Most Navy Chiefs (E7-E9) with any brains at all will tell you that it makes no sense to give up the senior enlisted rank to be a WO, which is neither fish nor fowl. Warrant officers that I knew didn’t fit in anywhere. Line officers looked down on them, and most enlisted didn’t look up to them. Same for a lot of LDOs. An E-7 in the Navy has the respect of both officers and lower enlisted (assuming he knows his job), and won’t give that up without a lot of thought. There are some who have aspirations of being an officer (WO or LDO), thinking that somehow putting on bars will immediately command respect and loyalty. It’s rarely the case. When I made Chief, I immediately went from being just another senior first class petty officer to someone whose opinion mattered, and whose management and leadership skills were in high demand. Amazing, really, and all it took was a change of uniform.