Direct Commission Program

The Corps of Engineers is a Combat Arms Branch, which also has combat support and combat service support roles. Missions encompass military and civil engineering and the related planning, organization, training, operation, and development. Engineer officers are responsible for training and leading troops in combat, topographic, and construction engineering operations; facilities maintenance; civil works programs; and leading Engineer troops in infantry combat operations.

The Cyber Branch plans, integrates, synchronizes, and executes cyberspace and electromagnetic warfare operations. Cyberspace Operations (CO) are the employment of cyberspace capabilities where the primary purpose is to achieve objectives in or through cyberspace. The interrelated missions of CO are defensive cyberspace operations (DCO), offensive cyberspace operations (OCO), and Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) operations. Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) operations are military actions involving the use of electromagnetic and directed energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) to support the commander’s intent and concept of operations. EW divisions include electromagnetic attack, electromagnetic protection, and electromagnetic support. Cyber Officers conduct cyberspace and EW operations, with both lethal and nonlethal ends, to enable the commander’s ability to mass effects and gain advantages in or through the cyberspace domain and EMS battlespace, and across other domains during multidomain operations (MDO) in support of unified land operations (ULO) objectives. Cyber Officers also design, develop, and deliver relevant, timely, and effective software and hardware solutions to enable and enhance CO and EW effects at all echelons. Cyber is the only branch specifically designed to engage adversaries directly within the cyberspace domain and the EMS battlespace through the employment of precision effects to deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy, or manipulate adversary capabilities while simultaneously ensuring the commander’s freedom of maneuver across all domains.

Branch 25 (Signal Corps) provides, operates, maintains, secures and defends the Army's portion of the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) consisting of communications and computer networks, information services, visual information support, and spectrum management operations (SMO) worldwide in support of the United States and multinational forces at all levels of command. Signal supports unified land operations by providing unique net-centric capabilities at every level from sustaining military bases, to global strategic communication facilities, to forward-deployed fighting forces. Signal provides seamless, secure, continuous and dynamic communications and information systems networks that enable mission command of Army, Joint, and Coalition forces in support of Joint, Interagency, Inter-governmental and Multinational (JIIM) operations. Signal also provides defense support of civil authorities (DSCA) during homeland disaster relief and other events. Signal officers are responsible for training and leading Signal Soldiers and units in combat that plan, integrate, synchronize, coordinate, and/or direct network operations and information services that ensure freedom of action in and through cyberspace. Signal Corps (25) is an operational support branch.

Military Police provide professional policing, investigations, corrections, and security support across the full range of military operations to the United States Army and the Joint Force in order to enable maneuver, protect the force, preserve readiness, and shape the security environment. Through the competencies of Soldiering, Policing, Investigations, and Corrections, MPs execute three disciplines: police operations, detention operations, and security and mobility support operations. Police operations encompass the associated law enforcement activities to control and protect populations and resources to facilitate the existence of a lawful and orderly environment and uphold the rule of law. Detention involves the detention of a population or group that pose some level of threat to military operations. Security and mobility support is conducted to protect the force, noncombatants, and enable the commanders’ freedom of action and freedom of maneuver.

Provides commanders with all-source and single discipline intelligence assessments and estimates at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels dealing with enemy capabilities, intentions, vulnerabilities and the effects of terrain and weather on operations. Provide predictive analysis of enemy courses of action; directs tasking of intelligence collection assets at all echelons; produces threat estimates to support doctrine, training and combat developments; ensures proper dissemination of intelligence; manages Geospatial Imagery Intelligence (GEOINT) operations; manage Human Intelligence (HUMINT) operations; manage Counterintelligence (CI) operations; manage Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) operations; participates in planning and conduct of Information Operations (IO).

Encompasses leader and staff positions concerned with the financial management operations for organizations and headquarters at all levels. Commands various sized FM units. Develops performance factors, analyzes capabilities based on resources available, and objectively measures output to provide advice and guidance concerning financial management and resources to commanders and activity chiefs. Prepares, consolidates, and analyzes financial data and management information systems reports at all command levels in support of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process. Provides cash operations, both U.S. and foreign, to support multi-force and multi-national missions across the globe. Directs disbursement, receipt, and deposit of public funds as an agent of the U.S. Treasury Department. Interprets financial laws and Comptroller General Decisions. Trains military, and civilian personnel in all areas of financial management. Financial managers must exhibit the highest standards of discretion, judgment, conduct, and professional ethics per applicable statutes and regulations.

