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Pre-branch qualification. This phase commences upon entry on active duty and lasts to the 8th year of service (see fig 3-1). Normally, officers begin development in their branch by attending the basic course.

(1) Basic course. The Officer Basic Course (OBC) marks the beginning of an officer’s formal military professional development training following commissioning. The branch OBC prepares offi­cers for their first duty assignment and provides instruction on methods for training and leading individuals, teams, squads and platoons. Additionally, the course provides officers with a detailed understanding of equipment, tactics, organization and administration at the company, battery or troop level. After the basic course, some officers may attend additional courses, such as airborne, ranger or language, to further prepare them for their initial assignment.

(2) Initial assignments. Branch assignment officers in OPMD normally assign OBC graduates to the branch duty positions availa­ble upon graduation. Included in these assignments are CONUS or overseas troop units where officers begin to hone their leadership skills. All junior officers should seek leadership positions in troop units whenever possible. Such duty helps to more fully educate them on Army operations and military life and will build a solid foundation for future service.

(3) Captains Career Course. Following selection for promotion to the grade of captain, officers normally attend the branch Captains Career Course. This is the second major branch school officers attend before company level command. The course combines the instruction formerly taught in the branch Officer Advanced Course (OAC) and the Combined Arms and Services Staff School (CAS3). Selected captains deemed to have demonstrated superior perform­ance in their basic branch may be selected to receive this training at schools other than their basic branch. A Field Artillery officer, for example, may attend the Armor Captains Career Course. This cross training benefits officers of both branches. All officers seeking ac­cession into Special Forces will attend the Infantry Captains Career Course. The branch Captains Career Course has two phases:

(a) The branch phase consists of 18 weeks of branch specific technical and tactical training with integrated common core instruc­tion. This training prepares officers to command and train at the company, battery or troop level and to serve as staff officers at the battalion and brigade levels.

(b) The 6-week staff process phase (CAS3) prepares officers to function as staff officers at battalion, brigade and division level. The course goals are to improve an officer’s ability to analyze and solve military problems, improve the ability to interact and coordinate as a member of a staff, improve communication skills and understand Army organizations, operations and procedures. Most officers will go directly to the staff process phase at Fort Leavenworth in a TDY and return (to the branch school) status. For the remaining officers who report to their units immediately after the branch phase, the gaining unit commander is responsible for scheduling their staff process phase attendance. Officers should aggressively pursue completion of this phase as soon as possible after arriving at their new duty assignment.

(4) Functional area designation. Between the officer’s 5th and 6th years of service, OPMD designates the cohort year group’s functional areas. At the beginning of this process, officers receive a preference statement asking them to choose and prioritize their functional area choices. Careful scrutiny of the functional area chapters in this pamphlet and an assessment of personal skills will aid in electing choices for this important career development decision. Since academic degrees and disciplines weigh heavily in the selection of a functional area, officers should ensure their official undergraduate or graduate transcripts are in their files. Even after the functional areas are awarded, officers will normally complete branchqualification prior to training and assignment in their newly designated fields.

(5) Branch qualification. All officers must focus their company grade years on branch qualification, regardless of the functional area and Career Field they will later enter. The value an officer brings to a specialized functional area is dependent on experience gained by leading soldiers and mastering basic branch skills. Most branches prefer that an officer command at the company, battery or troop level for at least 18 months following the Captains Career Course. Unit command is the essence of leadership development at this stage of an officer’s career. Company command positions are filled by officers who have demonstrated the potential and desire to command soldiers. The number of company commands within a specific branch may not afford all officers the opportunity to command at the captain level. Therefore, some proponents have specified that other key staff positions are also branch qualifying. Company command opportunities are in traditional tables of organization and equipment (TOE) line units or tables of distribution and allowances (TDA) units in training, garrison and headquarters organizations. Some officers may receive more than one command opportunity; but, those cases are rare and limited by policy to specific commands such as ranger companies, long-range surveillance units and headquarters companies of heavy brigades. Generally, by the 8th year of service, a cohort year group has achieved branch qualification. The next phase of career development is heavily dependent on completing branch qualification.

