Posted on Jun 3, 2018
How "in demand" is a Civil Affairs officer (38A), and what is the likelihood of getting this MOS?
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I've been looking further into the Army as a career option post-graduation from my local community college, and a friend who grew up in a military family suggested I look into the Green to Gold program. After looking more into that, I learned about the position of Civil Affairs Officer, which interests me greatly from the job descriptions I've read. My first question is, how "in demand" is this position, and what is the likelihood of making this MOS? And secondly, I've primarily looked at enlisting as a Paralegal Specialist (27D); would this be good experience for the type of work I would be doing should I reach 38A?
Posted in these groups: 
38A: Civil Affairs Officer
27D: Paralegal Specialist
Civil Affairs
5J: Paralegal
38A: Civil Affairs Officer 27D: Paralegal Specialist Civil Affairs 5J: Paralegal
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 22
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There will be a lot of variance in your future that will determine whether you become a 38A.
1. If you complete the proper green and gold packet and meet the requirements to get in you will/will not be selected from a board to complete Green to Gold.
2. Once this occurs you will attend school and receive an order of merit ranking from several sources and choose which basic branch you would like (CA is not a basic branch and will not be able to be selected as a cadet).
3. After you have commissioned and completed your time as a lieutenant and you receive solid evaluations you can apply and will/will not be accepted to go to CAAS (Civil Affairs Assessment and Selection).
4. At CAAS you will/will not be selected and then will PCS to FT Bragg to complete the CA qualification course (CAQC).
5. CAQC is a year and a half and is full of schools (CCC, Language, Regionals, Intro, MOS, and a lot of this will change once you go through).
5. After the CAQC you will branch qualify as a Civil Affairs Officer.
If you have any additional questions feel free to reach out to me and I can explain that more in depth if you would like.
Respectfully,
Pete
1. If you complete the proper green and gold packet and meet the requirements to get in you will/will not be selected from a board to complete Green to Gold.
2. Once this occurs you will attend school and receive an order of merit ranking from several sources and choose which basic branch you would like (CA is not a basic branch and will not be able to be selected as a cadet).
3. After you have commissioned and completed your time as a lieutenant and you receive solid evaluations you can apply and will/will not be accepted to go to CAAS (Civil Affairs Assessment and Selection).
4. At CAAS you will/will not be selected and then will PCS to FT Bragg to complete the CA qualification course (CAQC).
5. CAQC is a year and a half and is full of schools (CCC, Language, Regionals, Intro, MOS, and a lot of this will change once you go through).
5. After the CAQC you will branch qualify as a Civil Affairs Officer.
If you have any additional questions feel free to reach out to me and I can explain that more in depth if you would like.
Respectfully,
Pete
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Mike - Looks like you are confusing a few things here which is understandable since you have no background in the military. You are talking about being a Civil Affairs Officer (38A) but also a Paralegal (27D) which is an enlisted position. If you are really interested in Civil Affairs, you can enlist as a Civil Affairs Specialist (38B). After becoming a 38B, you can then apply to OCS to become an officer (this is what I did). After ten hard weeks at Ft. Benning you will be commissioned an officer, most likely in a Combat Arms Branch (think Infantry, Engineers, Field Artillery, etc.). Serve in that branch to get the essentials on leadership such as leading a platoon and then you can apply for one of the special branches (CA, PSYOP, and SF) when you come up for promotion to Captain. You cannot go into a special branch immediately as they want you to get the leadership ability that only comes from one of the regular branches.
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SFC (Join to see)
This info is only applicable to reserve CA. You cannot enlist into the active duty as a 38B
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Great question. Hopefully some junior 38A's are able to chime in to help you. I'd also suggest browsing the existing posts on the 38A group page. There's already some good information out there.
https://www.rallypoint.com/specialties/38a-civil-affairs-officer
BG (Join to see) COL (Join to see) COL Douglas Hurst
https://www.rallypoint.com/specialties/38a-civil-affairs-officer
BG (Join to see) COL (Join to see) COL Douglas Hurst
Civil Affairs Officer (38A): Learn and connect on RallyPoint
Connect with 38As on RallyPoint. Share you knowledge and get the career advice you need from others with your experience.
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