Redleg officers' new career paths: developing Pentathletes for the Army.

During recent months, the Field Artillery has undergone many career changes, as monitored by the FA Officer's Branch at Human Resources Command (HRC). Alexandria, Virginia. One of the most significant has been the shift in the career development philosophy from the historically prescriptive path to a more flexible career progression. The shift's intent is to grow multi-skilled Artillerymen with more diverse career assignment opportunities and more potential for commands.

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The Army continues to fight the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) while simultaneously meeting the demands of restructuring for modularity and transforming the force for the future. The Chief of Staff of the Army's (CSA's) vision is of a new breed of Soldiers and officers for the future--a breed of Pentathletes who think quickly, adapt easily and are competent in a myriad of skills. The Pentathlete is a full-spectrum warrior and leader with an expeditionary mindset.

Building such Pentathletes is the basis of recent revisions to "DA Pamphlet 600-3 Commissioned Officer Development and Career Management," October 2005. Among other changes, DA Pam 600-3 nolonger prescribes "branch-qualifying" jobs for Field Artillerymen. For example, battery command is no longer branch qualifying and required for selection to major--in fact, the first captain who had not commanded a battery was selected to major on the most recent major's board. Others will follow.

Instead of branch-qualifying assignments, DA Pam 600-3 outlines some "key developmental assignments," allowing FA officers a more flexible career development path.

This article not only outlines the new career paths for active component (AC) FA officers, but also reports on the FA's current status and projects the future. The FA branch report is that the Field Artillery is vibrant with an outstanding future ahead--and the facts prove it.

Throughout our modularity restructuring, we have grown in personnel in all categories. The officer corps has increased by 100, warrant officer (WO) corps by 168 and the enlisted ranks by 1700, FA battalion-level tactical commands have grown from 54 to 61.

In addition, promotion rates for FA officers, majors to colonels, are the highest in the Army. See Figure I. Our 131A FA Targeting Technician WOs' promotion rates also have been exceptional, including the most recent 50-percent selection rate to chief warrant five (CW5).

And while the Army at war is undergoing the most significant changes in its history, Field Artillerymen consistently have demonstrated their diversity-shown they are Pentathletes, taking the lead in successfully executing a wide variety of nontraditional missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well documented in this magazine.

With all these positive facts, some still have concerns. Perhaps the biggest concern of FA officers for the future is the number of brigade-level commands available to them. With the restructuring of the Army and drawdown of the division artilleries (Div Artys), fewer brigade-level commands are available to FA promotable lieutenant colonels and colonels, even though the number of battalion-level commands have increased.

Today, a request for Field Artillerymen to be eligible for DA selection to command brigade combat teams (BCTs)--as they already have been commanding in GWOT--is before the Army's senior leadership for approval. With the push toward developing multi-capable Pentathletes who have multiple opportunities to use their capabilities in the Army, the request has an excellent chance of approval.

For those officers who want to develop skills in their interest areas and don't want to command, the new flexibility in their career paths allows them that option with promotion potential and career satisfaction.

This article offers FA officers of all ranks career advice based on current trends and future opportunities. See the FA officer career development life cycle and utilization model in Figure 2.

FA Lieutenants. The Army has approximately 1,619 FA lieutenants: of these 1,168 are serving in FA- (13A)-specific jobs, 17 in branch-immaterial (O1 A) jobs, two in combat arms branch-immaterial (O2A) jobs and 432 are in transit, such as permanent changes of station (PCS),in the basic officer leader course (BOLC)/schools or on medical hold.

New FA officers can expect to attend BOLC II after BOLC I training from their commissioning source. The seven-week BOLC II course immerses the officer in warfighting doctrine and is conducted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, or Fort Benning, Georgia. The course focuses on current lessons learned in GWOT and basic Soldiering tasks.

BOLC III is approximately 15 weeks and is conducted at Fort Sill. Here the officer learns the core competencies needed to be a successful FA officer.

Upon arriving at BOLC II, each second lieutenant will know where he will be assigned, and after successfully completing BOLC III, he will go to his unit. Upon completion of BOLC III, a limited number of officers will receive additional assignments for officer training, focusing on the high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) or Paladin.

A second lieutenant can expect to hold many positions, ranging from fire support officer (FSO), fire direction officer (FDO), platoon leader, executive officer (XO) and others. For a list of potential duty titles and a "standard" timeline, see Figure 2.

Some of the positions will be non-traditional. In fact, FA lieutenants execute, probably, a wider diversity of nontraditional positions in GWOT than lieutenants in other branches, helping to earn the Field Artillery's reputation for spawning Pentathletes.

