Infantry

[El Supremo]

I personally am interested in performing some kind of Stryker infantry as a lieutenant in the army; within the next four-five years. I am also told that becoming an Infantry Officer is highly sought after and that the chances of me getting Infantry are very slim if i am not within the top percentage of my Corps. so Why is infantry so sought after by other cadets?

[PhilK]

If you are interested in becoming an Infantry Officer, first you need to be open to serving where ever the Army needs you. There is Light Infantry, Mech Infantry and Stryker units, you do not specialize in one area...you are an Infantry Officer and will be used all over the place.

As for why it is so hard? I have no idea. Back when I got my commission if you wanted to be Infantry, then you put it at the top of your list and you usually got it. When you are about to graduate from your commissioning source (ROTC, OCS, USMA) you will pick the top three branches you want to serve in. Then the Army puts you were they need you, if you are lucky it will be in one of your top three...but again NEEDS OF THE ARMY.

If you want to try to guarantee your first choice, then be at the top of your class order of merit list (OML). This means, you keep your GPA high, do well on your APFT and show excellent leadership potential.

I have been an Infantry Officer for the past 10 years and would not trade it for the world.

[El Supremo]

Originally Posted by PhilK

If you are interested in becoming an Infantry Officer, first you need to be open to serving where ever the Army needs you. There is Light Infantry, Mech Infantry and Stryker units, you do not specialize in one area...you are an Infantry Officer and will be used all over the place.

As for why it is so hard? I have no idea. Back when I got my commission if you wanted to be Infantry, then you put it at the top of your list and you usually got it. When you are about to graduate from your commissioning source (ROTC, OCS, USMA) you will pick the top three branches you want to serve in. Then the Army puts you were they need you, if you are lucky it will be in one of your top three...but again NEEDS OF THE ARMY.

If you want to try to guarantee your first choice, then be at the top of your class order of merit list (OML). This means, you keep your GPA high, do well on your APFT and show excellent leadership potential.

I have been an Infantry Officer for the past 10 years and would not trade it for the world.

I have no problem with being where the army needs me or doing those other infantry specializations, (well except for Airbourne, because jumping out of a plane never seemed logical to me, but just like the JCLC camp rappel tower; i'll get over that). However the Georgia Southern University recruiter told me that Infantry is the hardest branch to be accepted into, mostly because most cadet's choices follow down the combat arms list:

1.Infantry
2.Armor
3.Aviation

I dont know if combat arms was less popular in your day, that may be the reason; just a sudden spike of youth that feels the need to lead troops into battle. Whatever the reason, his valedictorian (of the cadet corps) didnt even get his first choice (which was infantry) because of the high demand of it from cadets across the nation. Jeeze i figured if i wanted to go infantry i was a shooing.

[PhilK]

Keep in mind that you might be the top of your class, buy you are still rated against other cadets from other schools as well.

As for why Infantry is so hard, it could be a combination of things:

1.) The number of Cadets requesting Infantry has gone up.
2.) The number of Infantry LT slots that the Army has vacant could have gone down.
3.) Over the past 7 years, the Army may have been front loading Infantry LTs and the attrition rate has been lower then they expected (thus #2 comes into effect)

Ultimately when you get your commission, you will go where the Army needs you. If when you get your commission and the Army needs a bunch of AG LTs, then you go AG Corps (Adjutant General). If they need Chemical Corps officers...you go Chemical Corps.

At the end of the day you are there to meet the needs of the Army...not have the Army meet your wants.

[Airbourne Infantry]

Wait, I thought the Strykers were part of the Armor branch...

[PhilK]

Originally Posted by Airbourne Infantry

Wait, I thought the Strykers were part of the Armor branch...

No. Strykers, like Bradleys, are used as APCs. (That is an oversimplification, but you get the point.) Since they are wheeled instead of tracked, and lighter then Bradleys, they are considered a "medium" force as opposed to a "heavy" force.

The three primary sections of the Infantry are:

Light (which includes the Rangers, Airborne and Air Assualt sub groups)
Styker (These are found in 2nd ID and I believe 25th ID)
Mech (These are found in Armored Divisions like 1st Cav, 4th ID, 1st ID, 1st AD)

[CPTChaos4567]

Originally Posted by PhilK

No. Strykers, like Bradleys, are used as APCs. (That is an oversimplification, but you get the point.) Since they are wheeled instead of tracked, and lighter then Bradleys, they are considered a "medium" force as opposed to a "heavy" force.

The three primary sections of the Infantry are:

Light (which includes the Rangers, Airborne and Air Assualt sub groups)
Styker (These are found in 2nd ID and I believe 25th ID)
Mech (These are found in Armored Divisions like 1st Cav, 4th ID, 1st ID, 1st AD)

Strykers are located in 2nd ID in Fort Lewis Washington, 2nd ACR in Hawaii, and 172nd Infantry Brigade in Alaska.

The new Brigade Combat Team (BCT) model has started to blur the traditional lines of which divisions have certain roles. For instance 1st ID and 4th ID will both eventually have two light and two heavy BCTs. 1st Cav and 1st Armor will stay mostly heavy, and 2nd ID and 25th ID will have a mix of Stryker, light and maybe even heavy. Also the Army has been switching brigades around to different post so it is a bit difficult to keep track of what unit is at a certain post.
I've been an infantry officer for 7 years now, and I would not change a thing.
Even if you wind up with a branch other than infantry, you can do what is called "branch detail" or you can just request a branch transfer when you come into the Army. Its really not as hard to be an infantryman as the branching process makes it seem.
Good luck

[mtnsldr]

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