What is life truly like as a Commissioned Officer?

2015-07-13T15:22:03-04:00

*Within any branch of the U.S. Military Force

What is life truly like as a Commissioned Officer from the perspectives within Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard components?

Also, what is the most important thing you've learned as a CO and one piece of advice you'd give to future Officers and those looking to earn a commission?

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made Jul 13 at 2015 3:23 PM

2015-07-13T15:23:00-04:00

Do tell!

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jul 13 at 2015 3:37 PM

2015-07-13T15:37:33-04:00

Most important is setting a culture driven by values and investing in soldiers.

Advice: fight to take care of the soldiers and NCOs. It is much easier to accept disappointment when the CO fought for his unit. Don't be a micromanager. Communicate and cross talk.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jul 13 at 2015 3:42 PM

2015-07-13T15:42:55-04:00

1LT Private RallyPoint Member. As Commission Officer I was responsible for everything those assigned under me did or failed to do. Commissioned Officers do well to both train their units and be receptive to individual one-on-one advice and sometimes training by peers and subordinates.
Commissioned Officers swear an oath similar to [Army officers oath] "I, _____, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."
In planning, leaders do well to give their subordinates twice as much planning time as they allot for themselves. Leaders afford operational freedom to their subordinate leaders in operations and do their best to bring needed support and fires when requested and/or coordinated prior.
As a Commissioned Officer I support my superiors, work with my peers and lead my subordinates.
Commissioned Officers like all soldiers are responsible for their actions. We do not blindly follow orders. A couple times I questioned superiors to ensure the order was legal. Several times I had to go to bat for my subordinates in legal and administrative proceedings.
Commissioned Army Officers are soldiers first and foremost from 2LT through GEN and if necessary 5-Star General. SSG James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4", I was typing my response while you were typing yours.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 3:47 PM

2015-07-13T15:47:47-04:00

Broad question. As opposed to what? In general, as with anything, it depends where you are and what you are doing. You'll get a lot of platitudes here with this broad of a question. To me being an officer is about duty and service...but that's not hwat you asked. What is life like? I live well...better than many, not as good as some. I have the means to have what I need if not everything I want. Being educated (while not solely an officer's realm) more than average (1 BA and 2 MA's) probably gives me enough of an education to be dangerous to myself, if not to others who don't really care where I got my degrees or what my grades were. My life as a Squadron Commander was much different than my life as a pentagon staff guy. Being an officer is what you make out of it. There are bad ones and good ones. As far as advice, take care of your soldiers and motivate them to be the best. Provide inspiration. Understand why the military exists and instill it in your Soldiers. Understand yourself and refine yourself as necessary to be the best you can be...don't be delusional. If possible, wear a sexy hat and spurs. It helps.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Jul 13 at 2015 4:10 PM

2015-07-13T16:10:07-04:00

1LT Private RallyPoint Member That is great question and there are many on that list that can you a lot of great advice besides myself. I will leave you my perspective being a National Guard and Reserve Commissions Officer. First, and foremost you will have to be competative with other commissioned officers in getting your military education all the way up through the US Army War College. You are going to constantly competing for those schools. You will be competing for Command and key staff positions throughout your 28 years of commissioned service. You have to compete with your civilian occupation on a regular basis to make time for your normal duty, extra duty, and more extra duty. You will have to learn to balance all of this and take care of yourself if you are single and your family if you are married. Pick the branch that you truly love and want to serve in. With prior enlisted service don't forget where you came from and what it was like to be enlisted. Keep that in your bag of tools in your toolbox when you start your relationship with your Platoon Sergeant or Section Sergeant and work way right up to the 1SG and then CSM. Understand what your role is as a Commissioned Officer and what their role is as Non-Commissioned Officers. Stay out of their business and they will stay out of yours. Compliment each other as you grow and build on each other’s strengths as progress through the ranks. Your NCO Corp is the backbone of the military and will make you successful if you fully utilize them the way they want to be utilized. On a personal and Leadership level be true to yourself and the country you serve (integrity and honesty are critical to your success), but what you do when no one is watching is the real test of a great leader. I could go on for about three more paragraphs, but I want to let the rest of these great officers and leaders respond. God Bless you and the best of luck to you as you pursue your calling!