Second lieutenants are promoted to first lieutenant at or about the 18th month of commissioned service. A first lieutenant can expect to hold positions of greater scope and responsibility.

Promotion to captain generally occurs at the 39th month of commissioned service. Senior first lieutenants and junior captains must talk with their assignment officers to request attendance at the FA Captain's Career Course (FACCC), Fort Sill. This is the next professional development step and the last formal school that deals explicitly with FA.

FA Junior Captains. The Army has approximately 1,410 junior captains; of these officers, 1,116 are serving in FA-specific jobs, 36 in branch-immaterial jobs, 26 in combat arms branch-immaterial jobs and 232 in transit, such as PCS, expirations of term of service (ETS), in schools or on medical hold.

Professional development does not follow the prescriptive time line as in the past. The environment has been created to allow a junior officer to seek assignments "off the beaten path."

According to the DA 600-3, two key developmental assignments for captains are battery command and battalion FSO. Although captains now can obtain the rank of major without a command, officers who want to serve as battalion S3s, XOs or battalion commanders in the future should seek a battery command to gain the experience needed for those higher level positions.

Once a lieutenant becomes promotable, he is managed by the Junior Captain's Assignments Officer. The first goal is to get the officer to FACCC. Officers can attend FACCC by submitting a DA Form 4187 Personal Action requesting a school date through their chains of command.

The newly revised FACCC reflects the contemporary operating environment (COE), counterinsurgency (COIN) operations and GWOT lessons learned. The 19-week-four-day course immerses students in a continuous, realistic GWOT scenario with multiple hands-on structured learning activities. The focus is to develop agile leaders who rapidly can make complex decisions in the COE, build teams and command a battery. This course prepares FA officers for future staff positions and potential commands.

Officers also can compete for a sister service school, such as an alternate combat arms branch CCC or the Marine Expeditionary Warfare Course (MEWC) at Quantico, Virginia. These seats are highly competitive, and FA Branch at HRC will select the officers with the best files to attend.

Once in CCC, the officer fills out an assignments preference sheet. The information requested on this sheet, the officer record brief (ORB) and a branch interview enable the assignments officer to slate the officer for his next assignment. The preference sheet and updated ORB are vital for the assignment slating.

During the slating process, FA Branch takes many factors into consideration to ensure the right officer is selected to fill the right job. The officer's skills and experience, dwell time on station, months deployed, professional development, preference, joint domicile, exceptional family member and year group are key factors for slating.

GWOT has created new Army requirements, and, above all other factors, these requirements dictate the officer's next assignment. Deploying units and transition teams for advising host nation security forces are the manning priori-ties. These units and teams will expedite the withdrawal of American forces from combat zones.

FA Senior Captains. The Army has approximately 228 senior FA captains. Of these officers, 116 are serving in FA-specific jobs, 37 in branch-immaterial jobs, 28 in combat arms branch-immaterial jobs and 47 in transit.

Senior captains serving in the FA are experienced, combat-proven leaders with a great deal to offer in many areas in the Army. After serving in a key developmental position as a captain, historically more than 80 percent of FA senior captains will serve in recruiting or reserve component (RC) assignments, while 20 percent of FA officers will serve in nominative positions. See Figure 3 on Page 40. These nominative assignments include internships on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the personnel exchange program (PEP), a foreign exchange; service at a combat training center (CTC); fellowships; reserve officers training corps (ROTC) and the advanced civil schooling (ACS) program. An officer's manner of performance in key developmental positions and the right skills and experience are significant considerations in selection for a nominative position.

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Officers are encouraged to research options when developing goals to align their expectations, background and experience with the Army's needs and priorities.

Recent changes have affected the career path of senior captains. The primary look for promotion to major now is at approximately nine years of service (vice the previous 10 years of service) with a pin-on date of about the 10th year of commissioned service. One impact of the shortened promotion time is a captain has less time to complete a key developmental assignment or serve in a post-key developmental senior captain's position before pinning on his major's oak leaves.

On the positive side, officers now have more opportunities to serve in staff positions for majors before attending Intermediate-Level Education (ILE) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Accelerated promotions also have caused a small number of officers to have their primary look for major with no command reports in their files. Analysis of the results of the previous majors' promotion board has shown that officers are not placed at risk for promotion for having less than 12 months in a key developmental assignment.