Encompasses positions that plan, develop, interpret, coordinate, integrate and implement the Department of Defense (DoD)and Army’s human resources (HR) programs and policies for the military, civilian, retirees, their families and contractor work force at all echelons. In addition to common staff responsibilities and duties, some HR programs include military personnel manning and readiness management; personnel accountability and strength reporting (PASR); officer and enlisted distribution and assignment; military essential personnel services; R5 (reception, replacement, return to duty, rest and recuperation, Redeployment), managing automated military personnel systems; casualty management and operations; band support; postal operations management, equal opportunity; morale, welfare and recreation (MWR), Unit Status Reporting, operational and tactical personnel planning, equal opportunity, retention management, deployment and Soldier readiness processing and mobilization execution.

The branch provides the Army with a highly trained Corps of tactically and technically proficient Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) experts that:

(1) Command, direct, and control the activities of CBRN Corps units.

(2) Plan, employ, and coordinate CBRN systems in support of Unified Action Partners, as part of unified land operations.

(3) Plan, coordinate, and execute force protection, CBRN consequence management, and defense support to civil authorities.

(4) Perform functions related to the life cycle management of chemical munitions and materiel, to include storage and demilitarization.

(5) Prepare response plans for chemical accident or incident response and assistance (CAIRA) operations and biological accident or incident response and assistance (BAIRA) operations and nuclear accident or incident response and assistance (NAIRA) operations.

(6) Provide commanders (battalion through combatant command) with recommendations on the full range of CBRN operations, threats and hazards.

(7) Plan, recommend, and evaluate CBRN training activities.

(8) Plan, recommend, and evaluate the maintenance of CBRN equipment.

(9) Prepare plans and policies pertaining to the organization, training, operations, and equipment of CBRN units and personnel.

(10) Direct training, operations, administration, supply, maintenance, and security activities of CBRN units.

Plans, integrates, and directs sustainment activities that enable Army forces to integrate and sustain unified land operations. Integrates the functions of field services, force health protection, maintenance, ammunition, supply, and transportation. Exploits the various aspects of an agile logistics force when planning and executing operations. Know sustainment unit capabilities and employment methods. Provide relevant sustainment information to the commander in clear terms, enabling the commander to rapidly visualize, describe, and direct operations. Translate information on status and location of resources into the impact on combat effectiveness in the present and near future using current and emerging information technology. This branch is not an accession branch.

Functional Analyst- 90A

As a Functional Analyst for the Logistics Corps the individual must be able to relate large amounts of data and analytics to operational requirements and processes, they must be able to apply real-world logistics contexts. The functional analyst must be adept at communicating to senior-level commanders and executives, providing input for future operational plans and programs. They should be able to use their knowledge of logistics and data analytical skills to identify inefficiencies and develop process improvement plans in order to streamline operations and maximize efficiencies in both fiscal and time-constrained scenarios. Applicants should be an expert in information systems/data analytics and logistics.

• Partner with contractors to develop and analyze business intelligence, data & analytics needs
• Acts as the subject matter expert on reporting tools and data analysis, make recommendations on process changes
• Provides data analysis and reporting solutions support for assigned departments
• Participates and leads the planning process including inception, design, build, test, and deploy of business intelligence data & analysts solutions
• Interpret business requirements, and determines optimum business intelligence solutions to meet needs
• Explores data and discovers patterns, meaningful relationships, anomalies, and trends.
• Analyze testing results to ensure the solution meets the needs of the Army.
• Designs and delivers end-user training and training materials for business intelligence and analytics solutions
• Research business problems and creates models that help analyze these business problems
• Verifies collected data is with required quality and provides input to the development of information quality metrics/standards

Experience

A minimum of 5 years of experience in SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), SAP Business Reporting Tools, data warehousing principals/best practice solutions, SAP BEx Analyzer, cross-functional knowledge and manipulation experience of SAP Modules, and proven track record of architecting complete SAP Business Warehousing (BW) / Business Intelligence (BI) solutions to include at least one project is highly desired but not required

Previous military experience preferred but not required

Education

A Master’s degree or higher in the following fields are preferred, a minimum of a bachelor’s degree is required:

• Business with a focus on Information Technology or Computer Science.
• Science, Technology, Engineering, or a Mathematics Field (STEM)
• Information Systems Management
• Computer Science
• Data Analytics or Business Analytics
• Operations Research
• Supply Chain Management

The essential and enduring mission of CA is to engage and leverage the civil component of the Operational Environment (OE) while enhancing, enabling, or providing governance. CA forces execute their core competencies (transitional governance, civil network development and engagement, civil knowledge integration, and civil-military integration) across the range of military operations. Unique functions performed by the CA branch provide commanders a capability to find, disrupt, and defeat threats to, and within, the civil component of the OE. Threats in the civil component could be ineffective government, infrastructure degradation, criminal threats, asymmetric threats, and other factors that lead to unstable environments. CA forces also enable mission command, increase situational understanding, preserve combat power, and consolidate gains in support of the strategic objective of establishing a secure and stable OE that is consistent with U.S. interests. CA forces are specifically organized, trained, and resourced to address the civil environment and to integrate civil knowledge, resources, and considerations into decision making during activities that span the competition continuum.