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jul 13 at 2015 4:20 PM

2015-07-13T16:20:51-04:00

It is everything you think it is and less! OK, many junior enlisted folks during my time used to think what they saw me do was easy, giving orders and walking away not being at every formation, having an office (occasionally) where they thought I used to sit back, put my feet on the desk and siesta for the afternoon. First off you have to have that college degree to become an officer. That's 4 years of time invested in your career and growth before you even put on the uniform. You are expected, like your senior NCOs to set and be the example. That in itself can be demanding. Not that you can't mess up now and then, make a bad decision, fail an APFT, but you have to show everyone how to pick yourself up, get back on the horse and do it again, because you expect nothing less from the SMs under you. Meetings - meetings to plan meetings, meetings to actually do something, meetings to have meetings. it's all about working together as a command and/or staff. You and your fellow officers do the planning, have to be going in the same direction and coordination and meetings are the key to a lot of that. Long days and sleepless nights often a side affect of too many meetings. You still have to meet deadlines, get your work done, write OPORD annexes, contribute to staff meetings, insure your section/platoon/company, etc. are doing their jobs - you know those times when we O's pop our heads into the section shop or actually show up to do PT with you or take the APFT. Additional duties. Sure EMs get picked for police calls and KP (if they still do that) and other menial details but try being the unit MOB officer on top of the company commander or the retention officer or SHARP or maintenance officer or hey your running the urinalysis this drill on top of your assigned primary function. These "additional" duties can sometimes be 2nd full time jobs especially when inspections are coming up. So ya still wanna be an officer huh? Yes sometimes some afternoon eyelid maintenance is in order and sometimes our weekends are cut short because the primary or additional duties call, but it's all part of the job!

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 4:21 PM

2015-07-13T16:21:30-04:00

If you have seen the movie Rambo it is nothing like that. I have been a National Guard officer for the past 3 years. I have spent more time on active duty than any other officer I know in the Guard so I have gained much experience in this area. First off, I am a prior service officer. I was a SSG before I commission and I also spent four year in the Regular Army.

Being an officer in the National Guard is extremely challenging. Being an officer in general is challenging. But for us on the weekend side we don't get much time to hone our skills in leadership. I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to train in more than my peers. I have done two Warfighters, one I was a Battalion Battle Captain. I have also been to Ranger School while in the National Guard. It was by far the best school on leadership I could have gone too. But with all of this being said my soldiers don't get these opportunities. They are traditional guardsmen. So the challenge I have is completing an exorbitant about of task in a weekend. This just isn't about completing the mission but it also includes professional development for my soldiers. I often work extra on the weekdays that lead up to drill so I will be prepared. If you think you will just be an officer one weekend a month you will do a dismal job and your unit's performance will reflect. We are currently deployed so I have been on active duty and I can say that my platoon has performed extremely well. But as I eluded to earlier that doesn't happen by accident. It only happens when you are well prepared and are deliberate in your actions as an officer.

There are few down sides to being an officer in the National Guard I am eager to learn and train as much as I can. Just prior to deploying I spent 8 months at Fort Benning. So you could imagine my employer wasn't excited about this. I have quit one job due to my commitment in the National Guard. It wasn't a place that was really to accept my additional responsibilities. So I can say my civilian career has suffered some. Not to the point where it is financially hurting me but I have to choose an employer that is willing accept that I am in the National Guard. The next point that I have difficulty with is professional development. I don't get enough of it. I want to learn as much as I can. I have yet to have a real mentor that is an officer that is actively developing me. Given that I know far more than a typical LT and that may be why I have difficulty in this area but overall it isn't something that happens a lot in the Guard in general.

But I greatly enjoy being an Officer. It isn't for everyone. I enjoyed being an NCO but I wouldn't go back to it. I enjoy being an officer much more. Some forget they are not NCOs anymore. But I wouldn't recommend commissioning to most. I didn't say all because there are traits required as an officer that some just don't have. At OCS it was evident.

