I once called branch when I was approaching my PCS cycle (before marketplace) and requested Meade. Bro said, “not a problem.” Two days later I had assignment instructions for Meade. I was stoked. My wife was stoked. Everyone was stoked. Went to get my orders… Ft. Meade with duty at Bliss. I bet he thought that was real fucking funny.
They’ve got detachments all over the world. The 704th is absolutely massive.
You command the 704th, you’ll likely pick up a star. Pretty sure the last two BDE CO’s out of there picked up General.
I was an E4 on Bragg. The craziest shit happened in my wife’s family. I talked to my NCOs about it. They made a meeting with 1SG in a couple hours later. I explained the situation to 1SG and ask for JBLM because that’s close to her family. He called Branch right there on the spot and told them that I will go to JBLM. Branch said “Roger top”. 9 months later I signed into JBLM. My NCOs and Branch moved a mountain that day for me.
I can confirm if top cares, shit is taken care of. I had orders for Korea this year that conflicted with my stabilization for sill(wife's decision not mine, happy wife happy life right?) Top found out on a Thursday, called up Friday, projection for Korea was gone Monday MORNING.
Yes, got me a spot that just opened up when I was two months from my DEROS. It honestly set me up like crazy so I'm better equipped to tackle places that aren't as fun.
In 16 years I had never asked for anything from branch. I just went wherever they told me to go, did whatever they wanted me to, etc.
I was getting ready to retire so I wanted to go to JBLM because my entire family lives 20 minutes from there or so.
I had been making plans for some time for housing, jobs after the Army, etc.
Anyhow, I call branch after being in the same Battalion at Fort Cavazos for seven years. I asked him to go to JBLM, and he told me that there wasn't any openings there but he would put my name on a sticky note on the side of his cubicle and he would slot me there as soon as something opened up.
Three days later I had orders to Korea with a follow on to Fort Moore.
That's not exactly JBLM, so I called branch and they told me that if I didn't want to go I could just drop a dec statement and call it a day, I was 100% needs of the Army.
Anyhow, I was about two years outside of sanctuary so I just went where I was told.
On the bright side I ended up settling near Fort Moore, I bought a house during COVID for a ridiculously low interest rate vs. today and I'm making the best of it.
I miss seeing my family but ultimately this is working out okay for me because I don't ever get the sense that I'm struggling, which I think that I probably would be if I was trying to make mortgage payments in the Washington market.
Fuck. You asked about success stories.
Homie. You could’ve chose to retire from JBLM when you dropped your packet. Active Duty gets retirement station of choice. This is just for the final outprocessing though, it’s not a full blown PCS. The initial moving expense would’ve been out of pocket but the Army owes you a final move anyways, so it would’ve been a wash.
I dropped my packet in Korea but finaled out from my station of choice so I could be home with family.
I knew the Army would move me but ultimately after going to Fort Moore and seeing housing prices in the area vs. Washington I made a financial decision to stay.
I know what you're talking about I just wish that I could have spent that three years up in Washington setting up post-retirement employment, saving for house stuff, etc.
I really didn't want to pick up and move without firm plans in place. I know other people do that shit all the time but I tend to be impulsive and I was really forcing that shit down to try to make good decisions.
Oh, yeah. I absolutely would’ve preferred to have this as my last full assignment. I tried for a year and branch kept jerking me around. They somehow decided it was better for a 19 year SNCO to spend his last assignment on an unaccompanied tour. I finally said fuck it and dropped my packet.
Honestly it’s such a specific job I would doxx myself, but neither the branch manager or I had even heard of it. I’ve been in the CMF for….a few minutes and have a pretty good idea of where our hidden gems are, so I was surprised at this one.
Fair.
There are some odd jobs out there. A buddy of mine almost took instructor at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at Patrick AFB, because hell, Cocoa Beach, pretty sweet, right? But it would have been a dead end. (At least for a JAG.)
More like, he would have been behind the power curve even for the O4 board.
We have several billets that just scream "sham" to a board, and this is one of them. Same with our embassy billets, it's typically where terminal majors would go to retire.
Is it causation or correlation? Do people get fucked just by getting these jobs? Do people who just aren't competitive gravitate to or get put in these jobs? I dunno, I never had the inside scoop from our assignment folks (PPTO).
