Torn between branching FA or Armor. Any insights on the two?

It seems to me that at this point the choice needs to be all about your goals and your expectations for what you want to do and accomplish by serving in the Army. Are you envisioning an Army career or is the Army a brief detour on your way to other life goals? How do your see yourself interacting with peers, subordinates, and superiors? And what ideas do you have about what life as a 2LT will be (to be blunt many cadets considering IN, AR or FA, view themselves as some sort of action hero figure and are subsequently disappointed to learn that it is mostly tedious paperwork and administrivia.)

If your military service is primarily a detour between college and your real life, I would agree totally with SFC Michael Hasbun. If you are looking towards a military career, these branches offer both opportunities and challenges.

I will acknowledge that I have nearly zero knowledge about what life would be in FA. My career was as an Armor NCO. I can't comment on what a 2LT does in FA -- I don't think I ever saw one.

I did spend a few months as an tank Platoon Leader - not as a Platoon Sergeant inheriting a platoon briefly in the absence of an officer, but actually arriving in a unit to take over a platoon as Platoon Leader. I hated that job, but probably for reasons that wouldn't be relevant to you.

I shouldn't need to tell you that both AR and FA are branches that only recently opened to women and are still overwhelmingly male. I do mention it because the Army is very different from the college ROTC environment - even the summer ROTC training is carefully orchestrated. In either branch, you will be quite visible and noticed. And, yes, in both branches there will be people who doubt your ability just based on being female. We are still years away from the point where you would be Just-Another-Officer in either branch. If that kind of visibility and scrutiny bothers you, these branches may not be a good fit.

Both are also branches where physical strength is expected - and occasionally essential. Although officers don't routinely do much physical work in any branch, there are occasions when an Armor officer needs to actually perform as part of the tank crew - your life and the lives of three other tankers may well depend on it.

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