Posted on Nov 5, 2016
How do Officers "protect" themselves against future reductions in force (RIF)?
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I'm just a newbie to the officer ranks (future 65B/Physical Therapist), but I like to think long term. It's always possible that RIF will affect my year group in another 5 years or so. How does one "protect" themselves? I've heard of some squared away officers getting the boot. Are there certain types of training I should try to obtain? CCC seems to be a big one but I hear it's hard to get.
Officer
Reduction in Force (RIF)
Downsizing
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
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CPT (Join to see)
That was ETS beard. I didn't shave from the day I got my DD214 to the day I got married. The day after I said "I do" is came right back. It imagine I'll do the same when I leave the next time around, but it might have a few more gray hairs by then.
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LtCol William Bentley
Good points, but remember in this generation and those to follow, the careless trail of empty wrappers and other seemingly innocent detritus in your social media may someday come into play...don't leave that to chance. Manage your social media, all of it, and your image tightly. Allow nothing to appear that will put you, or worse your boss or Service or branch, in a bad light. I suggest you go dark on all but essential social media, and remove pictures unless necessary. Your friends will still know who you are. Your enemies will, too. But you don't need to advertise to the public. This is a basic principle of anti-terrorism: protect yourself from the unexpected. Until your generation is in charge of the promotion (and RIF, if any) boards, and "understands," you will want to remember that the older guys grew up before any social media, before email, when a family that had one TV and one rotary dial telephone in the kitchen for the entire family was a good thing. Don't let them think badly, even when it shouldn't matter. Give them nothing to comment upon other than your awesomeness.
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Suspended Profile
CPT (Join to see) don't confuse me for your assignments officer at HRC but thus far the RIF has not affected the 65 series. It affected the Nurse Corps due to force management (they let in too many) and had to reduce.
Given that our MAJ to LTC boards were under 20% last year, I think you're sitting pretty good with prior enlisted time. You can retire if you must but at least you have options. We both know CPTs who will be two time/non-select through no fault of their own - it is partially a force structure issue on our part and part two term democrat draw down in the military.
All you can do, given that you're in a MOS producing school, is finish school and see what happens. There is no one with a magic or crystal ball in the SP Corps to tell you what jobs to get. I have been assigned a couple of very unpopular duty assignments and they did turn out to be awesome for my career. The moral of that story is there is no bad duty station for a new grad and if you want to survive, you have to find a way to thrive at your duty stations.
Given that our MAJ to LTC boards were under 20% last year, I think you're sitting pretty good with prior enlisted time. You can retire if you must but at least you have options. We both know CPTs who will be two time/non-select through no fault of their own - it is partially a force structure issue on our part and part two term democrat draw down in the military.
All you can do, given that you're in a MOS producing school, is finish school and see what happens. There is no one with a magic or crystal ball in the SP Corps to tell you what jobs to get. I have been assigned a couple of very unpopular duty assignments and they did turn out to be awesome for my career. The moral of that story is there is no bad duty station for a new grad and if you want to survive, you have to find a way to thrive at your duty stations.
CPT (Join to see)
Roger, sir. We were told that the NC was north of 125% strength so they got hit hard. I would still say that half of my BOLC class is comprised of nurses though, which seems to be counterintuitive. One piece of advice I was given recently is to spread out schooling a bit so that it looks like I'm constantly trying to improve myself. Rather than maybe getting my OCS, heading to Airborne school, and attending the Kersey course in one year, I would do one thing per year. Seems to make sense, but I also know that if an opportunity for training comes up I need to take it. That's something I didn't do during my enlisted days.
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LTC Robert McKenna
Get what you can when you can while you can. Never put off schooling you can get now as it might not be available later.
The important thing is to do the things the Army tells you to do, do your job well, and hope the OERs play out properly.
The important thing is to do the things the Army tells you to do, do your job well, and hope the OERs play out properly.
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Simple, do the best job you can in any job you have. Seek opportunities that challenge yourself. And most important have fun while treating everyone on with dignity and respect regardless of rank or position while enforcing standards fairly.
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