Enlisted
Enlisted
Posted on Jan 31, 2018
If I went as an officer rather than enlisted would I be able to get "down and dirty" with my troops or would I be forced to be behind a desk?
9.16K
111
48
9
9
0
I'm currently a junior in high school and am mainly deciding if I would want to go as an officer or not. I've been talking to my recruiter and am currently on route to go to MEPS in the next few weeks and then basic between my Junior and senior year of high school (this summer), so that I'd be able to go reserves then later ROTC. My main issue is that I want to be a team member with my fellow soldiers rather than someone who sits behind a desk all day. I prefer to be active and that's whats making me consider enlisting instead. Also side question my recruiter says that I should choose the MOS at MEPS with the most educational benefits, but I am very hard set on going infantry as a 2nd LT, so I want to be certain I would be able to switch my MOS once I graduated. Thanks.
Army Reserve Elements
ROTC
Enlisted
Officer
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 18
16
16
0
PV2 (Join to see) This paradigm that Officers sit back and stare out the window at soldiers in the suck is just wrong. If you buy into it, shame on you. An effective officer identifies specific periods of suck with their soldiers And shares in it. Participating fully and visibly. You are not supplanting the NCO leadership to make the last tactical mile, and you must go take care of "officer stuff" that keeps your guys in the fight, but it is not a life of Cush if it is you are doing it wrong.
Even as a Garrison Commander with DA Civilians, I would stand a guard watch at the main gate at 200 or 300. Bring coffee and share Gen suck as it were. I would ride on police and fire patrols on weekends. I would go first during the APFT. I was not a stud, but I was engaged.
Being a Platoon Leader is usually a dirty job. Command maintenance, Motorpools, property lay outs, Platoon tactical operations, ranges, gunnery, and PT. That is how junior officers learn the trade.
Find the point of friction and insert yourself in it. https://www.rallypoint.com/command-post/new-officers-listen-up
Even as a Garrison Commander with DA Civilians, I would stand a guard watch at the main gate at 200 or 300. Bring coffee and share Gen suck as it were. I would ride on police and fire patrols on weekends. I would go first during the APFT. I was not a stud, but I was engaged.
Being a Platoon Leader is usually a dirty job. Command maintenance, Motorpools, property lay outs, Platoon tactical operations, ranges, gunnery, and PT. That is how junior officers learn the trade.
Find the point of friction and insert yourself in it. https://www.rallypoint.com/command-post/new-officers-listen-up
New Officers, Listen Up. | RallyPoint
As a newly Commissioned Officer, or as a Cadet aspiring to become an Officer, you may be asking yourself many questions as you get closer to leading your first Platoon. How will I rise to the challenge? How should I “come in”? The first thing you need to adjust is your mindset. Unless you have prior enlisted experience, you have to adjust to the fact that you will not be leading peer Cadets. Cadets are great and wonderful people. They are...
(16)
(0)
LTC Jason Mackay
CPT Lawrence Cable - true. 22 years. 2 years as a PL, 1.5 as a Shop Officer, 5 years in Company and Garrison Command. The rest - staff. That doesn't mean easy. I spent as much time in the field as a Division Staff officer and battalion S3 as I did as a MST Platoon Leader. There are Joes on staff too and they need leaders too. It never ceased to amaze me soldiers having problems and would not share them even though they have direct access to very senior people who could help. Leading inside a staff is more challenging because you are operating outside of chains of command and more informal networks.
(2)
(0)
CPT Lawrence Cable
LTC Jason Mackay - And damn few of us reminisce about our time as the S1 or S4 for either. That isn't meant to take anything away from the importance of either job, but they generally are not what we joined to accomplish.
(0)
(0)
LTC Jason Mackay
CPT Lawrence Cable - there are also those Staff jobs, that are a little more then just a random staff job like being the staff primary S3, Support Operations (SPO), Battalion XO. My privilege was to serve a mentor as his Brigade Deputy Commanding Officer.
Essentially you are HHC for the rest of your days...
Essentially you are HHC for the rest of your days...
(1)
(0)
CPT Lawrence Cable
Yes, I agree with that. The Assistant Brigade Engineer worked with the S3 Shop and I saw enough to believe I would have liked that job. Depending on the unit, S2 has the potential of being an interesting job.
The jobs are what you make of them. It's just that some are more fun to make go than others. Or maybe easier to make fun and interesting would be a better choice of words.
The jobs are what you make of them. It's just that some are more fun to make go than others. Or maybe easier to make fun and interesting would be a better choice of words.
(1)
(0)
9
9
0
How much time you sit behind a desk as an officer is largely up to you. Even senior leaders should take the time to train with their troops when they can. As a new LT-especially in a combat arms branch- you are expected to spend a great deal of time getting "down and dirty" with your Soldiers. That becomes more challenging as your rise higher in rank and your duties take you away from that direct interaction.