Although every position counts, battery command will remain an important gate for FA officers to remain competitive for battalion commands and success in the operations career field (OPCF). There are four career fields in the Army: OPCF, 69 percent; operational support (OSCF), 14 percent; institutional support (ISCF), 10 percent; and information-operations (IOCF), seven percent.

The Artillery officer's goal for his first command should be to command for 15 to 18 months. An officer selected to serve in a second command should expect his first command to be 12 months followed by a 12-month tour in his second command for a total of 24 months. This approach will allow the command queue for junior captains to remain manageable and provide senior captains command experience in various parts of the Army.

Officers in life cycle manned units-Army Force Generation, or ARFOR-GEN--can expect to remain in the unit until the end of the life cycle or pursue release through an exception to policy. That means some officers who have completed their commands will remain in their respective units awaiting the end of the life cycle.

The exception to policy for release from a life cycle unit is approved by the major Army command (MACOM) commander of the unit of assignment. FA Branch will not work an assignment for an officer without the approval/notification of his chain of command.

FA Majors. The Army has approximately 718 FA majors; of these officers 464 are serving in FA-specific jobs, 54 in branch-immaterial jobs, 67 in combat arms branch-immaterial jobs and 133 are in transit.

FA majors' assignments have gone through a great deal of change in the past 18 months. Based on comments from the field, the key areas to address are the following: timeliness of ILE attendance, the process for selection for a foreign or sister service school, key developmental jobs and competitiveness for battalion command selection.

ILE replaced the Command and General Staff College (CGSC), beginning with Year Group (YG) 94 officers. In year groups before 94, boards selected the officers with the top 50 percent of the files to attend resident CGSC. The other 50 percent of the officers had to complete the course in a non-resident status.

OPCF, YG 94 and beyond, all now attend 10-months of courses as part of the resident ILE course as long as they have been selected for major. OPCF, ISCF and IOCF majors attend a 14-week common core course (taught at four different locations) followed by their own functional area specific courses at various locations.

The issue of timeliness of attendance at ILE is affected by the fact that all majors attend ILE, as designated by their particular career fields. Simultaneously, the Army needs majors for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and transformation efforts. Although ILE can handle al most 1,200 students per year, Army assignments officers cannot send 1,200 majors to ILE because of the needs of the Army in other positions.

Each branch has an allocation per ILE class. Normally, more officers are eligible for ILE than the number of allocations, so a slating process occurs. This process determines who will go to ILE and who will continue on or PCS to another assignment to meet Army requirements.

The current template has an officer attending ILE approximately two years after promotion to major. This allows some officers the ability to complete key and developmental jobs before attending ILE. HRC makes a great effort to slate officers into ILE at die earliest possible time, factoring in the needs of the Army.

ILE slating priority goes to YG 93 officers and earlier who were selected for CGSC, but for some reason have not yet attended and are available. Second, are YGs 94, 95, etc., based on YG seniority and time-on-station. Because each branch's attendees are based on the branch's allocation, it may be possible for, say, an Armor officer in YG 95 to go to ILE before an Aviation officer in YG 94.

Within each branch an order of merit list (OML) is developed, based on YG seniority and time-on-station. There is no board for this process. File strength is not considered. However, at the same time, officers will be selected to attend foreign and sister service schools, making them ineligible for ILE.

To attend a foreign or sister service school, the officer must submit a memorandum requesting attendance at the desired school. Also, although letters of recommendation are not required, they are highly encouraged. The Officer Professional Management Directorate (OPMD) at HRC convenes an informal board to determine who will attend the limited number of schools, based on the strength of the officers' files and their skills and experience. Also of importance is what the officer can offer to the school or program.

Today's path to success incorporates several jobs that previously would have been considered just "developmental." To succeed, an officer must perform to the best of his abilities in each assignment. For key developmental assignments, the goal is for officers to remain in them for 36 months to gain the experience they need for specific future assignments. However, officers no longer have prescribed positions they must hold for a fixed time to be competitive for promotion.

The difference in an officer's previous and current career path is flexibility. For instance, FA Branch is sending FA's most talented officers to be advisors on GWOT transition teams to develop quality host-nation security forces. These transition teams and other such assignments are clearly important, but not historically typical.

Spending 36 months as a battalion S3, XO and (or) brigade FSO, which was common for a YG 88 officer, will not be common in the out years. Instead, majors will serve in one S3 or XO job and spend more time in fire support cells (FSCs), on military transition teams (MiTTs) and in joint or other diverse positions. (FSCs were formerly known as fires and effects cells, or FECs.)

