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A First Lieutenant is an officer in the United States Army. As with second lieutenants, officers holding this rank serve either as the leaders of a platoon-sized element (15-50 soldiers) or as staff officers. All first lieutenants hold either one of these types of positions during their time in this rank.

The position of commanding a platoon, known formally as being a platoon leader, is the only job required of a lieutenant to be promoted to the next rank. It is the more prestigious job, and the one for which the Army commissions lieutenants, both second and first, in the first place. Depending on the job or jobs they held as second lieutenants, first lieutenants will spend varying amounts of time as both a platoon leader and a staff officer. Contrary to the rank of second lieutenant, work as a staff officer while a first lieutenant is usually done after receiving command of a platoon in order to allow officers time to prepare to compete for the rank, that of captain.

Sited Sources:

U.S. Army Ranks List - Lowest to Highest. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.federalpay.org/military/army/ranks