Branches of the Army

[mdlax10]

I met a West Point Cadet a while ago and talked to him about service selection. He told me he's going Infantry and he listed the other choices.

Can someone describe the different choices you have after graduating West Point and what each does?

 

[USNA69]

From the WP website:

Upon graduating, you will be commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and serve for at least five years of active duty as an Army officer. The Army has a wide variety of specialized fields called branches. Each branch has its own brand of technical and tactical expertise. Depending on the needs of the Army, and your personal desires, you will pick from several branch choices that are available, including Infantry, Field Artillery, Armor, Aviation, Engineer, Signal, Air Defense Artillery, Chemical, Military Intelligence, Ordnance, Military Police, Quartermaster, Transportation, Medical Service, Finance and Adjutant General. There are specialties within several of these fields that may also be chosen.

You can probably Google various Army websites to get a better feel for the above branches.

 

[Just_A_Mom]

Try this website:

http://www.branchorientation.com/

Keep in mind that women cannot serve in Infantry or Armor. They are also the most popular branches that cadets choose.

While, it is good to have a general idea what career path you would like to choose that decision is ultimately not yours. You will get to rank your choices - the decisions rests on the needs of the Army and your class rank.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Actually, that's not entirely true. You can pretty much ensure you go to whatever branch you want now with the ADSO program the Academy (and ROTC as well) runs. Essentially you agree to serve and additional three years active duty, and in return you get the branch or post of your choice. They also have this program for guaranteed graduate school as well.

 

[ChipAyten]

Women cant serve in any of the combat arms branches (Cav, Infantry, Artillery, Armor) But needless to say women find themselves in firefights a lot regardless.

Regardless of what army recruiters tell you about there being 212 jobs in the Army there is only one job, and 211 ways to support it. Infantry

 

[Just_A_Mom]

Actually, that's not entirely true. You can pretty much ensure you go to whatever branch you want now with the ADSO program the Academy (and ROTC as well) runs. Essentially you agree to serve and additional three years active duty, and in return you get the branch or post of your choice. They also have this program for guaranteed graduate school as well.

I had forgotten about that! One of the benefits of serving during wartime - an increased chance of writing your own ticket.
I am not sure when this program started - but have heard it has been very successful at retaining officers - which the Army needs badly right now.

Chip - right about women not serving under combat arms - they do find themselves in harm's way of course. Without that support for the infantry - the infantry would not be able to do their job!

MdLax - bottom line - if you decide you want to lead troops and go Army - you will get exposure to a lot of different jobs in the Army during your training.