(9)
(0)
PV2 (Join to see)
I’d suspect that the job becomes more chair bound the older and the higher up you get, which does make sense. Don’t get me wrong I don’t expect to constantly be doing exciting or even fun training or missions. I fully understand that there’s many times it’ll be the opposite, but I mean I just don’t want to be stuck behind a desk doing admin work for my entire time in.
(0)
(0)
SGT Ray Davies
Son, if your NCOs do it, You Do it. My best advice to you (If you make it as a LT) is to find yourself an E-5 or E-6 who is respected by the men and ask him to train you to be a leader. Being an officer does not make you a leader, nor does getting down and dirty with the men, leadership is earned and learned and the best one to teach you is a crusty Sgt. We started at the bottom and worked our way up, as a shave tail, you will too.
(0)
(0)
6
6
0
What do you want to do in the Army? In the Coast Guard we say, "Pick your rate, pick your fate." Need to accept both good and bad aspects of your MOS. I enlisted at 17 and did a range of entry level jobs as a E-2/3. Lucky to get a Cadet appointment and became an Ensign. I did a lot of dirty jobs as a Cadet. First "O" job was as Gunnery Division Officer on a 378ft high endurance cutter. It's a long story, but I quickly became Weapons Officer supervising three Ensigns and 15 petty officers. I wish I had more time to get "down and dirty" with the crew.
This was my daily routine at sea without special evolutions; Wake up at 0300 to stand 0400-0800 watch on bridge as OOD. Eat left-over breakfast. Meet senior petty officers to discuss daily work schedule. Have planning meeting in wardroom. Walk about the decks for morning inspection. Check magazines, Do paperwork in stateroom. Read/write classified msg traffic in Radio Room. Visit CIC (radar room) for classified briefing. Skip lunch and take a quick nap. Go to all-hands meeting. Conduct training. Do more paperwork. Conduct afternoon inspections. Check magazines. Do more paperwork. Go on 1600-2000 watch. Eat left-over dinner. Open ship's store. Go back to Radio Room and CIC. Do more paperwork. Sleep. Repeat.
Above schedule does not include time spent on enforcement boardings, or helo ops, or REFTRA, or being on a custody crew, or search/rescue, or Navy Ops, or special sea detail. JO's have many collateral duties. Paperwork included, SITREP, CASREP, evaluations, requisitions, audits, preventative maintenance management, training planning, operations reports, my own training obligations, reading volumes of manuals, budgeting, accounting, watch preparations, inspection reports, law enforcement training, inventories, etc. Had the big 3 responsibilities; money, secrets, and guns. It's not a good thing to lose money, give up the secrets, or blow up the ship.
Skills needed for a sea going junior officer are time management, writing, reading, arithmetic, making coffee, holding your bladder, not getting sea sick, making the CO/XO/OPS happy, make sure all your stuff works, not sinking the ship, and doing the right thing for your crew, ship, and service. I tried to make my department feel, at least, good that I represented them.
This was my daily routine at sea without special evolutions; Wake up at 0300 to stand 0400-0800 watch on bridge as OOD. Eat left-over breakfast. Meet senior petty officers to discuss daily work schedule. Have planning meeting in wardroom. Walk about the decks for morning inspection. Check magazines, Do paperwork in stateroom. Read/write classified msg traffic in Radio Room. Visit CIC (radar room) for classified briefing. Skip lunch and take a quick nap. Go to all-hands meeting. Conduct training. Do more paperwork. Conduct afternoon inspections. Check magazines. Do more paperwork. Go on 1600-2000 watch. Eat left-over dinner. Open ship's store. Go back to Radio Room and CIC. Do more paperwork. Sleep. Repeat.
Above schedule does not include time spent on enforcement boardings, or helo ops, or REFTRA, or being on a custody crew, or search/rescue, or Navy Ops, or special sea detail. JO's have many collateral duties. Paperwork included, SITREP, CASREP, evaluations, requisitions, audits, preventative maintenance management, training planning, operations reports, my own training obligations, reading volumes of manuals, budgeting, accounting, watch preparations, inspection reports, law enforcement training, inventories, etc. Had the big 3 responsibilities; money, secrets, and guns. It's not a good thing to lose money, give up the secrets, or blow up the ship.
Skills needed for a sea going junior officer are time management, writing, reading, arithmetic, making coffee, holding your bladder, not getting sea sick, making the CO/XO/OPS happy, make sure all your stuff works, not sinking the ship, and doing the right thing for your crew, ship, and service. I tried to make my department feel, at least, good that I represented them.
(6)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google