Response by CW3 Kevin Storm made Jul 13 at 2015 4:31 PM

2015-07-13T16:31:11-04:00

To truly answer your question I think you would have to get the perspective from all branches and from the Guard and Reserve Officers. As a Reserve WO, much of what I do is similar in nature, and having been a platoon leader and Acting Commander it can be a headache. It is also challenging, and gives you a since of accomplishment that no civilian job can compare with.

Response by Maj Chris Nelson made Jul 13 at 2015 5:00 PM

2015-07-13T17:00:32-04:00

OK, so using my 11 years enlisted and the remainder of my time as an officer, (enlisted in the Army/Army Guard and officer in the AF), I will try to give you MY perspective...it may not be perfect, but.... Enlisted are the workhorse of the military. They are where the rubber meets the road in doing the tasks to accomplish the mission. Officers, while they may know the tasks, are generally not as proficient. The mission and life of the officer is program management. They tend to know the regs/policies of the mission that they have. They know the manning they have, what they need, and time frame to accomplish. They generate reports, report up the chain, report down the chain, and generally try to keep as much crap off the backs of their workers.
The important thing that I have learned is, as an officer, try to get out, know your folks, know their jobs, try to do their jobs (even if not good at it, at least try to understand some of the basics). The hard part about being an officer in most cases is that you are not going to be out DOING the mission, you will be managing the mission... sounds the same, but many times since becoming an officer, there are times that I would MUCH rather being out there DOING something instead of generating reports, evaluating policy, or otherwise managing a handful of programs....

Response by MAJ(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 6:52 PM

2015-07-13T18:52:58-04:00

1LT Private RallyPoint Member Luckily you've asked a broad question where everyone who answers can give you a relevant and unique answer. Mine follows...

Sure, Officers do generally have it better at first look. Probably at 2nd and 3rd as well. We make more money, the UCMJ says that people have to do what we say, and we really do get more opportunities than might an enlisted Soldier with a similar amount of time in service. The last point is especially true in the first few years of service. Life is good.

For all that, we generally do have more responsibility. Some say that as a negative, saying it like "this sucks, you don't want all this responsibility." That is not what I am saying, I'm simply saying that the Army pays you for the level of responsibility they expect someone of your grade to be able to take on. A 1LT with 3 years is going to have a wider scope of responsibility and span of control than a Specialist or a SGT with a similar amount of time. Generally, the jump from O2-O3 is even more significant than SGT to SSG. This is a generality, but good for planning purposes.

Now let me narrow this down to my experiences more uniquely than the generalities of officership. I'm a SOF Civil Affairs Officer. Instead of leading a Company as a CPT, I had the privilege of leading a team. Army willing, I'll be a Company Commander as a Major. As a Team Leader, I got the opportunity to run my team as we on the team thought best. Sure, we still had to do the basics (SHARP/EO, Qualify on Weapons, etc...), but when we were trained to standard, we had options. If that meant we went home at 1300, we went home. If that meant we spent an extra afternoon refining an already finished area study, we did that. It was up to us and the success or failure of our team and the mission fell on us, and for legal and regulatory reasons, squarely on my shoulders. It was no different than when we were deployed. My rater was a continent away and I checked in with him about once weekly, unless I needed support from him. Also, I worked with some of the most resourceful and intelligent NCOs on earth. I was confident enough in my most junior NCO that I routinely sent him to accomplish missions on behalf of the United States Government independent of the rest of the team as mission requirements dictated.

Would I say that life as an Officer is awesome? Probably not for everybody. However, for me, it has been awesome as a whole. Sure, there have been bumps in the road (assignment as a BN S1...need I say more), but I learned from the bumps and got better (my opinion, maybe not the BC's).

My best advice would be the same for all Soldiers, Officers or Enlisted. Educate yourself on all the opportunities out there and then pursue the ones that interest you the most. You might not get them all, but if you work hard, have some skills, and a little bit of luck, you'll probably make a decent run of it.

My second piece of advice would be to do everything you can to educate your subordinates on the opportunities out there. I've had plenty of great NCOs who just weren't aware of great opportunities that were out there for them for development and broadening. A great place to search is the Army MILPER Messages. Check them monthly and see what is out there. You and your Soldiers will be surprised. The best part about many of the opportunities is that you don't just give yourself or your subordinates a new skill or knowledge, but you improve the capabilities of the Army as a whole.

