Much of the confusion over the proper function of the WO can be traced to several studies of the structure of the naval officer corps following World War II. The Smoot Board of 1951 was one of the first postwar studies of Navy rank structure-specifically, the role of the various classes of officers. World War II had left a legacy of multiple classes of officers, including regular line officers, a large cadre of temporary line officers, and regular and temporary WOs.