C/PVT Hopper, David CharlesMS 1100Career Branch ChoicesSpeaking as a newly appointed second lieutenant in the US Army, my three choices of main service would be quite varied. In no particular order they would be Air-Defense Artillery, Aviation, and Infantry. I've always liked the idea of flying, be it transport or actual combat vehicles wouldn't matter to me. I would like to fly attack or combat support choppers though. I've always wanted the challenge and the trigger time of being an infantryman as well. ADA, just seems really interesting, although I never knew much about it until now.As far as aviation goes I've always liked the idea of small extremely fast and maneuverable yet hig ...view middle of the document...
The role of the Aviation Officer has 5 actual career MOS's*Aviation, General (15A).*Aviation, Combined Arms Aviation (15B).*Aviation, Tactical Intelligence (15C).*Aviation, Logistics (15D).*Aviation, Tactical Communications (15E).Army Aviation supports the maneuver style of 'Air Battle'. Aviation officers must be able to fight in all conditions of weather and terrain, anywhere in the world. Aviation officers can look forward to a variety of key positions within the combat, combat support and combat service support arms functions.Aviation roles include offensive, defensive, and special operations, troop and equipment movement, medical evacuation, battlefield surveillance, command and control, reconnaissance, security, signals intelligence/electronic warfare (SIGINT/EW), airspace control and logistics operations. Equally important are aviation roles in the areas of combat development, training development and doctrine, recruiting, service school and training center instruction, and advisory duty with reserve component aviation units. Again, all I want to do is fly and kill people, so I'd have to pass flight school and do well enough to choose which aircraft I want to train in.My second choice would be Air Defense Artillery. Who wouldn't want to fire missiles to blow things up, especially if your missiles protect your allies from death while raining death on your enemy's planes and missiles? Personally I'd like to be able to fire shoulder mounted stinger missiles so I am still up close to the fight. However, if needed I'd still would not mind sitting on my duff on tracked and wheeled vehicles, as long as I get to blow up things. Air Defense has two main groups of weapons systems - HIMAD and SHORAD.*HIMAD (High To Medium Altitude Air Defense): These are the longer-range systems used to defend against aircraft and missile threats. They provide corps and theater level air defense protection. HIMAD is open to all AD officers. HIMAD has about 55-60% of the total Air Defense Lieutenant positions.*SHORAD (Short-Range Air Defense): As the name indicates, these are the weapon systems that defend against low altitude, close in aircraft threats. SHORAD systems support combat and combat support units providing direct air defense protection for divisional combat maneuver units and armored cavalry regiments (ACR). There are SHORAD units with all the Army's divisions and ACRs. Male AD officers can be assigned to any SHORAD unit. Female AD officers are limited in which positions they can occupy.The ADA OBC, or officer basic course,...