Finally, the most important thing I've learned is that you don't have to do everything yourself. You will fail as a Soldier, and especially as an Officer if you try to run the show yourself. No one is smart or good enough. Delegation and trust are important and don't just benefit the mission, but also those who you delegate to.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Jul 13 at 2015 11:04 PM

2015-07-13T23:04:22-04:00

1LT Private RallyPoint Member - Why?
What motivated you to join the service and then ROTC?
For me, I think forest then trees naturally so when I joined the KYNG in 1986 as an E-5, I realized the difference between enlisted/NCO/Officer after the second month and then signed up for ROTC.
I enjoy the greater scope of responsibilities and control that come in the CO ranks.
I find I have a passion for being a professional and executing well.
I enjoy thinking on my feet, learning new jobs, roles & responsibilities quickly and getting to results.
The job is more of a planning, management, leadership with delegation than hands on, single focus.
I put in stupid amounts of hours and expect many more hours out of CO.
Expect to be held to a high standard of behavior and to make yourself accountable.
Much depends on what you enjoy.
But the driver for passion must be in your mind, Why?

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 14 at 2015 11:56 AM

2015-07-14T11:56:08-04:00

In my short experience and plus the time I had to shadow others I will say that: that line about when someone says they want to join the military and someone gives them the advice of go officer you will make more money and you want have to start out at the bottom is the worst advice in the free world. I think often times people feel that the work you do is encompass ed soley on the field. I use to be under the same impression. I didn't know that long after you released everyone that you will still be working, I had no idea that you would train to command an unit but honestly spend most of time in staff doing a job that no one has really taught you how to do you just learn as you go. I think only senior nco's and officers really understand the work load and attention to detail that you have to encompass to do the job right. There is also that sick to your stomach during and high euphoria after a task is complete. What I mean by this is inside I am a wreck with is this the best training we can do, I hope we can accomplish it with no injury, do my people honestly feel this is bettering them or is it just wasting their time. Once it's all completed and goes well and you meet those objects you feel awesome, however no time to celebrate causs your back to the drawing board for the next big thinf, time g

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 14 at 2015 9:46 PM

2015-07-14T21:46:15-04:00

Life as a Commissioned Officer is great! Just make sure you have a book of come backs, thick skin, and you can laugh at yourself.

You have to have an ear for what your NCOS are telling you.

Never be afraid to get to know your Soldiers. However that isn't an invite to go out partying with your troops. KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL at all times.

US ARMY National Guard

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 17 at 2015 9:56 AM

2015-07-17T09:56:58-04:00

SPC Piega,
I can't speak for all branches, however, there are some common elements. Having served alongside soldiers and their officers, I did pick up a "taste" of the Army officer's life. Similar to most services, there are immediate differences based on your designator or equivalent Army specialty. It is stating the obvious to claim the life of an officer working in a combat support role differs from that of one working in combat arms. A new junior officer in the "line" as we squids call it, has two overriding responsibilities: learn and qualify. Managing to accomplish both requires a high level of personal discipline, the willingness to seek out and retain the knowledge of your senior enlisted leadership, and the courage to perform all of this as a leader. It's neither acceptable to come into the commissioned ranks with an "ego", or too easily "intimidated". Regulations are a starting point, not the whole toolbox. There's a point in your career you begin to think you "know" a lot...that's about the right time to stop and start evaluating the overwhelming nature of what you don't know. The officers I found to be the most respected (not always the most rewarded) were those who never took the "low road" of denigrating the chain of command, placed the well being and development of their sailors or soldiers ahead of their own advancement, and maintained a high level of respect for the senior enlisted personnel. The greatest moment of my career may have been when I gained enough confidence to form real working relationships with people who had served for three decades and were more than happy to share their knowledge with a receptive young officer.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 24 at 2015 10:00 AM

2015-07-24T10:00:14-04:00

I have served on active duty and the National Guard as well. I was an NCO before commissioning as an officer. I have been combat arms my whole military career.
The big difference between the two ranks is the amount of responsibly an Officer has and the limited amount of of time they have with troops.