Network Engineering provides the Army with a professional core of officers able to lead and manage highly technical Soldiers, units, and activities that develop, build, operate, maintain and defend the Army’s portion of the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) in support of unified land operations. Data Network Engineers are skilled in systems engineering, project management and the application of best business practices to provide secure information solutions to Army and DOD users. They apply their skills and in-depth technical knowledge to enable the Army’s globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities, communications and computer network engineering, associated processes and personnel for collecting, processing, storing, transporting, disseminating, and managing information on demand to commanders, policy makers and support personnel. They know and understand cyberspace computer and communication network infrastructure engineering, information systems engineering and cybersecurity essential to the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN). Data Network Engineering officers assess, engineer, integrate, secure, validate, and manage current and emerging communications, computer systems and information technologies to include local, wide area, voice, classified and unclassified cyberspace networks and systems, as well as evaluate technologies, create technical specifications for integrating technologies, and perform project management functions in order to acquire, implement, and operate technologies Data Network Engineering officers are essential to providing and defending the Army’s portion of the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN) and planning, synchronizing, and enabling friendly effects in and through the cyberspace domain.

Information operations (IO) is the integrated employment, during military operations, of information-related capabilities (IRC) in concert with other lines of operation to influence, disrupt, corrupt, or usurp the decision making of adversaries and potential adversaries while protecting our own. Army IO supports the commander’s ability to optimize the information element of combat power. An Information Operations (30A) officer may also be called upon to fulfill the role of a joint IO officer in a joint environment. IO Officers synchronize, coordinate and deconflict the use of all information-related capabilities available to them in order to affect the information environment to operational advantage and request the support of external information-related capabilities and units, when necessary to meet the commander’s intent and concept of operations.

FA 34

FA 40, space operations, is a functional area within the Operations Support functional category. The Army’s cadre of trained Space Operations Officers provides in-depth expertise and experience to leverage space assets for the Service. This functional area provides two distinct career paths: Space Operations Officer (FA40A) and Astronaut (FA40C). FA40A officers serve in shaping or operational positions supporting the Army and Joint, Inter-agency, Intergovernmental and Multinational (JIIM) organizations that focus on developing and integrating space capabilities as well as operationally supporting the warfighter with space-base capabilities. As the Army continues to identify requirements for the “space-empowered” Future Force, FA40A officers are integrated into positions in which they can shape, research and develop, and acquire space-related capabilities or in operations and planning positions at all organizational levels within the Army or JIIM environments. FA40C provides the opportunity for officers specially selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to serve as astronauts for human exploration of space. The goal of the Functional Area is to normalize space throughout the Army’s operations and activities.

Public Affairs (PA) is an occupational specialty within the Information Operations Career Field in which trained and experienced general PA officers (AOC 46A) respond to 21st Century information requirements. Public affairs officers are personal staff officers or staff principals and supervise PA staff sections or attached PA units. They serve as the principal PA officer or on the PA staff at division level and higher. Public Affairs officers can also serve as a Secretary of the General Staff (SGS) at the grade of MAJ and LTC. They serve as instructors at the Defense Information School (DINFOS), Fort Meade, Maryland, and other institutions. They provide PA coordination at all levels of command and lead PA units and organizations.

Army Foreign Area Officers (FAOs) are the U.S. Army’s premier regional and country experts, and they are Soldiers grounded in the profession of Arms; deliberately accessed, trained, educated, and developed to provide leadership and expertise in diverse organizations in the Army and Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational (JIIM) environments. FAOs are routinely forward deployed acting in an “economy of force” capacity on behalf of the Army and Joint Force, often the only Army and/or DOD representative in foreign countries. FAOs serve in positions which require the application of foreign area expertise, political-military awareness, foreign language proficiency, and professional military knowledge and experience with military activities having an economic, social, cultural, or political impact. FAOs key advisors to senior-level commanders, Chiefs of Mission, and other senior civilians; serve as attachés; security assistance officers; political-military operations, plans, and policy officers; political-military intelligence staff officers; liaison officers to foreign military organizations and the U.S. interagency; and service school instructors.

