Posted on Feb 20, 2019
Is it hard to get selected for Civil Affairs as an Officer?
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Is Civil Affairs (active duty) generally looking for officers or do they tend to be over strength? I am going to be attending OCS in the near future and Civil Affairs sounds like an amazing career so I'm trying to figure out how to best shape my career and training to get there. Do I need to try and branch into a certain field? Should I try to get something high speed like a ranger tab prior to putting down a packet to be considered? Is it a pipe dream where they only need new officers once in a blue moon?
Posted in these groups: 
Civil Affairs
38A: Civil Affairs Officer
Civil Affairs 38A: Civil Affairs Officer
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 3
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Go do PL time in a branch of your choice. Then become an XO or AS3 in a different unit. You need experiance to be a good CA Officer. You can only gain this by living and doing it.
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Casey, with you going Officer you have some time to prepare for Selection. PT galore, of course. I wouldn't worry about Airborne because that is automatic once selected for CA, other badges though and Tabs are good as it shows your experience and skill. Graduate degrees are a good feature, as are language skills.
It is always open, once you are a seasoned 1LT you will be eligible to apply and attend Selection, so you will need to wait until you are close to becoming a CPT, then send the packet and attend CAAS which is run almost monthly. Recommended fields (in my personal opinion and experience) are Armor (cavalry specifically), Infantry, Artillery, and Engineer, with MI coming in close as well. Not to say if you aren't one of those you don't stand a chance, those are just the best CA Officers I've worked with.
Another route you could take, is to go to CA first as enlisted. Then go to OCS after a couple years in CA. Once you Commission you may return to CA when eligible as a 1LT without having to repeat CAAS.
It is always open, once you are a seasoned 1LT you will be eligible to apply and attend Selection, so you will need to wait until you are close to becoming a CPT, then send the packet and attend CAAS which is run almost monthly. Recommended fields (in my personal opinion and experience) are Armor (cavalry specifically), Infantry, Artillery, and Engineer, with MI coming in close as well. Not to say if you aren't one of those you don't stand a chance, those are just the best CA Officers I've worked with.
Another route you could take, is to go to CA first as enlisted. Then go to OCS after a couple years in CA. Once you Commission you may return to CA when eligible as a 1LT without having to repeat CAAS.
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Thank you for the feedback!
Its definitely my career goal to make it to CA. I am highly motivated by their mission. All of those branches are my top picks. Especially armor and engineer. I'm going to spend the next few years developing into the best and fittest LT I can be, pick up a language, and jump on any school I can. If I show up SF level fit with a useful language and some patches, who could say no to that?
Should I just pick one of the Armys in demand languages like Arabic? Would that pigeon hole me to working in the Miiddle East my whole career? Not that I mind going there, I just want to see things besides sand.
Its definitely my career goal to make it to CA. I am highly motivated by their mission. All of those branches are my top picks. Especially armor and engineer. I'm going to spend the next few years developing into the best and fittest LT I can be, pick up a language, and jump on any school I can. If I show up SF level fit with a useful language and some patches, who could say no to that?
Should I just pick one of the Armys in demand languages like Arabic? Would that pigeon hole me to working in the Miiddle East my whole career? Not that I mind going there, I just want to see things besides sand.
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