What's Your Next Move?: The Ins and Outs of the Armor Enlisted Assignments Process

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Armor Branch is the career branch for Career Management Field (CMF) 19 and is located in Alexandria, Virginia. Our office only deals with enlisted assignments and issues.

The military personnel include the branch chief (an Armor captain); a senior career advisor (a master sergeant with PMOS 19Z) who controls SFC(P) and MSG/1SG assignments and functions as the branch NCOIC; and two career advisors (sergeants first class with PMOS 19D and 19K) who control PVT through SFC assignments for the respective MOS. The civilian staff include a civilian supervisor, three assignment managers, a schools manager, and a clerk-typist. Many factors come into play when determining a soldier’s assignment, the most critical being the needs of the Army. Before an assignment can be made, a valid requirement must exist for a particular type of soldier at a given installation. Many installations have shortages of certain types of soldiers, but this in itself does not constitute a requirement. Requirements are derived from the number of soldiers authorized, the projected number assigned, the distributable inventory of the MOS and grade, and the unit’s priority of fill, based on its mission. We often get calls from soldiers with ‘letters of acceptance’ from certain units, but these letters have no real value in determining a requirement. Real requirements are generally determined by PERSCOM’s Enlisted Distribution Division which verifies and validates requisitions for soldiers. These in turn get filled by Armor Branch. Because valid requirements change, timing makes a big difference in the availability of assignments. Once a requirement has been validated, Armor Branch is then responsible for filling the requisition with a qualified soldier. In determining qualification, we ensure that the soldier’s PMOS (including additional skill identifiers and skill qualification identifiers) and grade match the requirement. In some situations a soldier might fill a higher grade position if he’s promotable. In most cases, a soldier’s assignment will not be changed if he becomes promotable after assignment instructions are issued.

We also check to ensure that the soldier is PCS-eligible. By PCS-eligible, we mean the soldier, if he is overseas, has a DEROS date compatible with the assignment. He must have a minimum of two years time on station as of the report month if he is in CONUS and being considered for an overseas assignment (one year for first-term soldiers). Or he must have a minimum of four years time on station as of the report month if he is in CONUS and being considered for another CONUS assignment. Waivers to PCS-eligibility can be obtained from the PERSCOM Combat Arms Division Chief through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs when certain situations warrant an exception. Such waivers are generally obtained to move soldiers into or out of low-density positions or special duty assignments. PCS-eligibility also accounts for stabilizations. Stabilizations are our promise that a unit can keep a soldier for a certain length of time, generally no more than two years from the beginning of the stabilized period. The most common problem with stabilizations is that units fail to request a stabilization until after the soldier has received assignment instructions. If you have been selected to attend master gunner school or to serve in a first sergeant position, check with your unit about requesting a stabilization. Another major factor in making an assignment is the soldier’s professional development. The Armor Enlisted Professional Development Guide, which is published by the Armor Center, identifies the ‘Professional Development Triangle’ which places professional development responsibility on the soldier, the soldier’s commander, and us, the career advisors. The guide What’s Your Next Move?: The Ins and Outs of the Armor Enlisted Assignments Process by Sergeant First Class Michael R. Laney, Captain Joel C. Williams, Master Sergeant Curtis C. Brown, and Master Sergeant Joseph S. Woytko further provides guidance on the assignment and career progression of Armor soldiers. We try to make assignments consistent with the recommendations outlined in the guide and on the Armor career map. This means avoiding repetitive TDA or staff-type assignments, selecting soldiers with recent troop leadership time commensurate with their grade for special duty assignments, making decisions that provide the force with well-rounded Armor soldiers, and enhancing the promotion potential of soldiers. Soldiers who have shown a willingness to pursue self-development through military and civilian education, GT score improvement (most special duty assignments require at least a GT of 100), enrollment in the Excellence in Armor Program, and other self-improvement programs typically have an edge over those who don’t. All too often, we get calls from soldiers who are resigned to never seeing another promotion. This lack of interest in self-development does not relieve us of our responsibilities to integrate professional development into the assignment process.

