Each year, approximately 4,000 second lieutenants are commissioned into the Active Army. The actual number is based on Army mission requirements and is subject to congressional approval. The Total Army Personnel Command (PERSCOM) distributes these newly commissioned officers to its respective branches.
The Infantry, Armor, Field Artillery, Air Defense Artillery, and Chemical branches have the biggest demand for these new lieutenants and receive approximately 2,200 of them to fill key junior officer leadership positions. The Aviation, Engineer, Military Intelligence, Military Police, Signal, Ordnance, Quartermaster, Transportation, Adjutant General's, and Finance branches receive the remaining 1,800 lieutenants. Although the Infantry, Armor, Field Artillery, Air Defense Artillery, and Chemical branches receive more than half of the new lieutenants, they still face a shortfall.
To cover the shortfall, these five "recipient" branches borrow officers for a predetermined length of time (usually 2 to 3 years) from other "donor" branches that initially have more available lieutenants than duty positions. The donor branches are Military Intelligence, Signal, Ordnance, Quartermaster, Transportation, Adjutant General's, and Finance. (It is interesting to note that this imbalance no longer exists when the officers reach the ranks of captain through lieutenant colonel. By that time, the donor branches have more duty positions than officers, while the recipient branches have fewer duty positions than officers.)
Sample 24-Month Branch Detail Transition
- Quartermaster lieutenant detailed to a shortage branch after commissioning.
- Attends Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Officer Basic Course (20 weeks).
- Serves 18 months as an ADA platoon leader.
- Attends 5-week Quartermaster transition course.
- Returns to same installation on which he served in an ADA unit and is assigned as a Quartermaster platoon leader or staff officer for 18 to 24 months.
- Attends Combined Logistics Captains Career Course (24 weeks).
- Is available for assignment to a Quartermaster unit or command anywhere in the world.
This "borrowing" process is called the Branch Detail Program. The program is administered by PERSCOM according to the provisions of Army Regulation 614-100, Officer Assignment Policies, Details, and Transfers, which establishes policies and procedures for reassigning commissioned and warrant officers between commands or units of the Army.
After commissioning, a second lieutenant participating in the Branch Detail Program is detailed immediately to a recipient branch and attends that branch's basic course. The timeline for fulfillment of the officer's donor assignment begins when he enters active duty. Ideally, the detailed officer is assigned to an installation that can support assignments in combat arms or chemical and in combat support (CS) or combat service support (CSS) branches. This will enable him to transfer to a CS or CSS position on the same installation at the end of his detail. During his assignment to the combat arms or chemical branch, the detailed officer gains valuable tactical and technical skills that will serve him well in his future assignments.
Although the recipient branches would like to keep the donated officers, the officers are counted in the officer population of their respective donor branches and are expected to fill critical positions in these branches when they return. Therefore, commanders must be aware of the importance of sending the officers back to their donor branches, and they must understand the impact on the donor branches when the officers are not returned promptly at the end of their contract period.
