Tag Archives: #BranchSeries

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Field Artillery – Beyond the Howizter

A #BranchSeries Piece

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The Field Artillery (FA) Branch is a great branch for junior officers to develop personally and professionally. The FA branch offers assignment diversity from the typical staff job or platoon leader position, as compared to other branches. It also offers lieutenants the ability to serve in positions that have effects at echelons above their peers. The FA branch is only growing as the U.S. Army focuses more on the importance of fires on the battlefield.

Soldiers conduct field artillery certifications at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Dec. 8, 2021. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Beggs)
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Regardless of Branch

Trends Across #BranchSeries

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Over the past few weeks we re-ran #BranchSeries that originally published last summer (2018). Each post was unique in its own way and highlighted the individual leader’s, purposefully focused and tailored, take on their branch. Every branch, in the original series, was accompanied by an interview with a senior officer at the U.S. Army War College by Lopez on Leadership. While #BranchSeries intentionally focused on each branch as separate from the whole, there were some clear trends. Here is a look at a few expectations of a junior leader that transcend any one individual branch.

B Co, 1-21 IN soldier conducting day and night live fire exercises. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Cooper.
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To Conserve Fighting Strength

#BranchSeries - Medical Service Corps

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Three years of grueling effort in ROTC came down to this one decision – my branch. Up to that point, my experience was solely in small unit, infantry tactics. Since Infantry was not an option for females at that time, I felt a bit lost. The lack of tangible experience, and basic knowledge, about other branches made this decision more difficult. The idea of making an uninformed decision, one that would impact my entire career in the Army, was daunting. For whatever reason, I ended up selecting Medical Service Corps and embarked on an adventure unknown.

Soldiers of A Co, 2-502D IN, 101st ABN DIV (AASLT) provide light for medics and the BN Surgeon to treat a Soldier wounded by an IED while the MEDEVAC helicopter lands in the background. Picture taken on 08 OCT 2010 by American Photo Journalist Erin Trieb. See her other work at http://www.erintrieb.com.
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Can You Hear Me Now?

#BranchSeries - Signal Corps

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A Signal Corps officer’s success, much like any leader, depends greatly on his or her ability to create effective teams. Bending an organization to the will of the leader stifles junior leader initiative. It fails to maximize the positive and dynamic impact of junior and senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs). These leaders, when actively engaged, create forward organizational momentum. Leaders do this by creating a family-centric team and engaging individuals on a personal level. As a young Lieutenant (1st Lt.) serving at Fort Bragg as the 519th MI BN S6, this is the greatest lesson I had the privilege of learning from my Battalion Commander. Then Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Joshua Fulmer created a robust team that was able to push the organization into new heights by making subordinate leaders feel necessary.

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Money, Money, Money…MONEY!

#BranchSeries - Finance

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If your ROTC experience was anything like mine, by the time you leave college you could consider yourself a “T” [trained] at packing a ruck sack, taking a PT test, and performing a squad attack. You may also have had a majority of combat arms instructors tell you all about leading Soldiers and the “Real Army”. If you can relate to that experience, do not worry, you are not alone. As you skim through the list of branches available to rank order (or have already been chosen for you), there may be some less obvious branches listed. By the time I was a junior I had figured out what the S1 through S6 shops did, but Finance wasn’t one of my battalion’s “S Shops”. So, when Finance came up as my basic branch assignment, my first question was, what does a finance lieutenant do?

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It Chose Me

#BranchSeries - Adjutant General Corps

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My journey to becoming an officer is a little different from most. I was an enlisted Soldier, reaching the rank of Sergeant First Class before I made the decision to commission. I had numerous leaders over the course of this time that tried to encourage me to go Green to Gold, but I was dead set on becoming a Drill Sergeant (DS). At 10 years of service, my dream of becoming a DS finally became a reality in Advanced Individual Training (AIT). Shortly after arriving to DS assignment at Fort Sam Houston Texas, the Army made the decision to discontinue the DS program in AIT. So there I was, DS Washington, finally doing the one thing I had dreamed of since joining the military, and it was getting stripped away from me!

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X Factor: The Force Multiplier

#BranchSeries - Chemical Corps

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Congratulations, you have been selected to serve in the Chemical Branch. That is great news for leaders with science degrees that listed the Chemical Corps in their top preferred branches. To Bachelors of Arts leaders, getting this news can be intimidating. Newly selected Chemical officers will immediately reflect back to how they felt after their last mask-confidence (“gas”) chamber or after their last chemistry exam. But, fear not! There is good news. There is a lot more leadership than science when becoming the X Factor for your unit.

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Not Quite James Bond…But Close

#BranchSeries - Military Intelligence

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There is a misconception about “Military Intelligence” (MI) by those outside the military. They often imagine a scene from a spy movie. Instead of picturing the action-packed climax of a spy movie, rewind to where the field agent receives the mission brief. In addition to the agent, there is usually a reliable handler, know-it-all analyst, and aggressive chief. Don’t be fooled! An MI Officer can be any of these roles, but most often would be the know-it-all analyst. Being MI means that you utilize all intelligence assets to provide an assessment that guides action to achieve an objective. These skills allow you to save lives and be relevant at any scale. If you want a career that is purposeful, pivotal, and challenging, MI is the right choice for you.

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We ❤️ Logistics

#BranchSeries - Logistics

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What do you want to be when you grow up? This August will be my 15th year of service and I still do not know the answer to that question. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, mind you. If I terminate service now, in addition to leadership experience, I’ll have a heavily padded resume that rivals those of my infantry brethren. Perhaps, you are unsure of where your life will be in 20 years? Choosing a branch that offers training beneficial in the civilian workforce may be an indicator that you possess the traits necessary to plan for contingencies. If this is the case, you are what the Logistics Corps needs.

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Protect & Defend

#BranchSeries - Military Police

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Back and forth, I paced the floor of my dorm room at Boston College. I was a senior and facing down branching. Finally, when the phone call came in, I was overwhelmed with joy. I was going to be a part of the greatest branch in the Army. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a police officer. Then when September 11, 2001 happened, my dreams shifted towards something larger. I still loved law enforcement, but I wanted to serve in the military as well. What separates the Military Police from every other branch is that we serve those who chose to serve. We embody our motto, “Of the Troops, For the Troops”. Military Police enable other units’ commanders to conduct their missions. We preserve their fighting force and secure their installations or other critical areas.