How hard is it for a NG Officer to switch Branches before BOLC?

2016-03-22T13:02:40-04:00

How hard is it to switch branches before BOLC? My unit is very over strength and my dates keep getting cancelled and pushed back. This is causing me a lot of issues with my civilian life as my dates keeping getting cancelled last minute due to funding. I will now have to wait a year for another date. Thanks for any info on this.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 1:32 PM

2016-03-22T13:32:40-04:00

I don't know about the difficulty, but it seems with the way they want officers, there should be a way.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 1:56 PM

2016-03-22T13:56:31-04:00

Your first step is talking to your chain of command. I have a former PL of mine going through this right now, although under different circumstances. Your BN Commander should be able to make the swap happen, but there will have to be an opening in your desired branch somewhere else in the state.

To be honest the whole situation sounds strange. Have you looked at alternative BOLC dates? There may not be any earlier openings in other branches either, especially if funding is an issue.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 2:35 PM

2016-03-22T14:35:20-04:00

The difficulty is finding a slot for yourself in your new branch and then back-filling the vacancy for the slot you currently hold. Not impossible, but you will want to work through your battalion S1 to work that move.

How long have you waited for a seat, and which branch? Low-density branch seats tend to have difficulties, which is a sad reality for those branches.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2016 3:17 PM

2016-03-22T15:17:00-04:00

Great advice so far but to reinforce it, talk to you COC. Don't keep them out of the loop but talk to your states Office Strength Manager if your NG. Your states OSM should have a good idea of what slots are available for you to slide into that are NOT over strength and then secure you a BOLC seat for that Branch. In the NG you have to do alot of footwork but remember to keep your COC in the loop!

Response by 1LT A. Uribe made Mar 22 at 2016 6:05 PM

2016-03-22T18:05:18-04:00

Not hard, I was selected for quartermaster and ended up going transportation.

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2017 7:30 PM

2017-08-06T19:30:45-04:00

I heard finance BOLC is a little hard to get into, i am trying to switch to it from quartermaster. Does anyone know if this will be feasible?

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2017 7:31 PM

2017-08-06T19:31:48-04:00

Where you able to make the switch?