Posted on Nov 10, 2013
How does the manning cycle work for Officer PCS moves?
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<p>I'm a new Warrant Officer and have yet to experience this process because it's so new, but I'm trying to understand it better.</p><p> </p><p>When an Officer (or Warrant) is due to PCS in the next quarter, HRC will send out a list of all projected vacancies. The Officer then prioritizes the list based on desire, development, or other. HRC will then take that list and use it to help select the right people for the right assignments. I don't know yet how well that works, but seeing my peers who are going through this process shows me that it's not much more beneficial than using ASK. One of my friends prioritized an interpost transfer (here at Hood, there are many slots for just about any job). His choices were overruled, even though the vacancy list showed two vacancies opening up. Obviously it's cheaper for the Army to allow him to stay here and swap to another BDE, but the move also benefitted him for professional growth because it would have provided a deployment and different mission focus than a BCT. So that makes no sense.</p><p> </p><p>Another example I saw is someone who prioritized their list, then was assigned to number 15 out of 31 assignment choices. This sounds like the prioritization was completely ignored unless miraculously, 15 happened to be the highest preference of all his peers on their preference list. It sounds like branch just put out this list, then selected whoever they wanted for every assignment anyway.</p><p> </p><p>My last problem with this process is that 80-90% of all assignments are 36 month assignments. A few of the exceptions are hardship tours, nominative assignments, and YS taskers, but if almost everyone in force is on station for about 36 months, or 48 if they change things, isn't my list going to be the mostly the same list every time it's presented to me? Factoring for the exceptionally short assignments and assuming retirings and other discharges, the assignment list should only fluxuate by about 10-15% (just guessing, no data points to support). Should I just plan for the fact that whatever I see on that first list is going to be (mostly) the same on every list I'm given until I retire?</p><p> </p><p>Does anyone know of a method to change where I fall on the manning cycle? I'm interested in nominative positions, special assignments, YS taskers, just about anything, but I don't know where to go and find out what, if any, types are available and fit my window. Is it possible to shrink my window? I want to PCS as early as possible, even on a hardship assignment, but I don't even know if I am still allowed to PCS at 24 months, let alone earlier.</p>
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Posted >1 y ago
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A couple of thoughts.<div><br></div><div>A lot of commands have changed their name and some new acronyms and policies have been added in the 15 years since I retired but there is still one thing that will work for you. <br><div><br></div><div>Be proactive with your branch assignment officer. Call him/her, email him/her. Let them know what you want. That lets them know that you are being proactive with your career. Ask what's available and would be a good fit for you at this point in your career.</div></div><div><br></div><div>Be realistic when you tell them where you want to move to or what job you are looking for. As a WO1, don't ask for the Taj Mahal. They will just laugh. Don't be afraid to ask your assignment officer what a good job would be for you. A job that you have the skill set for, can excel in, and get the attention of the promotion boards.</div><div><br></div><div>A short story. In 1991, I was a senior CW3 approaching my time to PCS from a stateside assignment. I wanted to go to Germany so I called my assignments officer. He had a great need to fill slots in Germany and he was very happy that I was helping him meet that need. He was so happy that he was going to let me pick my assignment. When I mentioned a VIP unit, he gave me the best advice of my career. He told me that at that point in my career, the VIP unit assignment would not look good for my upcoming CW4 promotion board. Instead, he guided me toward another assignment that turned out to be the best assignment of my career. He warned me that it would be a challenging assignment but he thought that I was up to the task, as least according to my OER's and commander's recommendations. The absolute best assignment of my career andI had no problems getting promoted to CW4.</div><div><br></div><div>Moral of the story......go for the hard, challenging assignments. If you give 100% in challenging assignments, you will not need to worry when the promotion boards meet.</div><div><br></div><div>Hope this helps.</div>
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CW3 (Join to see)
<p>Thank you Mr. Van Almsick. I'll look into my options. I knew branch was somewhere I had to go eventually, but I know they typically only share info about the places they want you to go, not everything available.</p><p> </p><p>Since you got out, they have changed the way assignments work. There are four cycles each year, and if you are due to PCS during the upcoming cycle, you'll receive an email of what locations will have vacancies. The SM then orders their preferences and supposedly branch slots them by merging priorities with preferences and development.</p><p><br>I'm just not sure how much I trust the system given how I've seen it work so far.</p>
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I agree with what Chief Almsick said, but would also add that you have a significant amount of influence as to where you go "next." You can work with your local chain of command to find places and positions where you want to go - and then work with the appropriate G1s for the posts in question and ask THEM to work the orders process.
HRC is like most other organizations - they have a million things to do, and a million things going on. If you (and your G1) hand them everything they need to fill a spot somewhere that needs to be filled, with all the appropriate i's dotted and t's crossed, they are not going to go out of their way to undo it. Unless there is a significant need somewhere else, they will usually just sign off on it and off you go! I usually start working my "next" assignment about one year to one and a half years out.
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Ed,
I have yet to see a list published by HRC or Branch Manager (BM) that shows available positions...it has always been a one-on-one discussion with the BM. Depending on his/her workload, the BM will contact the WO about 6-8 months out from available move date to discuss next assignment opportunities.
Key is the communication between the WO and BM...a dialog should be opened and ongoing to discuss career progression and assignments, knowing the Army needs take precedence over preference.
John
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