Approximately 15 to 20 percent of officers are selected for battalion command. It is highly competitive, and an officer's overall manner of performance must be extremely strong in a wide range of assignments. In the past, significant attention was given to those officers serving as battery commanders, battalion or brigade S3s, XOs or FSOs. This is true today as well.

However, a more universally typical file selected for battalion command for YG 88 will be different from the "typical" file selected for command for YG 94. Officers now have opportunities to serve in a wider array of key and developmental assignments that eventually could contribute to selection for battalion command.

For consideration for battalion command, an officer's file can have a center of mass report, but the overall file must state that he is among the very best. Enumerated reports matter, and direct and concise language is best.

He must be Military Education Level 4 (MEL-4)--either a graduate of an TLE-level course or, at a minimum, in the resident course at the time of the board.

The officer must have at least one S3 or XO report in his file at the time of the board; if he only has one report, it must be strong. The number of S3 and XO reports will decrease, beginning with YG 91.

Manner of performance in all of these assignments will dictate who is selected. Field-grade performance will weigh much heavier than company-grade performance.

Finally, deployments matter. Strong reports while deployed weigh heavily with a board.

FA Lieutenant Colonels. The Army has approximately 365 FA lieutenant colonels. Of these officers, 210 are serving in FA-specific jobs, 27 in branch-immaterial jobs, 87 in combat arms branch-immaterial jobs and 41 are in transit.

Today's FA lieutenant colonel enjoys a wider range of assignment opportunities than his predecessor. This translates into greater assignment satisfaction, regardless of command and promotion potential.

Key areas of professional/career concern for FA lieutenant colonels continue to be battalion command opportunities, selection for senior service college (SSC) and promotion to colonel. Analysis of board results from the last several years makes it clear that the three remain closely linked. Simply stated, FA officers not selected to command battalions, in turn, have not been selected for SSC or colonel.

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However, this linkage is changing. First, 14 percent of FA officers recently selected for battalion command have been above-the-zone (AZ) officers who have continued to perform at high levels in troop and joint assignments. Also, for the first time in recent memory, a handful of officers from combat arms branches not selected for battalion command were selected for promotion to colonel in FY05.

It is impossible to know why this happened, but the general consensus is that boards are starting to give more consideration to top-performing officers in non-command positions--especially those serving in combat. Although there certainly is no guarantee, we are hopeful that some non-command-select FA officers will be selected for SSC and more to colonel in the future. The types of assignments that will enhance an FA lieutenant colonel's competitiveness for battalion command, SSC and promotion are troop and joint duty assignments.

Historically, conventional wisdom was that unless an FA lieutenant colonel was selected to serve as a tactical FA battalion commander, his opportunities to serve in the tactical "muddy boots" Army ended with promotion to lieutenant colonel. With the transition to the modular Army, that has changed.

The modular design has increased the requirements for FA lieutenant colonels in tactical formations (divisions and BCTs). This increased authorization of Field Artillerymen to serve as deputy commanding officers (DCOs) in BCTs and fire support coordinators (FSCOORDS) in BCT headquarters is providing FA lieutenant colonels new opportunities to continue to serve at the "tip of the spear." Although we've experienced some initial difficulties resourcing some of these positions due to the limited number of FA lieutenant colonels available, we expect to start assigning more officers to these positions in the next few years.

Additionally, more and more FA senior majors and junior lieutenant colonels are being selected to serve as BCT XOs. This trend is especially important as the FA has lost a significant number of brigade-level XO and S3 jobs with the inactivation of the Div Arty headquarters.

Another opportunity for troop time is with MiTTs that are developing host-nation security forces, a mission that is critical to America's success in Iraq and Afghanistan. These jobs are demanding, and officers are screened to ensure they have the skills and experience required.

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A strong trend for competitiveness for command and promotion is excellent performance in recent deployment experience. These jobs are important, and they count.

Joint duty assignments generally are viewed as enhancing to an officer's competitiveness for command and promotion. Additionally, these assignments often provide unique career experiences for those officers, regardless of promotion or command potential. Although we generally try to assign officers with significant command and promotion potential to joint assignments, joint opportunities for lieutenant colonels who have not commanded battalions are still available.

FA Colonels. We currently have 192 FA colonels and promotable lieutenant colonels in our population. Of these officers 26 percent serve in FA- (13Z)-specific jobs, 21 percent in branch-immaterial jobs, 26 percent in combat arms branch-immaterial jobs and 27 percent serve in other positions (schools, the retirement account and other functional areas). For the past four years, the promotion percentages of FA officers to colonel have exceeded the Army's average percentages.

