Posted on Sep 14, 2015
Does a branch detail help or hinder an officer's career?
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It gives an officer more options and variety of experience, but can it hinder them as well?
Thoughts & personal experiences?
Thoughts & personal experiences?
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
Generally, Branch Detailing will likely hamper an Officer's career at the outset. I do not recommend it.
As a rule of thumb, Senior Raters like to reserve their "top blocks" for Lieutenants that will remain in the same branch, and will generally toss the scraps to the Detailed Lieutenants. Their viewpoint is "Why waste a top block on my profile for an officer who's not going to remain an Armor or Infantry Officer?"
Granted, this has not always been the case, but during the 1990's "Peace Dividend" drawdown, nearly every Detailed Lieutenant I knew (including me) was "Non-Select" after the Lieutenant Retention Board that preceded the Captain Promotion Board. The cuts were deep enough that many "Center of Mass" Lieutenants were determined as not worth keeping.
As a rule of thumb, Senior Raters like to reserve their "top blocks" for Lieutenants that will remain in the same branch, and will generally toss the scraps to the Detailed Lieutenants. Their viewpoint is "Why waste a top block on my profile for an officer who's not going to remain an Armor or Infantry Officer?"
Granted, this has not always been the case, but during the 1990's "Peace Dividend" drawdown, nearly every Detailed Lieutenant I knew (including me) was "Non-Select" after the Lieutenant Retention Board that preceded the Captain Promotion Board. The cuts were deep enough that many "Center of Mass" Lieutenants were determined as not worth keeping.
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