Details below. Does the following list of schools and courses make sense in the context of this fictional career?

SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 12:37:39 -0500

This is research for a novel, so please bear with me.

The character starts out commissioning through OCS after college. This is the list of courses and such that he takes throughout his career, in order:

Edited to reflect outstanding input from RP:

OCS
IBOLC
Airborne School
Ranger School
Air Assault School (on deployment)
EIB
Jumpmaster School

As an 11A 1LT(P) he goes to SFAS and succeeds.

18A Special Forces Qualification Course
Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course (CDQC)
Advanced Special Operations Techniques Course (ASOT) (Classified course with fabricated description for this fiction): CQB/Urban SUT

At this point in his career, he resigns his commission and becomes an E5.

12B AIT
Advanced Situational Awareness (Basic)
Modern Army Combatives Program I, II, III
Advanced Leader Course
RASP 1 -- assigned to 3rd Ranger Battalion
Sapper School
Senior Leader Course
Reconnaissance and Surveillance Leaders Course
Special Operations Combatives Program I, II
Delta Selection/OTC (Last day nongraduate)
RRC Selection/OTC -- assigned to Regimental Special Troops Battalion, Regimental Reconnaissance Company
Military Free Fall Parachutist Course (MFFPC)
Military Free Fall Advanced Tactical Infiltration Course (ATIC)
Special Operations Forces Technical Surveillance (SOFTS)
Special Operations Forces Surveillance Course (SOFSURV)
Special Forces Sniper Course (SFSC)
SOF Tracking Course?
Special Warfare Brighton Course (Classified course with fabricated description for this fiction): straight up an assassination course including improvised weapons in nonpermissive environments
Special Warfare Touchstone Course (Classified course with fabricated description for this fiction): teaches how to create identities within the system but compartmentalized so only the Operator knows about them.

Does the order make sense?
Does the list of courses make sense for his career? Are any courses out of place?
Would he realistically have time for these courses in a fifteen-year career? How much time would he need?
Is there anything you see that you would suggest changing?
Are there any SOF tracking courses? I couldn't find any, but I want the character to have some such courses.
Which schools could have been done on deployments? I think Air Assault and Combatives, but I'm not sure about those or others.
Any other thoughts? Anything else I should know?

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 23 at 2020 1:33 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 13:33:54 -0500

Always more than one path to the objective. There are plenty of former experienced Warriors here of all kinds, that could weigh in. The "cookie cutter" approach doesn't work universally. Many that plan their route have to divert. Some find they are on the wrong one and adapt.

Response by CSM Michael Chavaree made Nov 23 at 2020 1:44 PM

CSM Michael Chavaree — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 13:44:56 -0500

Jumpmaster would be unlikely but not impossible unless he was in an Airborne unit for a while. I have seen Captains decline and convert to SSG, I think that would be more appropriate. I doubt ALC would even be required. Seems like a lot of schools with little experience, it would take a while for sure. And yes there is several tracking courses, I did one in 3/75, it was a “combat tracker” course.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 23 at 2020 1:58 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 13:58:34 -0500

IMHO, a little heavy on the courses. If he did all those, in order, he wouldn't have much time left for anything else. OCS - 13 weeks, IBOLC - 28 weeks. all of the others are anywhere from 3-7 weeks at least. so you're talking ballpark anywhere from 3-6 years doing nothing but schooling. add in the lag time between applying and getting a class date, I just think it's a tad unlikely.

Response by SP5 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 23 at 2020 3:24 PM

SP5 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 15:24:45 -0500

SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA Reason for entering military service. College development/philosophy as background. Command and staff time while commissioned. Peer relationships at officer and enlisted status. Some personal attributes and relationships to keep from being too shallow a character, Just some thoughts. Good luck with the novel.

Response by MAJ Matthew Arnold made Nov 23 at 2020 3:45 PM

MAJ Matthew Arnold — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 15:45:48 -0500

There may be a few that have done most of that but it is the rare exception. Also, it depends on the time frame of the setting and the assignments the character gets. For example, in the late 70s it was common to see someone with a paratrooper badge and an air assault badge, but sometime in the early 80s the army made it a general rule that you could only get one or the other, except when a subsequent assignment, say from 82nd to 101st, allowed you to get both.