The greatest area of concern continues to be the decrease in the number of colonels' commands. Although training and strategic support (TSS) and institutional command opportunities remain steady, the number of tactical commands for colonels has decreased in modular restructuring. Currently, we have 10 tactical brigade-level commands available to AC Field Artillerymen--six fires brigades and four battlefield coordination detachments (BCDs).

The good news is that the Army senior leaders are considering a proposal to allow Field Artillerymen to be eligible for DA selection to command BCTs along with Infantry and Armor officers. With Field Artillerymen having commanded BCTs, both in and out of the Central Command (CENTCOM) theater of operations, the time might be right for the proposal's approval.

The Vice Chief of Staff of the Army recently approved the grade increase of the division FSCOORD from lieutenant colonel to colonel. The increase is in recognition of the fact that a colonel provides the requisite expertise to coordinate and interface with the broad array of joint, interagency and multinational (JIM) organizations that are necessary to leverage the division's lethal and nonlethal effects. Division commanders rely on their FSCOORDs to coordinate the division staff's efforts in joint fires and effects planning, preparation and execution. Additionally, a colonel FSCOORD will mentor, train and provide readiness oversight over the division's fires battalions, one organic to each of the BCTs.

At the Senior Leader Development Office (SLD), the Colonel's Management Office's goal is to fill all the division FSCOORD positions with colonels by August 2007. Priority for filling these positions is to deploying divisions.

In another significant initiative directed by the CSA and Secretary of the Army, SLD was officially established on 23 January 2006. SLD is the Army's single organization to develop and manage the Army's senior leaders, including general officers and AC colonels and promotable lieutenant colonels.

Previously, general officers were managed by the General Officer Management Office (GOMO), and colonels were managed by OPMD. By establishing SLD, the CSA and Secretary of the Army have expanded their role in developing Army competitive category colonels and promotable lieutenant colonels.

SLD is working to implement a number of initiatives to provide Army colonels with additional developmental opportunities and senior leader customer support. The initiatives for the development of Army colonels include additional training opportunities in joint, multinational and interagency communities and fellowships to institutions and agencies, such as the Brookings Institute, Harvard University and the Council of Foreign Relations. In accordance with the CSA's guidance, the Colonel's Management Office has established a working group to explore additional developmental opportunities using the same systematic management approach used for the general officer population.

FA Warrant Officers. The future for our 131 As is extremely bright. Army modularity restructuring has created a need for approximately 168 additional 131A positions by FY07. We started FY04 at 205 authorized and 204 assigned. Our current 131A authorizations are at 344 with 225 assigned. The Army average for 131A authorizations is approximately 69 percent. Authorizations will continue to increase to 383 by FY07.

The majority of the new 131A positions are in BCTs, newly formed fires brigades and tactical command posts (TACs). This means promotion opportunities for 131 As will be good for some time to come.

The FY06 promotion board results were released on 25 April 2006. Not surprisingly, 100 percent of the CW2s were selected for promotion to CW3,97.3 percent to CW4 and 50 percent to CW5.

The "down side" is that newly appointed WOls could be assigned to higher positions more quickly without gaining the necessary skills and expertise previous senior WOs have had the opportunity to develop over time. To meet the needs of modularity and transformation, we are "building an airplane while it's in flight."

131A WOs Career Manager has the challenge of recruiting more qualified NCOs to fill the WO ranks. The Army G1 has increased 131A accession numbers from 26 per year in FY04 to 54 through FY09.

Career development for WOs is very important. There are few technical schools for 131A WOs, so most of the professional development is gained through on-the-job training (OJT). See Figure 4 for the 131A WO's life cycle development and utilization model. The model in Figure 4 is only a representative guide.

There are many jobs throughout the Army for 131 As, but not all will be available when a 131A is. Performance is everything. Each 131A should give 100 percent in every assignment to have a successful career.

To meet the special requirements of a new position, the WO Career Manager arranges for schooling for a WO en route to his next assignment, when possible. An example might be his attending the Joint Firepower Control Course at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Long-term development, such as degree-completion programs, may be considered for exceptional WOs who meet the 131A prerequisites as outlined in Army Regulation 621-1 Training of Military Personnel at Civilian Institutions linked to HRC's home page.

The Army's stabilization plan is designed to allow Soldiers and families assigned to continental US (CONUS) installations to stay for longer periods. Based on the CSA's guidance, the goal for a CONUS tour length is approximately seven years.

