) authority, but are just as capable of running a unit as a captain or a major.

    In the case of Ridley, rank and position aren't the same thing. Ridley is a warrant officer in the aviation branch, but the third ranking officer after the commander and XO or first officer.

    Warrant officers are supposed to be those people with knowledge that is an inch wide but a mile deep about a certain subject, but they are almost always very capable people and sometimes take on more roles. US Army aviation is the worst about this. They use flight warrants as catch all officers and will use them as supply officers, NBC officers, unit movement officers, or really any other job there isn't an enlisted person qualified to do the job.

    Most of my experience is US Army aviation, so feel free to take it all with that in mind.

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