I have been a bit frustrated lately…
Don’t get me wrong- my frustration is my problem, but my frustration is rooted in civil-military divide that faces transitioning service members.
The truth is that as Veterans we must do the work to communicate our skills and experiences to our civilian friends, coworkers, recruiters, and hiring managers.
So, I am creating a series of posts about what Army officers, and military intelligence professionals do and what skills they have.
1st Lesson – “What does a junior military officer do and what skills do they have?”
⏺ Military officers are managers, planners, project managers, and often are required to do things outside of the scope of the civilian equivalent of these roles.
⏺ 2nd Lieutenant (Navy calls them Ensigns) – These are new officers that do not have much experience but generally have 2-4 years of military and managerial/leadership training. They are recent graduates of ROTC or a military academy and after graduation they attend a specialized military school that focuses on their specialty (infantry, armor (tanks), intelligence, communications, logistics etc.). New officers are taught military planning methodologies, how to execute military operations, and tactics. They are often managing teams of 4 – 30 personnel (sometimes larger numbers) depending on their specific job (Platoon leader, assistant intelligence officer, assistant operations or planning officer).
⏺ 1st Lieutenants – 2 to 4 years of service. 1st Lieutenants are given more responsibilities and can have jobs like a company executive officer which means they are the assistant manager of a military unit consisting of 50-100 people. They are normally in charge of logistics and maintenance tasks.
⏺ Captains (or Lieutenants in the Navy) – 4 to 8 years of experience. The promotion process for them is not automatic and they must go through an Army wide selection board. Captains attend a 6 month school called the Captain’s career course which a specialized course depending on their functional area. These courses are focused on planning methodologies like the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) which is like waterfall project management. Captains are assigned as primary staff roles at Battalions (300 – 800 personnel) or as assistant staff at Brigades (3000+ personnel). Staff officers at Battalion and Brigade headquarters are primarily tasked with planning operation/training and administering functional programs (like logistics, or communication/IT). Captains are the first rank in the Army that “Commands” a unit which is a fancy term for holding a management position that has legal responsibility. Commanders are held responsible for everything and everyone in their unit which is beyond what a civilian manager does. For example, when I was a company commander, I once received a phone call around midnight, on a Friday, during my birthday, where I had to pick up a Soldier who had been arrested for a DUI.