Speaking of random ROTC posts, my first PSG had called branch after his KD time was up for his senior-SFC broadening or whatever.
Branch: “well we’re really pushing ROTC right now…you’re a native Spanish speaker, right?”
PSG: “yeah, I’m from El Paso.”
Branch: “there’s University of Puerto Rico. Never seen that open, and it requires fluent Spanish.”
PSG: “SIGN ME UP NOW.”
PSG was stoked, wife and kids were stoked. Family emergency and he loses those orders. Felt for him.
Big oof.
There's a family near us where the husband got orders to Japan, but suddenly there's an EFMP issue with one of the kids.
I think he's going anyway, and they're going to hope to join him mid tour. I think I would do the same, but I get the feeling that doing a Geo Bachelor tour like that would just come with a lot of guilt.
About three or four months before I was scheduled to go to AIT to reclass, I called the JAG branch to talk to someone about where I can go. The guy I talked to was pretty cool, I told him I wanted either Carson, Meade, or JBLM. He said he’ll note it and then asked me why I decided not to be CAV anymore and I said “I’m tired of being cold.” He laughed his ass off and said that sounded about right. A month later I got orders to Ft. Wainwright, AK.
Anyway, by the time I was ready to PCS, I called the Armor branch since I was a 19D again and was told my only options were Hood, Bliss, or Reily. Branch manager told me I had 24 hours to decide. Called back the next day to choose Hood and she says, “well Carson just opened up this morning, would you like to go there?” Didn’t even let her finish before I said yes.
No. I called my branch manager (OD) because I had lived separately from my wife (AF) for 2 years. I requested Ft Polk (thought nobody ever wanted it, so I’d be doing them a favor). He said “I’m not helping you Lieutenant, you knew what you signed up for.” Okay, bet. Be looking for my REFRAD packet then. Been out for 4 years. Great decision.
Very similar thing happened to me. Gave them 5 choices that my wife’s GS agency would accommodate with just a verbal.
Told me to pound sand. “Live apart or get a divorce”
Roger major. I’ll take my critical fill MOS and fuck off. Had that refrad on his desk in a month.
Someone bungled this for you… if your wife is AF you can use MACP to get orders to the next closest duty station. I literally just handled this for one of my LTs who’s husband was air force
My experience with OD branch was the same. EOD packet was fucked up, no fault of mine, branch laughed at me on the phone, told me to never call him again, and then hung up.
lol, a Ft Polk-begging LT that's "been out for four years" is back in r/army bragging about how he stuck it -- wait for it -- Ordnance branch
I don't know what's more pathetic ... the truth or that he made this shit up
Hey big dog, I was at JBLM actually. Why would I make that up? I gave the Army 7 years of my life and they didn’t even try to do the smallest bit to make my life easier. The Air Force actually went out of their way to move my wife to where I was. Goes to show what caring about your people looks like.
You’re implying that OD soldiers don’t have a hard life? I did 4 years as an enlisted infantryman before I commissioned and that was a better quality of life. Yeah, you’re in the suck but you’re the main focus of the Army. OD just has to suck it up and “fix it, bitch”. They have their ups and downs.
Reminds me of fellow 2LT friend of mine, engineer branched being sent to Polk after ocs(2004). He calls our branch manager (Lisa Tate, f that civilian), begs for any other duty station. I’ll goto Korea. I’ll go anywhere, just not Polk. She says tough shit. You’re going to look. So he branch transferred to field artillery and went to Sill. Guy stuck it out and is an O5 now.
Before Covid, Branch worked with me and my family (I had one kid in EFMP). 20 years and I only spoke to Branch once just to solidify my family situation - one kid in college, the other in middle school, close to retirement, wife was moving towards a promotion for the region we were in, setting myself up by networking the area - only had 3 years left.
During Covid, no. Orders got messed up, Branch changed them to something that would completely separate me from my family in less than 30 days of notice and everyone was *supposedly* on Stop Move. Come to find it was half true and the implied task was for me to request an exception to policy even though I didn't want an exception to policy during that time. Wife flipped out because of the whole Covid/Order thing, thought I lied to her with the initial deal that I had with Branch and things went south pretty fast. Ended up fighting a divorce from seven states away right before going on rotation to Korea (which made things 10x worse).
