Posted on Mar 23, 2018
CPT Air Operations (Soj36)
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S2 be, or not S2 be?

After 4 years away from aviation service, I'm very excited to be returning to a flight unit in the Spring. That said, I am also keenly focused on actively managing my military career, and have spent the past few months networking with units across the country to ensure my next role isn't perceived as anything but a professional step forward. This has proven to be challenging after completing an early first command. All mentors have recommended I vie for a primary staff role to avoid going from CO to PL or XO. I've already served and been rated as a BN S3 for 2 years and am inclined to try something new, but some of those same mentors have highlighted that not all staff roles are crated equal. There seems to be some balance one needs to strike between diversity of experience and remaining in the Top 3 (CO/XO/S3) camp as much as possible.

For those of you who have been S2s (or avoided being S2s for a good reason), would love to get your insight. There are idiosyncrasies to the aviation community that I'm specifically leaving out of this conversation to focus on basic officership and career management, but happy to hear from anyone who has specific experience in that world as well. Thanks in advance for the insight!
Edited >1 y ago
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Responses: 13
COL Strategic Plans Chief
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Interesting career so far. If you were the BN S3 as a 1LT, your unit is severely undermanned. Bottom line is that S3 time doesn't count for career progression in the strict sense of it. Neither does that command time you mentioned. You're not a Captain, so it doesn't count as KD. You're not a Major so the S3 time doesn't count as KD. You shouldn't be an S2 because that's an MI position. Go back to the S3 shop or the S4 shop. Get promoted to CPT, go to the AVCCC and then come back to command a company or a troop as a real KD job. The OER you got as a Commander will be thought of as prep time really. To top it all off, all of your LT OERs will be blocked from view once you are promoted to Captain and you start over on the board anyway. Stay out of the S2 job if you can. Get back in the S3 shop or go to another unit.
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CPT Air Operations (Soj36)
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Yikes! Lots of good insight here Sir, a lot of which I was afraid of. To say the TDA unit I spent the last 4 years with was ‘severely undermanned’ would be an understatement, but from what I can tell that’s simple the TDA world in a nutshell. I also, following a mentor’a guidance, knocked out my AVC3 as a very junior LT, which takes me out of the running for any 15C-style hybrid-intel role anyway. I love command and operations roles, and since my existing experience in those seats will be blocked from future boards, sounds like I’d be best served by a bit of rinse and repeat. TM COL (Join to see)!
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Maj John Bell
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It opened some doors for me that would not have been open otherwise.
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COL Deputy G2
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Food for thought. One unique thing about aviation is that you can be aviation and all source intel. That is you can be a 15C. That is the stepping stone to a fixed wing transition if that has any interest for you. I spent several years as a 15C before transitioning to 35E. I did go to the CI course while still a 15C and the transition to MI was not for lack of fighting with the flight surgeon. While I do miss the flying I have now branched cyber warfare thanks to my MI background. Whatever position you take it will be what you make of it.
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CPT Air Operations (Soj36)
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Appreciate the insight Sir. I think I killed the 15C path when I took the earliest AVC3 slot I could find, but that doesn’t mean I won’t land in a fixed-wing unit! (That’s one of the commands I’ve been in talks with) To that end, is it unheard of to take a second CCC for diversity?
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COL Deputy G2
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I did logistics, Aviation, and MI advance courses. It can be done
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