Post-branch qualification. Between the 8th and 12th years of service and after an officer is branch qualified, a number of options become available for continued career development. At this time, career managers at OPMD assess the officer’s developmental objec­tives for the post-branch qualification phase based on assignment patterns completed, relative manner of performance achieved, indi­vidual preferences and Army requirements available for the next developmental stage. The types of assignments and developmental patterns for this phase are as follows:

(1) Branch assignments. Ther range of further assignments to branch coded positions is a function of the Army’s requirements and officer availability. These assignments may include staff and faculty positions at service schools, Combat Training Center (CTC) duty or staff positions in tactical or training units. Branch assignments fur­ther develop the basic branch skills and employ the officer’s accu­mulated skills, knowledge and attributes.

(2) Branch/functional area generalist assignments. Some officers may serve in positions coded 01A (Officer Generalist) or 02A (Combat Arms Generalist). These branch/functional area generalist positions are not specific as to branch or functional area but require a certain group of experiences, manner of performance and demon­strated potential. Such assignments include USAREC staff and com­mand positions, ROTC or USMA faculty and staff, and MACOM staff positions.

(3) Functional area development. Some officers are considered for available training and assignment in functional area coded posi­tions. Based on the life cycle model of the functional area propo­nent, branch qualified officers attend specialized training courses in their respective fields to prepare them for this career developing assignment. For example, an Information Systems Management offi­cer (FA 53) could be scheduled for the Systems Automation Course in route to an FA 53 coded position. Each functional area proponent has established specific courses to prepare officers to be successful. Attendance at these schools is usually in a TDY status in route to the functional area assignment. Most tours for functional area duty are in CONUS for captains and generally last 3 to 4 years. This initial schooling and assignment in a functional area is an important first step in achieving qualification in a skill and may influence subsequent Career Field designation after selection for promotion to major. Few captains will actually receive functional area training since most functional area structure exists at the field grade level.

(4) Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS). Each year approximately 450 officers attend civilian academic institutions to obtain master’s and doctoral level degrees in designated disciplines. The final num­ber varies based on budget, policy and Army requirements. The Army Educational Requirements System (AERS) operates on the premise that about 5,000 positions in the Army, primarily in TDA organizations, require officers with the advanced academic education necessary for accomplishing the functions relative to those positions. The majority of these assignments are in functional area billets, with some branch coded positions also in the structure. These positions are annually assessed to determine how many offi­cers should be entered into each academic discipline. The criteria for selection are based on the branch or functional area skill re­quired, academic proficiency measured by undergraduate perform­ance and scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), ability to be ac­cepted by an accredited college and manner of performance to indicate strong potential for future service. Proponents must forecast the education and utilization of ACS graduates to meet projected needs since the degrees typically take 12 to 22 months to complete. The specific follow-on assignment is often determined about 6 to 9 months prior to graduation. See branch and functional area chapters for discussion of ACS requirements. AR 621-1 is the governing regulation and specifies the method by which officers may apply for ACS.

(5) Training With Industry (TWI). Some branches and functional areas participate in TWI, where officers are assigned to a civilian industry to observe and learn the technical and managerial aspects of that field. The total number of training quotas varies annually from 50 to 70 based on budget, policy and requirements. Officers selected for this program must be branch qualified, have a manner of performance that reflects a strong potential for future service and are able to serve a utilization tour upon completion of training. The TWI program is outlined in AR 621-1 and in the specific branch and functional area chapters later in this pamphlet.

(6) Army Acquisition Corps (AAC). Between their 7th and 8th year of service, about 150 officers are accessed into the Army Acquisition Corps (FA 51) to be professionally developed in this highly specialized functional area. A PERSCOM Acquisition Accession Board is held annually to select branch qualified officers for FA 51. AAC officers may receive a fully funded master’s degree (if not already at civilian education level 2), attend the Materiel Acqui­sition Management Course and other FA related training, and serve repetitive assignments in their acquisition specialties to prepare them for critical acquisition positions at field grade level. The Army Acquisition Corps, created in early 1990, is described in detail in chapter 47 of this pamphlet.

(7) Selection for promotion to major. Normally the cohort year group in their 10th year of service enters the primary zone of consideration for major; a year earlier for below-the-zone considera­tion. OPMS strives to maintain the promotion opportunities reflected in the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA). For promotion to major, the objective selection rate is 80 percent. Upon approval of the majors selection list, this cohort of captains begin their next phase of career development.

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Above information derived from Army Pamplet 600-3