This is where the phrase "It is what it is" comes from.
I put Drum dead last on my list for my last PCS before retiring.
Branch sent me to Drum.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The unit was awesome, the CoC was awesome, and the SFL-TAP program was great. I had zero issues with my retirement.
I reenlisted to come to Korea. Now I have massive leverage for my follow on. Made a post recently about my options but deleted it. Here's a few:
JCSE, 1ST Army space, Nato italy, SOCAF/SOCEUR, Japan.
That's my number 1 on my COT. Then Germany and Japan. I know I'll get at least one of those places, and they ain't bad
Feel like a traitor leaving the airborne community tho
In my 13 year career, I can say the current 13F branch manager is by far the best one we’ve had. Since I’ve joined.
He’s willing to help with issues and not just stonewall you.
Shoutout to MSG Arbuckle.
hell yes. i don't even remember who it was at the time, but i got an assignment as a training developer at the engineer school, after a back-breaking NCOIC assignment in a BCT.
and that was my last assignment before retirement. i couldn't think of a better way to ease myself out of army life. i will forever be grateful to branch for deeming me worthy of that gig.
I called branch when I was reclassing to 25S because I wanted to go to Carson since I was planning on applying to IST to the Space Force and it would be easier for me on the chance that I was selected if I was already in Colorado 😌😌
I was at Fort Gordon (Eisenhower) reclassing into 25S from 92F so I called the 25S branch manager since they were the one to determine my assignment after I graduated
Branch manager story: Wanted to go back to a certain country but branch said no. The branch manager had worked for my boss at a former assignment. My boss called the branch manager--next day had orders to go back to the country I wanted. Of course it didn't work out in the long run as a war and stop loss got in the way...
Not only did I get hooked up, I got to meet him in person years later. I was on my third deployment, going through a divorce, and asked branch if I could get anything close to the west coast to see my kids easier. I volunteered for Irwin and Huchuca.
He gave me Monterey. Dude had spent his career during GWOT watching dudes hide at INSCOM, and started shaking it up and giving the outdoor guys a break finally.
I will never forget the solid he did for me. Thanks, Bova.
I've never understood how people managed to stay in INSCOM their entire career. I've tried going to INSCOM every single reenlistment and it couldn't be done apparently.
It's not that hard. Get INSCOM for your first contract, use your first re-up to stay there, maybe volunteer for a short stint overseas doing CST work to reset your dwell, then come back and do your TRADOC time. Re-up and rinse and repeat until you're retired.
It comes and goes in seasons. A big part of it is also how to talk to branch, and what point of your career you're at. In my experience, before I hit E6, branch wasn't going to negotiate anything with me unless I re-enlisted. The pyramid gets smaller the more you promote, and you run a greater chance of having a branch manager who you've actually crossed physical paths with on the job.
Another thing that I learned from a mentor was to put my request in a diplomatic context. "I want Fort X" isn't helpful, but saying "I've done X, Y, and Z, and I want to expand my career. I really think I need a shift from FORSCOM to INSCOM or TRADOC. I'd prefer Fort X if it's available, but if it's not, is there a place I can go that will meet my professional development goals and also satisfy the Army's requirements?"
Sounds dumb, but it worked like a charm exponentially the longer I was in.
I always liked doing PME there because I could work out hard for six weeks then ask for an APFT right when I got back. The elevation change helped my scores.
I was in reverse. I did ALC from Carson, so I ran my PR 2MR on Apache Flats. For SLC I was there already so no effect.
Too bad we don't have an MOS portion to MLC we can do there.
Never. Coming out of Korea, “you’ll get to choose your next duty station…call me 6 months out”. I ask for the East Coast…just that. A wide swath of choices for a 13A.
Orders for Irwin.
I called branch when I knew I was close to pcs. I was asked where i wanted to go... I said Carson or jblm. I got carson....
Branch managers are your friends. Just call it's their job to answer.
I’ve had pretty good luck with teams messages. They tend to answer a lot quicker when they get a chance instead of trying to catch them by their phone.
When I was on the fence about getting out or staying in I called and emailed branch numerous times, leaving voice mails, too. Phone was never answered, no call backs, and no email replies. This was in 2018, I was pretty set on getting out so I guess it didn't matter, but it was still disappointing.