With the recent reductions in the Retention Control Points for enlisted grades, retainability has become a more important assignment factor. Generally, a soldier must have two years retainability for a CONUS-to-CONUS PCS, 13 months (from DEROS) for along tour overseas-to-CONUS assignment, and seven months for a short tour overseas to CONUS. Assignments are not made to overseas short tour areas unless the soldier also has enough retainability to complete the tour and to return for another CONUS tour. Retainability only means the maximum amount of time the soldier is eligible to reenlist for, not the amount of time to his current ETS (except first-term soldiers). Soldiers who refuse to reenlist for an assignment are counselled by the installation and required to sign the Declination of Continued Service Statement which precludes future reenlistments.

First-term soldiers have different retainability criteria. First-termers must have retainability to complete the appropriate tour requirement as of their ETS dates. Consequently, many first-termers who have their initial tours in CONUS are precluded from overseas selection. The important point here is that if a CONUS-based first-termer desires to go overseas, he can increase his chances immensely if he submits a request that expresses his willingness to extend or reenlist for the assignment. The Exceptional Family Member Program and the Married Army Couples Program are two programs that facilitate family welfare in the assignment process. These generally don’t have much of an impact on the assignment of soldiers because most medical problems of family members in EFMP are treatable at most installations and most career branches are cooperative in coordinating joint domicile assignments for MACP soldiers.

There has been some difficulty in coordinating EFMP care in Europe because of the realignment of many of the medical care facilities there. This causes delays in the departure of Europe-bound soldiers, especially if the EFMP enrollment is not made until the soldier outprocesses the losing command. In some cases, family travel is denied and soldiers are required to proceed on unaccompanied tours. If this happens, contact Armor Branch to determine the possibility of a change in your assignment. The MACP ensures that a joint domicile assignment, although not guaranteed, is considered in the assignment process. It is essential that married spouses get enrolled in the program as soon as possible after marriage and that they don’t initiate personnel actions that reduce their chances of a joint domicile assignment being made, such as reenlisting for an installation that does not have adequate vacancies for the spouse. We at Armor Branch make every effort to provide assignments that keep families together and provide adequate medical services.

A soldier’s preference, believe it or not, is also a major consideration in his assignment processing. With strict rules on the processing of deletions (cancellation) of assignments, you increase your chance of getting what you want if you make your preference known before an assignment is made. To ensure we know your preference, update your CONUS and overseas area of preference through SIDPERS by submitting a DA Form 4187 requesting your preference, and call your career advisor. The areas of preference should be updated whenever the form is not current. The DA Form 4187 or the phone call to your career advisor is best received when you are eight months short of DEROS, if overseas, or as you approach two years time on station if in CONUS looking for an overseas assignment. When expressing a preference, it is very important that you select locations where there is a large density of Armor soldiers and an abundance of positions commensurate with your particular development needs; otherwise you force us to make a realistic decision for you.

One frequently misunderstood factor in assignments is the Homebase and Advanced Assignment program. When we assign a soldier with the rank of sergeant through master sergeant to a short tour area, we project his return assignment at the same time. Although many soldiers elect not to participate in the program, there is no assumption that the soldier will return to his current station after the short tour. Quite often, because of installation strength projections, the soldier will still be assigned to the originally selected installation. To increase your chances of being assigned a homebase or advanced assignment of your choice, keep your preferences up to date. If you volunteer for a short tour, express a preference for a return assignment on the request. Pinpoint assignments to long tour areas are made by the gaining command and coordinated directly between the command and the losing installation; we have no impact on pinpoint assignments.

