Questions about FA BOLC/Fort Sill

[Laurantwins]

Greetings! I’m a mom of twin sons who are graduating from different colleges (VMI and Princeton). Both are commissioning Army/Field Artillery and have gotten their BOLC dates. VMI son has TDY Fort Sill for BOLC and then Fort Drum. Princeton son has PSC to Fort Sill for BOLC and then does not say where he’ll go after BOLC.

His ROTC unit said that he will likely find out at BOLC where he goes next, but we’ve also read that it might be that he stays at Fort Sill as his first duty station.

I’m posting on here to see if anyone might have insight, as this is all new to me. Thank you for any info you can provide!

I’m in north Texas, so I (low key) would not mind having a son a few hours away in OK!

 

[BJD16]

It looks like you son will be staying at Fort Sill. When I was at FA BOLC (formerly OBC), I had no problem trading my duty station since I was heading to Fort Bragg. He might be able to trade with a newly married guy who wants a lower chance of deploying. I traded for Fort Stewart, and the guy I traded with broke his ankle playing softball, so he had to stay at Fort Sill for his three year assignment. Bragg and Campbell don't take damaged goods. The rules back then were that we had to trade with another 2LT from same commissioning source, so the mix of ROTC and USMA at each duty station remained constant.

 

[franknd]

Warning -- dated information. With that said, when I went to what was then called OBC at Fort Sill in a year that began with the the numbers "198," my follow-on orders to Germany that I had arrived with were changed to say "Turkey" while I was at OBC. So I wouldn't assume anything yet about where the Princeton son will end up.

 

[cb7893]

First congratulations to your DTes (dear twins). I'm sure they are excited to begin the next stage of their military careers.

Did your DS request a first duty station yet?

I hope others will jump in, but I can think of a bunch of reasons why I wouldn't want Ft. Sill/Lawton, OK to be my first duty station. If he has an opportunity to give his preferences, he should explore them as well as ways to influence the final decision.. It's a big world and the biggest FA battles since WWII are being fought as we speak. In one way or another the US and its NATO allies are involved. If he can snag an OCONUS deployment he should grab it.

My DS commissioned out of AROTC in 2014 and submitted his First Duty Station request shortly after receiving his branch assignment, Signal Corps. His list of priorities was to be OCONUS and to be close to some kind of "action". From the moment he got his Butter Bars, he has said he will stay in the Army as long as it is challenging and interesting. He ended up with a deployment to Kuwait.

That deployment was followed by a second one. If not for that deployment, in all likelihood, DS wouldn't be in the position he is today 8 years later--challenged and interested. Being deployed, he spent more time doing what he was trained for and less time on Big Army BS. The care and feeding of his enlisted guys/gals took on a whole new element, as many of them probably never travelled more than 50 miles from home before joining the Army and only then to boot camp. Being the hub of US military operations in the ME, he was able to make more consequential connections, inside and outside of his branch. In the end, he had more opportunity to differentiate himself from his Signal cohort.

Wherever they end up, they need to realize that they have more agency over their futures than they realize at this point. It is important not to get too far out over one's skis, but If one sits and waits for things to happen, nothing will happen.

I wish them the best of luck and realization of their dreams and ambitions.

 

[renbuts]

My son is graduating and has his BOLC date (MI), but no follow-on assignment info. He said his classmates, other than the Transportation folks, don’t have that info yet, either.

 

[Laurantwins]

First congratulations to your DTes (dear twins). I'm sure they are excited to begin the next stage of their military careers.

Did your DS request a first duty station yet?

I hope others will jump in, but I can think of a bunch of reasons why I wouldn't want Ft. Sill/Lawton, OK to be my first duty station. If he has an opportunity to give his preferences, he should explore them as well as ways to influence the final decision.. It's a big world and the biggest FA battles since WWII are being fought as we speak. In one way or another the US and its NATO allies are involved. If he can snag an OCONUS deployment he should grab it.

My DS commissioned out of AROTC in 2014 and submitted his First Duty Station request shortly after receiving his branch assignment, Signal Corps. His list of priorities was to be OCONUS and to be close to some kind of "action". From the moment he got his Butter Bars, he has said he will stay in the Army as long as it is challenging and interesting. He ended up with a deployment to Kuwait.

That deployment was followed by a second one. If not for that deployment, in all likelihood, DS wouldn't be in the position he is today 8 years later--challenged and interested. Being deployed, he spent more time doing what he was trained for and less time on Big Army BS. The care and feeding of his enlisted guys/gals took on a whole new element, as many of them probably never travelled more than 50 miles from home before joining the Army and only then to boot camp. Being the hub of US military operations in the ME, he was able to make more consequential connections, inside and outside of his branch. In the end, he had more opportunity to differentiate himself from his Signal cohort.

Wherever they end up, they need to realize that they have more agency over their futures than they realize at this point. It is important not to get too far out over one's skis, but If one sits and waits for things to happen, nothing will happen.

I wish them the best of luck and realization of their dreams and ambitions.

He is not especially happy about the prospect of Lawton - he listed Germany, Italy, Alaska, Hawaii…
I’m just trying to put a positive spin on Lawton in case he lands there. I’m going to suggest the recommendation on this thread that he try to switch with a married guy who doesn’t want to deploy!

 

[cb7893]

He is not especially happy about the prospect of Lawton - he listed Germany, Italy, Alaska, Hawaii…
I’m just trying to put a positive spin on Lawton in case he lands there. I’m going to suggest the recommendation on this thread that he try to switch with a married guy who doesn’t want to deploy!

Excellent choices!

 

[Laurantwins]

My son is graduating and has his BOLC date (MI), but no follow-on assignment info. He said his classmates, other than the Transportation folks, don’t have that info yet, either.

Thank you for letting me know. It sounds like they'll find out when the Army is ready to tell them.

 

[Jarhead713]

FA BOLC is usually TDY, if he's on PCS orders that means it'll be his first duty station!

 

[Aglahad]

He is not especially happy about the prospect of Lawton - he listed Germany, Italy, Alaska, Hawaii…
I’m just trying to put a positive spin on Lawton in case he lands there. I’m going to suggest the recommendation on this thread that he try to switch with a married guy who doesn’t want to deploy!

Lawton is not the best but also not the worst. People get enamored with OCONUS assignments because they don't know what they don't know. I've been in Germany and Hawaii for significant amounts of time (military/pleasure) and they are not the end all be all. I was begging to leave Hawaii by the end. I couldn't stand it. My partner is from there actually and we both agree that if you aren't from there, it wears on you for multiple reasons.

Deployments are rare nowadays unless you are rotating to Africa, Kuwait, or going to Europe (where a lot of guys want to go). Even then, most LTs are looking to deploy especially if the went CA.