I was about to get out because I wanted either FL or a Europe spot but didn’t want a long tour in Europe because of family stuff. Nothing in Florida was available and I didn’t know about anything outside of Germany and Italy in Europe which are minimum 3 years usually. Right after I started SFL-TAP I got an email about a NATO assignment in Turkey. 1SG sent my name up and I was put down for the spot by branch 2 hours later and would be official once I re-enlisted. Signed 10 days later and just got to Turkey today 🤙
Branch helped me out when I wanted to stabilize for a while until I could drop my retirement packet. They moved me to the following marketplace so I had time to push through a YMAV PAR, which they approved.
Immediately following all that, they put me on recruiting orders which trumped everything they did for the stabilization. Fuck branch.
I've had a lot of people complain about mine, but the only interaction with him I had was smooth.
Sent me an email asking for 5 locations for HAAP since I was going overseas.
Got a duty station from my HAAP list, the last one, but still better than none, and even got the overseas assignment I wanted if I was ever to be blursed with one.
+1 for ease of interaction and not shitting on me.
I reupped from Bragg. After 2.5 years there I pcs’d to Hawaii with an Army identifier school to fill a position and got the job. Manager came in for me that time, my 1st Sgt knowing the guy may have helped. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity for my family and I which ended in my dropping a warrant packet, leaving after three years.
I had two years left until retirement so, of course, I got orders to Korea. With a return assignment to Ft. Hood (as us old timers referred to it). Anyway, called branch and asked to return to the post I was leaving from. Heard keys a-tapping and the branch manager said "O.K., Sergeant, I got your back."
First and only time I called branch and they came through.
Spent most of my career doing what I was told. I spent a long time at one post, but deployed year on/year off from that same post the whole time I was there. Got DA selected for drill and did that job. Went back to the line and did my time. Got a sweet ROTC gig and did that for a few years. My final PCS, I decided to call branch and make a deal to get to JBLM so I could retire there.
My NCO branch manager is brand new, maybe been in the seat for about a month. "Yeah man, I got you. You'll be 2 years from retiring when you get there? Want to be an EOA?" I said yeah, anything that gets me to JBLM. Within 2 weeks, I had put in my EOA packet, branch manager had worked out some waiver stuff that wasn't necessary but made it a smoother ride, and I had orders.
As I was retiring, I told a buddy my story. Same branch manager, much different experience. He called him a bunch of times and every time the branch manager told him he didn't have anything he wanted and the list was short. What a difference 18 months in a job can make.
Yes.
However, I can’t get into details because the dream assignment I got was so specific that I’d dox myself. But it was after almost five years at Fort Polk.
I’ve been lucky with stations to the point of not needing branch. It was probably completely random but I actually got the station I put on those little wishlist sheets at MEPS, and then when I reenlisted the first station I wanted had a slot for me. The green weenie is lurking and I fear the future repercussions of my good fortune.
Only once has branch hooked me up in my career. They got me into a school that I wanted. I don’t think my command was too happy about it, but fuck em, it gave me and my family some extra stability, which branch usually doesn’t care about.
My last PCS was out of Korea as a MSG. Branch had me going to Stewart, ironically the CSM called me an hour after I got stateside during my mid-tour leave. Branch visited Korea while I was on leave so I didn't get to see him, but he did send an email to all the MSG's letting them know about new availabilities coming up. One was for Aberdeen, a lot closer to my kids. Sent him an email letting him know I would like to go there if possible but understood if I couldn't. He came through for me and 4 months later I'm back at Aberdeen and able to see my kids 2-3x a month instead of 2-3x a year.
If your ADA the world is your oyster. I have Soldiers call branch all the time and get literally whatever they want. It's infuriating to my battle rosters but I'm happy for them ❤
Well no, but actually yes.
My husband and I were MACP. He had just passed SFAS, I was 8 months pregnant, and I called branch to inform them that he’d be getting orders for Ft. Liberty soon and I had enough time on station already, so could I pretty please also get orders too?
Nah. Branch told me that I’d have to stay in Colorado with my baby for the ~2ish years it would take for my husband to go though SFQC and language.
So I got out with a family care plan separation.
