Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. (KELO) -- It's been over 45 years since the last Warrant Officer Ceremony was held at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Friday afternoon, the base got to showcase the new promotion for one of their own. South Dakota’s ag, cultural ties to China "I'm feeling r eally good. It happened a lot faster than I was expecting. I'm surrounded by good people, my shop has been super supportive of everything. Then here we are, it's super exciting," Chief Warrant Officer II Jeffery Korhonen said. The Warrant Officer Program had over 1,000 applicants across the Air Force last year, with only 60 spots available. A warrant officer is a specialized officer that acts as an advisor to higher ranked officers. "Once we were released back to the Air Force, we can get after the job at hand. That's why warrants exist, right? Like we have to get after and be the technical integrators, be able to advise and communicate to the decision-makers," Korhonen said. The Warrant Officer Program initially ended around 1958, with the final members of those 60 at the time retiring or leaving the force around 1980. Now in the past couple of years, this program has been brought back to life with Korhonen being one of the special 60 selected. This program works only in the field of Cyber Security, with these 60 being the experts in this field. "At least for Cyber and IT, it's always evolving, it's always modernizing. And it will help keep the wing like the edge of a sword when it comes to cyber. We'll continue to keep them sharp and ready for any future missions and postured correctly so that way it'll be mission accomplishment," Korhonen said. This is a historical event for Ellsworth Air Force Base and the Air Force in general as technology continues to evolve. ...read more read less