Posted on Jun 6, 2023
Has anyone ever branch transferred as a Junior Grade Officer from a Support MOS to Combat Arms in the National Guard?
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Responses: 3
I went the other way. I was an Infantry Officer and branch transferred to the Engineers. The state that I was joining asked if I would do that since they had more slots for Engineers. To start, you will need to contact Officer Branch Support at the State Headquarters of the State you are going to serve. They can tell you what is available and get your paperwork going. Generally what will happen is that they will give you at temporary branch transfer tied to completion of your Captains Career Course (I believe that is the correct acronym these days). When I did this, you had a choice of doing the CCC active duty, which often depends on funding, or doing an Active Duty phase, a distance learning course, then a final Active Duty phase to complete it.
As LTC Miller mentioned below, if you are currently assigned to a unit, you will need to start by talking to your CO before you start talking to the state.
As LTC Miller mentioned below, if you are currently assigned to a unit, you will need to start by talking to your CO before you start talking to the state.
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1LT (Join to see)
CPT Lawrence Cable - Field Artillery, in Minnesota. Just stood up a DIVARTY, and while I still have time as a CGO I can get some good time at the Battery level, but then have options later on too at the BDE level. Just no career progression in my current MOS (Finance)
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CPT Lawrence Cable
1LT (Join to see) - Good luck with the transition. If you are looking to stay Guard, the Officer slots are Combat Arms or Engineers (a lot of Engineer units). I wasn't looking to change branches, I'm one of those Masochist that liked Infantry, but the two best jobs I had in the Army was Engineer Company Commander and Assistant Brigade Engineer.
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1LT (Join to see)
CPT Lawrence Cable - Thank you sir, I appreciate the words on encouragement. I have definitely heard that before, about officer careers. Finance helped me on my civilian job, but it's time for a change!
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You'll probably need to write a memo indicating your reasons for re-branching.
A state only has at most about 4-5 company grade and 2 field grade positions for FC, most states have less, whereas there are 25 company grade and 3 field grade positions in every IN BN. The obvious reason would be career progression opportunity.
And you'll need letter of acceptance from that gaining BN, then G1 OPM transfers you and the gaining BN schedules a new BOLC.
A state only has at most about 4-5 company grade and 2 field grade positions for FC, most states have less, whereas there are 25 company grade and 3 field grade positions in every IN BN. The obvious reason would be career progression opportunity.
And you'll need letter of acceptance from that gaining BN, then G1 OPM transfers you and the gaining BN schedules a new BOLC.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
Two comments. Combat Engineer units have almost the same organizational structure as Infantry units, so states with Engineers, Heavy or Combat, will have a number of positions. That's how I ended up going Engineer. If he is already Branch Qualified, he would normally attend CCC instead of another Basic Leadership Course.
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1LT (Join to see)
Thank you all for the help! I am excited to begin this process. What the SGM said is true about wanting better career progression!
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I have not but it is not uncommon. It's more common in the Guard than anywhere else.
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1LT (Join to see)
LTC (Join to see) - Thank you sir- Yes, I am MOSQ. I have a good idea of what I want to transfer to and the process involved.
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LTC (Join to see)
Talk to your chain of command but also reach out to your state Officer management branch. I would assume it's fairly simple. As you probably know In the reserve component it's common and beneficial to have multiple branches.
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1LT (Join to see)
LTC (Join to see) - Will do Sir, thanks for the guidance! Definitely beneficial for me, my current MOS has a lot of junior grade officer positions but there are only a handful of spots for O-4.
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