What does an Army Officer in Active Duty do?

howacupcake

howacupcake

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-->What does an Army Officer in Active Duty do?
Hi my name is Sarah and I am applying to USMA this year. I understand the basics of military life, being deployed, working, etc but I was wondering if anyone could clarify the job majors/branches there are for active duty. Is there a site that identifies what particular jobs there are or what specific branches of the army do (i.e. infantry, field artillery, etc)? I am interested in many particular things in the military but I am curious to how one gets into a particular field.
Thanks for any response I really appreciate it.:smile:
 
Browse Career & Job Categories - goarmy.com

I am not sure how does an Officer end up getting chosen to a certain MOS, so I'll let someone more knowledgeable than me to answer this. I have heard that, as an Officer, you might not get to choose your MOS... But I cannot attest the veracity of this statement.
 
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If you go to West Point, during your senior year there is branch night where you can choose your branch in the Army based on class rank.
 
will60633 said:
If you go to West Point, during your senior year there is branch night where you can choose your branch in the Army based on class rank.
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Yes, but I don't know if this is guaranteed, though extremely likely.

Interestingly, I met a graduate who ranked around the 700th, chose the 8-year active duty commitment, and got to go to aviator school
 
BillSL said:
Browse Career & Job Categories - goarmy.com

I am not sure how does an Officer end up getting chosen to a certain MOS, so I'll let someone more knowledgeable than me to answer this. I have heard that, as an Officer, you might not get to choose your MOS... But I cannot attest the veracity of this statement.
Click to expand...


will60633 said:
If you go to West Point, during your senior year there is branch night where you can choose your branch in the Army based on class rank.
Click to expand...

Will answers it pretty well, but to expand on what he said: during firstie year cadets list their branch preferences and (from what hear) usually get one of their top choices. Of course, the goats of the class will not always get it their way but I guess that's the price one has to pay for being a goat! Also, I heard earlier of a deal where you pay the army extra years in the service for the promise that you will get your first choice of branch selection (which would probably be a good deal if you're in the lower half and have your heart deadset on a branch). And, no, your major does not affect your chances of getting a branch.

Hope that helped. :thumb:
 
thanks everybody! I am getting to understand how this works. I guess I won't really know where I go until I get there!
BillSL, thanks for the link!
 
DHinNH said:
For the record, officers do not have an MOS.
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Oh, sorry about that. I thought an Army Officer's role (as in, Infantry Officer, PsyOps Officer...) was called MOS. My bad.
 
BillSL said:
Oh, sorry about that. I thought an Army Officer's role (as in, Infantry Officer, PsyOps Officer...) was called MOS. My bad.
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No worries, you have a lot of jargon to learn.

Here's a pretty simple example of the difference between enlisted MOS and officer branch (and specialty), using my personal experience:

I branched Ordnance upon my graduation from USMA, and after Officer Basic Course, I attended Explosive Ordnance Disposal School. When I finished that, I served with an EOD Detachment, where all* of the enlisted men** were MOS 55D - Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialists. (The MOS has since been renumbered to 89D.)

Once an enlisted soldier becomes an EOD Specialist, that is his or her job. They serve in EOD units at every rank from the time they get their EOD badge until they leave the service.

In contrast,if I had stayed in the Army, it would have been quite possible that I would never have had an EOD job after my initial unit. It would have been extremely likely that I would have never had an EOD job after promotion to MAJ, because there just aren't that many EOD slots for officers of that rank or above.



* except our clerk
** we happened to be an all-male unit, but EOD is NOT closed to women
 
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