I have a vague understanding of the early career path of a US Army officer, but I can’t help feeling a bit ignorant of the exact nature of it. It’s my understanding that, upon receiving a commission, the 2nd Lt is assigned to a corps (MI, Infantry, Armor, etc). Over the course of the next few years, the officer is rotated through a number of other corps until finally deciding on a specialty.
Close? Wrong? Got details?
No. Generally their AOC (Area Of Concentration, as opposed to MOS, Military Occupational Specialty for enlisted soldiers) is already determined (at least, West Point grads are) and the 2nd LT’s will (in general, exceptions exist) be sent to a unit that supports their AOC. My Dad was a combat engineer officer, so he served in an Engineer batallion that was attached to an Infantry Division at he start of Vietnam.
Sometimes wars and necessity can change job fields though, especially if said commissioned officer displays aptitude in an area of need. Using my Dad as an example again, once he made captain, he was an intelligence officer for a time in his second tour in Vietnam, but reverted back to an Engineer unit once his tour was over.
1st LT’s generally get their first taste of low-level command as a company level executive officer, then move up to company command as a Captain, majors usually get staff or XO jobs in a batallion, LTC get batallion command or special executive jobs to higher-ranking officers, COL’s get brigade command or the same as LTC, some executive officer or staff job, BG’s and MG’s get division commands, military base commands or staff jobs, and beyond MG, LTG and 4-stars command whole armies, regiments, theaters or have high-level positions in advisory roles, or even achieve the likes of Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Officers are assigned a branch. Basically what you were calling a “corps”. Infantry, Engineer, Military Intelligence, Quarter Master, Armor, Field Artillery… they are all brances of the Army. Once assigned to a branch, the officer must attend the Officer Basic Course for that particular branch like IOBC (Infantry Officer Basic Course), etc.
Officers do not generally change from branch to branch, but it isn’t exactly uncommon for them to do so either. It’s not part of the necessary/normal career progression, but it happens as needs of the Army dictate.
The officer will pick his branch before he even gets his commission. He’ll make like three choices, and the Army will decide from there. But if the officer picks something in high demand–like infantry–he will get it. Otherwise, he/she isn’t really gaurunteed his first choice. After that, he gets commissioned into that branch. He’ll wear insignia and colors unique to that particular branch.
Minor nitpick, but in the US Army regiments are equivalent to brigades and are commanded by a full colonel. There are also only three active duty units that are flagged as regiments as far as I know, the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments.
The Ranger Regiment, the Ranger Training Regiment (which is an abomination to the laws of God and man), and of course the Army Medical Corps/Regiment (ditto). But these are not employed as tactical units.
Then add to that all the battalions that are part of regiments for historical reasons.
If it’s anything like US Air Force officer training, there are also milestone training opportunities and milestone command opportunities along the way. For example, by the time you make O-3 you’re expected to have led a small unit or a section of a unit in accomplishing their mission over a prolonged period. You’re also supposed to go to a doctrine or tactics school where you learn (or re-learn) the nuances of leading slightly larger groups, and have any outmoded ideas you learned in ROTC brushed away. A good example of this: when I was a middling captain, I went to Squadron Officers’ School, which is intended to get me ready for commanding a squadron. It also included an update to the use of air power, which incorporated lessons from Kosovo, Bosnia, and Somalia, as well as the use of UAVs and high-speed communications networks – my ROTC curriculum only went up through Gulf War I (and associated early-nineties technology).
I know that Army officers have a chance to go to (e.g) Ranger School or Airborne School as professional development, and I’m sure there are other signpost schools along the career path.
You’re right, I don’t know why I said that.
Yeah, with the US Army War College being a big one.
I have a buddy who probably just got promoted to O-2 recently in the Army.
The early training goes like this:
BOLC (Basic Officer Leadership Course) I = ROTC/Service Academy/OCS
BOLC II = General fighting & leadership techniques, independent of branch. My buddy described it as basically being on a mock FOB somewhere out in the boonies at Ft. Sill, and running missions either as the commander, or as a soldier for someone else to command. He said that it’s pretty serious- they debrief you after each one and tell you what you did right and wrong and how to avoid the things you did wrong.
BOLC III - Branch training. In my buddy’s case, since he’s a signals officer, he learned a bunch of communications and radio stuff.
After that, he got his first posting, which was as a battalion S-6 (communications officer) and promptly got sent to Iraq with his new unit about 2 weeks later. That’s a fairly exalted position for a newly minted Lieutenant, but he’s 35, so maybe that had something to do with it.
Fortunately, his outfit’s coming home in early October, so I’m a little relieved.
Also, all j.o.s have a lot of training in playing Blackjack on their BlackBerrys. Or, at least I always see them practicing diligently at it. 
Stranger
You gotta do something in your limited spare time. Outside of plotting to kill people, that is.