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A Second Lieutenant is an officer in the United States Army. Officers holding this rank serve either as the commanders of a platoon-sized element (15-50 soldiers) or as staff officers. All second lieutenants hold both types of positions during their time holding this rank. The former job of commanding a platoon, known formally as being a platoon leader, is the more prestigious position of the two and the one required for officers to move on to the next rank. Second lieutenants will serve in such capacity for anywhere from 12-24 months, usually advancing to the next rank of First Lieutenant during this time. Work as a staff officer is done before receiving command of a platoon in order to prepare the officer for the magnitude of such a task.

While serving in the leadership position of platoon leader, Second Lieutenants have five senior non-commissioned officers (NCO's), one platoon sergeant (E-6 or E-7) and four squad leaders (E-5 or E-6) serving underneath them. Underneath these NCO's, there is a variable amount of junior NCO's (E-4 or E-5) serving in other leadership positions. The rest of the platoon--that is to say the bulk of the platoon--is made of soldiers (E-1 to E-4). The job of the platoon leader is to plan training for the unit, supervise its execution, and lead the unit in all its actions, through the use of orders and disciplined initiative, executed by the NCO's in the platoon on behalf of the platoon leader, a Second Lieutenant.

Sited Sources: U.S. Army Ranks List - Lowest to Highest. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.federalpay.org/military/army/ranks