It was my experience in the 82nd airborne that young officers never got to go to pathfinder school and that course was mainly for NCOs with several years of experience. It isn't essential to the army that officers attend all the high speed soldier skills training. Officers go to: Battalion Training Management System, Battalion Movement Management (Air-Land-Sea) Course, Chemical-Biological-Radiation Downwind Prediction Course, and other management courses.

Response by SGT Christopher Hayden made Nov 23 at 2020 4:07 PM

SGT Christopher Hayden — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:07:58 -0500

I feel like all of that in a 15 year career wouldn't leave him much time to actually use any of it.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 23 at 2020 5:05 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:05:59 -0500

SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA … I agree with many of the other posters. If one were commissioned through OCS, you might get to Airborne & Air Assault school right after graduation from OCS. It's all up to Human Resources Command (HRC) and the Schoolhouses which courses active duty officers attend after IOBC. They would probably go to a unit for PLT Leader time, before going to many of those schools. You can always go to Ranger school later after, Captains Career Course.

Jumpmaster school, would be as stated after you've been in an Airborne unit for a while... not sure how many jumps are required, but it's a lot. I don't know too many Officers that have this school, unless they were prior service (i.e. NCOs in an Airborne Unit).

EIB- is not really a school, but a skills test. Many Officers/NCOs will compete to become EIB qualified. Not many achieve the high standards & are awarded the EIB. If they are a good Infantry officer, they'll have the EIB completed in their first couple of years of service.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 23 at 2020 5:11 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:11:41 -0500

You've got WAYYYY too much going on there. This guy is supposed to be a SSG with a few years in.
For the first part, the only way to go to JM is in an Airborne unit after you've been on status for a year, minimum. Ranger and Airborne are reasonable. EIB, yes. Pathfinder and Air Assault in an Airborne unit are going to go to enlisted folks.

For the SF time, you have three different areas of specialization. Officers only have a limited amount as a team leader before being sent to staff. MFF and CDQC are separate teams, so that's not likely to happen. It's not impossible but no BN CDR is letting their team leader go to a school they don't need and be away from the team unnecessarily. Also, the Dive Sup is usually an NCO. Then there's the assaulter and recon courses. MFF would make sense with surveillance courses. Assaulters are usually the CRF which are shut down now.

Resigning a commission as a senior CPT would be more likely a SSG who would be required to complete ALC at a later date. That would mean RASP2 for this guy.

I would suggest removing everything assaulter oriented. A 12B is an odd selection in that your average 12B is not going to be used on a sniper team. While any unit can put anyone they want onto a team, a SSG 12B isn't going to be joining a team as a junior and will be needed more in their MOS role in the battalion in a leadership position.

Timeline: promotable LT about 4 years. 5-6 years to graduate QC. 2 more years on a team and 2 more for staff and you're 9 or 10 years before making Major, so he resigned his commission at 10 as a CPT.

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Nov 23 at 2020 5:29 PM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:29:11 -0500

I’m no subject matter expert but that timeline sugest he’s done like 150 years worth of military schools alone!

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 23 at 2020 11:23 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 23:23:03 -0500

So this man never deployed or trained. Just attended schools? How long of a time line did this occur over?

Response by CW4 Craig Urban made Nov 24 at 2020 7:37 AM

CW4 Craig Urban — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 07:37:14 -0500

Bet you have heard of LTG Ron Hite? Retired

Response by SSG Samuel Kermon made Nov 24 at 2020 8:08 AM

SSG Samuel Kermon — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 08:08:59 -0500

With fiction you can do most anything. For reality this all seems a bit much.

Response by GySgt Charles O'Connell made Dec 30 at 2020 7:03 AM

GySgt Charles O'Connell — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 07:03:25 -0500

Resigns his commission and re-enlists as an E5???