The Operations Research/Systems Analysis (ORSA) functional area encompasses diverse disciplines that include personnel management, doctrine and force development, training management, system testing, system acquisition, decision analysis and resource management, as well as tactical, operational and strategic planning from division through combatant command, and from Army Command (ACOM) through the highest levels of the DOD. ORSA officers use analytic methods and mathematically-based procedures to enable leadership decisions in a constantly changing global environment. The ORSAs introduce quantitative analysis to the military decision-making processes by developing and applying probability models, statistical inference, simulations, optimization and economics models.

Specifically, ORSA officers:

(1) Formulate solutions to complex problems and design research and study approaches whose conclusions affect positive change.

(2) Apply technical analytic skills to military issues.

(3) Infer casual relationships from observed events.

(4) Conduct and supervise quantitative and qualitative analyses.

(5) Communicate complex ideas, analysis, and recommendations to decision-makers at all levels in terms appropriate to the audience.

(6) Organize workload, assign tasks, and lead and mentor civilian and military subordinates.

(7) Conduct research to acquire sufficient knowledge of new or unfamiliar processes or systems requiring assessment.

(8) Develop tools and processes that focus on planning, executing, and assessing military operations for the effects produced to achieve objectives.

(9) Assist staff and commands at all levels in the development of metrics and in conducting assessments to ensure they are “effectiveness” and “performance” based.

Functional Area 50 supports both the operational and institutional forces by combining the functions of force development and force integration to manage the force. The Force Management FA develops officers who are primarily integrators for requirements determination, combat development, organizational development and documentation, program development and funding, materiel solutions development and fielding at operational and strategic levels of the Army and Joint forces.

Manages the activities of the Material Developer and supports the missions of the Combat Developer organizations involved in the conception, research, development, engineering, test and evaluation, contract management and acquisition of material and automated information systems for the Army, from requirements formulation through the disposal of obsolete systems. Participates in all aspects of the systems acquisition from the review of the Mission Area Analysis, Battlefield Development Plan, and the Army Modernization Memorandum, resulting in a material solution, through all Life Cycle System Management Model phases outlined in DoD Directive 5000.1, Defense Acquisition.

FA 52 officers are the primary advisors to maneuver commanders on the effects of nuclear weapons. These officers integrate with Geographic Combatant Commander (GCC) and Army Service Component Commander (ASCC) planning staffs. FA 52 officers also work in the joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational (JIIM) environment on nuclear operations, stockpile management, and policy, plans, and treaties related to nuclear and WMD issues. CWMD operations encompass all efforts actors of concern to curtail the conceptualization, development, possession, proliferation, use, and effects of WMD, related expertise, materials, technologies, and means of delivery. FA 52 officers use their knowledge and experience to inform planning and execution at the strategic and operational levels of war. CWMD operations cross all six warfighting functions with the CWMD activities and tasks.

Functional Area (FA) 57 provides officers that are experts in the integration of Battle Command Systems and Simulations making a seamless environment for Commanders to conduct operations, mission planning, and mission rehearsals. The FA 57 officers are trainers who develop, plan, coordinate and execute exercises at all levels of command: battalion, brigade, division, combatant command, interagency and multi-national. This functional area operates in all the doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) domains.

The Marketing functional area provides the Army with expertise in the field of marketing by providing highly trained officers with industry-specific knowledge. FA58 marketing officers are both creative and analytical thinkers who synthesize market signals and data to develop branding and marketing strategies in support of the Army accessions enterprise. Their prior career as basic branch officers, combined with marketing knowledge and experience, helps them translate strategic concepts into effective messaging that communicates and burnishes the Army brand and the value proposition of Army service. Marketing officers imagine solutions extending beyond conventional ways of thinking. Marketing officers must be discerning in their judgment and ability to operate with little or no supervision as trusted custodians of the Army brand across all commands, the media, and society.

Specifically, Marketing officers:

(1) Manage the brand of the Army through strategic marketing.

(2) Create marketing campaigns and content that resonates with current and future soldiers.

(3) Deliver content through effective mediums that are relevant to local markets.

(4) Analyze marketing effectiveness and returns to investment through data collection and marketing analytics.

(5) Provide expert marketing implementation and guidance to senior Army leaders and accession commanders.

(6) Lead the Army marketing enterprise.

Supports the responsibilities of the Department of the Army and the Secretary of Defense concerning the strategic direction of the Department of Defense. Provides the capability for strategic analysis and policy development performed by departmental, joint and multinational staffs as well as interagency working groups and task forces in support of the formulation and implementation of national security strategy and national military strategy.