A 131A can expect to be stationed in CONUS for at least three to seven years, depending on his professional development needs. Special situations may require a select few to do a short-notice PCS or temporary change of station (TCS).

The Separate WO Division, HRC, officially dissolved as of 7 November 2005. OPMD merged the assignments officers for WOs into the proponent branches for each career specialty. The intent of this merger is to provide synergy with the WO specialties and the branches in OPMD.

There are many transformation changes going on at HRC. To stay abreast of them and read the current DA Pam 6003-3, go to the FA Branch website at https://www.hrc.army.mil/site/protect/active/opfa/fasitrep.htm. This site also provides information on upcoming events and the email addresses and telephone numbers of all FA Branch representatives.

Undoubtedly, the rate of change throughout the Army will continue for the foreseeable future. But changes bring opportunities. Today's FA officer has the ability to serve in a wider variety of assignments leading to success following a less prescriptive career path--continuing to build Pentathletes for the future.

Lieutenant Colonel (Promotable) Jeffrey C. Lieb is the Field Artillery Officer's Branch Chief at Human Resources Command (HRC), Alexandria, Virginia. He also served as a Military Assistant in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense. He commanded the 1st Battalion, 27th Field Artillery (1-27 FA) in V Corps in Germany, deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) I. Among his other assignments, he served in the 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, as the Division Artillery (Div Arty) Executive Officer (XO), Deputy Fire Support Coordinator (FSCOORD) and Battalion S3 for 1-21 FA. He commanded A Battery, 6-27 FA (A/6-27 FA) in the 75th Brigade, III Corps Artillery, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, deploying the battery to the Gulf for Operations Desert Shield/Storm. He will attend the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, DC, this summer.

Lieutenant Colonel John F. Dunleavy is the Lieutenant Colonel Assignment Officer in the Field Artillery Officer's Branch, HRC. His previous assignments were in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) where he served as the Fire Support Officer (FSO) for 1st Brigade at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and, while deployed for OIF, as Battalion XO for 2-320 FA and then Div Arty XO. Among his other assignments, he served as an Observer/Controller (O/C) at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California; commanded A/3-16 FA, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, and served as a Platoon Leader for C/1-27 FA in V Corps during Operations Desert Shield/Storm. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Captain J. Ryan Cutchin is the Junior Captain Assignment Officer in the Field Artillery Officer's Branch, HRC. In his previous assignment, he commanded Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 75th Fires Brigade, and B/1-77 FA and served as the Brigade S1 and the Brigade Assistant S3, all in the 75th FA Brigade. He deployed to OIF as a Weapons of Mass Destruction Team Leader of Mobile Exploitation Team Bravo (MET-B) under the 75th Exploitation Task Force. He also served as the XO for C/4-11 FA and FSO for B Company, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

The authors thank the following for their contributions: LTC Jerome K. Hawkins, FA Colonel's Human Resource Manager, at the Senior Leader Development Office (SLD); and LTC Kenneth Peterson, LTC's Desk; MAJ Hurley D. Shields, Jr., Senior CPT's Desk; MAJ Curtis D. Wiley, CPT's Desk; and CW5 Robert L. Spann, WO's Desk, all at Human Resources Command (HRC).

By Lieutenant Colonels Jeffrey C. Lieb and John F. Dunleavy and Captain J. Ryan Cutchin

Promotion Rank      FA %  Army %

Major               97.7  97.7
Lieutenant Colonel  96.7  88.7
Colonel             67    60

Figure 1: Promotion percentages for FA officers are the highest in the
Army, based on the last published promotion lists. From major to
colonel, the FA's average promotion percent matches or is higher than
the Army's average promotion percent.

80%           20%

* Recruiting  * Ranger Regiment
* AC-RC       * NTC/JRTC/JMRC
              * TRADOC/Staff Positions
              * USMA
              * Personnel Exchange Program
              * Functional Area Utilization (Hard Skills) (ACS)
              * JCS Internship
              * Harvard/DOCOPS Fellow-ships
              * Aide de Camp
              * FA Branch at HRC
              * Olmstead Scholarship
              * Army Staff at the Pentagon
              * Service School Instructor
              * ROTC

Legend:
ACS = Assistant Chief of Staff
DCSOPS = Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans
HRC = Human Resources Command
JCS = Joint Chiefs of Staff
JMRC = Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels, Germany
JRTC = Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana
NTC = National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California

Figure 3: Assignments After Key Branch Developmental Captain
Assignments. These assignments are based on the needs of the Army and
the officers' performance.