Changing Units
To continue on the thread of career management, what should you do if you’re fed up with your current job? Find a new one.
It is possible to change units before you hit your normal PCS checkpoint, which is when you head to MCCC, at approximately the 3.5-4.5 year mark of your career. While simple in theory, it is very uncommon and requires a bit of legwork on your part to get it accomplished.
Several options exist that I’m aware of for LTs, in order of difficulty
- Changing units to a different post
- Ranger Battalion
- Long Range Surveillance Company
- Old Guard
- Changing units at your current post
- Filling other shortages listed on your Branch HRC page (for example, IN 1LTs can currently volunteer to deploy to be a Aide-de-camp, TF Paladin Team Leader, and LNO to ISAF).
- Volunteering to be a Basic Training XO/CDR or Warrior Transition Unit XO
Generally speaking, each of these will require approval from your Battalion and Brigade Commanders, successful time as a platoon leader already, letter(s) of recommendation, and very successful AERs/OERs in the past. They usually involve an interview/try-out, and can be highly competitive. Changing units on the same post, to try to go to one that is deploying for example, is most likely the easiest course of action, while trying to get PCS orders to a new unit (other then Ranger/Old Guard) will be the most difficult; HRC has a policy against moving people that quickly after arriving at a new unit. Trying to get out of a unit to avoid a deployment is almost guaranteed to fail.
If you want to go to a deploying unit at your current post (for example, if you’re not slated to go anywhere for a while), you would need to get in touch with that unit’s commanders and S1 and see if they have a slot for you to fill. If they do, then you’d have to go through the process of getting released from your current unit, and orders cut to transfer you over to your new unit.
Several issues I ran into – if you’re good enough to compete for a slot, your BN commander may not want to release you. Your BN and BDE S1s will also be involved and don’t have a lot of experience with releasing LTs, so continuous follow up is necessary. Just recognize that the Army Bureaucracy is a formidable foe and things move at a glacial speed with regard to the paperwork, but all things good are worth waiting for.
As for me, I’m just waiting on my orders next week to take me to my new unit, and I started the process about 1 1/2 months ago. If anyone has any questions feel free to post in comments, or if you want more specific details, I’ll talk with you offline about it.
D-Rock
1LT, IN
FT Hood, TX
April 11th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
You could branch transfer.
April 11th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Good point! I dont think you can get a Branch Transfer done as a LT, but I didn’t even think about going into all the options after you make CPT. Internships, Fellowships, Advanced Civil Schooling, SOF, Instructors, Career Field Designations, Branch Transfer, ROTC. The variety of career paths opens up quite a bit. Something to be aware of: a lot of these do incur additional ADSOs though; Branch Transfer is another 3 years minimum now.
The only ADSO from the original post would be going to Batt and that’s 2 years from when you start concurrent with whatever else you owe.
April 14th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I am looking forward to getting some experience with this in the future. Post-deployment I’m looking at balancing CCC with grad school before going CA. Hopefully it all works out. I’ll take the ADSO if I can get what I have envisioned.
Best part: For CA I can still go to the MI CCC. I wonder if anyone else is thinking of going CA?
April 14th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
CA is a possibility for me. I want to do something other than be in the big army. It’s just not for me.
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