We often get assignment requests based on personal hardship reasons. While we try to assist all soldiers in going where they want and need to go, we can’t always make assignments based solely on hardship. Soldiers with extreme hardships should contact their chain of command and MILPOs for assistance in processing compassionate reassignment requests or requests for assignment deletion. The Compassionate Review Panel reviews and determines whether to approve or disapprove compassionate reassignment requests. When a request is approved, the Compassionate Review Panel coordinates the compassionate reassignment with Armor Branch. It is rare that a soldier will be assigned to a location that has no authorized position for his PMOS. Now we will discuss the tools we use to make assignments. The primary tool we use at Armor Branch is the Enlisted Distribution and Assignment System (EDAS). It is an automated system that uses soldier information in the Personnel Database (PERDB). The information is supplied to PERDB through the SIDPERS transactions that are submitted by the MILPO. We use this system to select soldiers for assignments based on PCS-eligibility and certain qualifications required for the assignment. Once the right soldier has been selected for the right requirement, he is assigned a requisition number and the assignment is entered into EDAS. If the soldier is being sent to a school enroute to his next assignment (master gunner, tank/scout commander certification, airborne (19D only) etc.), he will be scheduled for the course and special instructions will be supplied in the assignment instructions. The assignment instructions will transmit over the following weekend on a Centralized Assignment Procedure (CAP) cycle to the MILPO who will use the assignment instructions to conduct a levy briefing and issue orders to the soldier. Before assignments are made on staff sergeants through master sergeant/first sergeant, the soldier’s Career Management Information File (CMIF) is reviewed. The CMIF contains all hard copy NCOERs signed by the soldier since he became a staff sergeant (they are forwarded to us after posting in the microfiche at the Enlisted Records and Evaluation Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana), the most recent photo of the soldier, DA Form 1059, DA Forms 2A and 2-1, reviewed by the soldier’s most recent DA board, and recent assignment documentation such as DA Forms 4187. Since soldiers in the ranks of private through sergeant have no CMIF, it is particularly important that they ensure their areas of preference are updated through SIDPERS and submit DA Forms 4187 in a timely manner. One component of EDAS is an automated assignment nomination module that compares validated requisitions with available soldiers. In this system, soldiers are given scores based on their qualification data in PERDB. Such data includes areas of preference, PMOS, grade, ASI/SQI data, DEROS, time on station, etc. Once a soldier is selected for an assignment, the career advisors verify eligibility and accept or reject the system’s nomination. Generally, if a soldier is eligible for the assignment, it will be accepted. Again, this emphasizes the need to have accurate preferences on file. Now that you have a basic understanding of the assignment process, you may be wondering what types of assignments are out there. Since we assume most Armor soldiers are aware of the locations of various Armor units, we will only concentrate on low-density and special duty assignments, such as drill sergeant duty, recruiting, readiness group advisors (advisors to Reserve Component units), observer controllers at the NTC and CMTC, Inspector General duty, equal opportunity duty, range control duty at non-Armor installations, and special management command positions in Kuwait, the On-Site Inspection Agency in Frankfurt, and the Army fielding team in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. These positions are highly competitive and many contain specific qualification standards (most are outlined in AR 614-200 in the Enlisted Ranks Update). If you are interested in these types of assignments, it is critical that you have recent proven performance in the troop leadership position commensurate with your grade and that you meet all of the qualification criteria. Armor Branch also publishes the Armor Branch Newsletter that advertises different programs and vacancies for which we are seeking applicants. While the assignment process as a whole is fairly complex, it is not beyond reality to have a profound impact on your own future by keeping yourself highly competitive, being realistic in your preferences, and ensuring your preferences are made known prior to receipt of assignment instructions. You can correspond with us at Commander, PERSCOM, ATTN: TAPC-EPK-R, 2461 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA 22331-0452. Tel: DSN 221-9080/COM (703) 325-9080.

Sergeant First Class Michael Laney is assigned as the MOS 19K Career Advisor with Armor Branch, Combat Arms Division, Enlisted Personnel Management Directorate, U. S. Total Army Personnel Command, in Alexandria, Va. He has served in all positions of a tank platoon in 1/63 Armor, 4/73 Armor, 2/37 Armor, 2/68 Armor, and as a drill sergeant in B Co, 3/81 Armor.

Captain Joel Williams was commissioned in Armor in December 1985 from Jacksonville State University. He served with 2d AD (Forward) and commanded M1A1, M3, and student units at Fort Knox. He is a graduate of CAS3, IOAC, and AOBC and is currently serving as the Enlisted Branch Chief, Armor Branch, PERSCOM.

Master Sergeant Curtis Brown is currently assigned as the Senior Career Advisor, Armor Branch, EPMD, PERSCOM. His past assignments have been with the 11th ACR and 3d ID in Europe as a scout squad leader, scout platoon sergeant, cavalry platoon sergeant, regimental master gunner, and first sergeant. Master Sergeant Joseph Woytko is currently assigned as the MOS 19D Career Advisor with Armor Branch, EPMD,

PERSCOM.

His previous assignments have consisted mainly of duty in divisional and regimental cavalry units, mainly in the 2d ACR. He served as squad leader, section sergeant, platoon sergeant, first sergeant, Bradley master gunner, and drill sergeant.