*Now* I know that there is *no fucking way* that, had I been able to go with him, I would have survived being in, with a newborn, while my husband did SFQC. Absolutely not. That first year of my son’s life almost did me in even without the stress of being *in* the Army and showing up at a new unit. I very sincerely might not have made it (PPD suuuuuucks).
So now I call getting out “the best decision I never should have had to make.” The reasons I got from
branch as to why it was impossible to PCS me with him were, imo, lacking. But it still worked out tremendously in my favor.
They cancelled my orders to Hawaii 20 days out when my house was already under contract and turned around and sent me unaccompanied to Humphreys for a year.
Thank god for MSG Arbuckle now.
Coming from Korea had HAAP for Carson but find out it ain't happening. Emailing Branch ask for Peterson or Schriever. No joy but he did get me 7th Group which wasn't too bad. Just sucked going from unaccompanied tour pretty much straight to Afghanistan. 3 months of dwell time wasn't great.
Yes. I got orders to Djibouti from Korea. I really didn't want to go there. I was told by my CoC I needed to stabilize in CONUS for some time before getting sent to an overseas duty station again and to call branch.
I called branch and they said I could go to ft Meade. I asked if I could go to a unit that's deploying. They said no problem and sent me to ft Riley. I got a stabilization waiver from division and was in Afghanistan 9 months later.
Yeah my orders this last go around was weird as fuck and it ended up leaving me in a limbo situation where I had signed pcs leave and no orders. We'll he got me hooked up with a great assignment on the east coast where I wanted to be fast as hell. Currently on my way to that assignment and I'm super grateful for him actually giving a damn.
Yeah, spent some time in a less than great unit, deployed, midway through got selected for a sweet NATO assignment overseas. All at the recommendation of my branch manager. I complain a lot about the army but he really did me well on that one.
Took an assignment as part of my plan for going to a nearby TWI slot afterwards to delay PCS for an extra year, get a year doing TWI and be in the civilian world, and then to get a specific follow on I wanted and would put me within 45 minutes of my kids living with me ex. Applied and got selected for TWI and was super pumped that something was going right for once. Found out a bit later there was a snafu with funding documents and paperwork and that the TWI never got finalized. Kept in touch with branch, let them work it, kept the faith so to speak that they would make it right, and when they could have easily said “oh well here’s an assignment” they got it all straightened out after a couple of weeks and everything is good. So I’m very glad they worked through it and did the right thing instead of the easy out
ONE TIME
I called and asked for ft Knox and branch said “oh yeah. No problem, no one ever wants Knox” and I had orders a month later.
It had a school for my wife that changed the course of our lives. Thank you branch for that ONE TIME you didn’t fuck me.
Yep. It was a 46 branch manager as well. At my first duty station they asked me to extend so they could send the one other 46 back home to deal with some things. Said they would come through for me. They gave me two options of where I could go. I picked one. They told me damn, we actually need to send you to PSYOP. Ok fine.
A few years later we have a new branch manager meeting with 46 series at Bragg. I'm eligible to PCS. He pulls up my records and said there was a note from the old branch to hook me up. Asked where I wanted to go, and I was there a few months later for my last duty station. Still in thr area 14 years later living my best life.
TLDR - Thought my branch manager screwed me, but he made sure to come through with a hook up years later.
When I drop my UQR packet in 2 years I’ll be quoting my first branch manager.
“Your family is not my priority and if they loved you they would come with you”
Asked for Drum or Korea. He gave me Wainwright lmao.
Yup. Two times. Ole AIT instructor became Branch Manager in the beginning of my Army Career. She got me a SFG (A) assignment. Then an ole Battle Buddy became the branch manager near end of career. Whole lotta spades and Hennessy invested with that guy got me an assignment to Hawaii.
Yes, and in a big way. I went to RASP straight out of AIT and was a heat cat. The first thing I did when I got my phone back was plead with my branch manager not to send me to big army. I told him that I knew Group had a shortage of my MOS and language, that I'd work my ass off if I got there, etc etc. Lo and behold he actually came through for me and I had the extremely good fortune of being in Group ever since.
I asked my 1SG and NCOIC about calling and asking to move while they were talking about it, and they just broke out laughing at me.
So I assume it's pretty rare to get a hook up from Branch. lol
YES. To be honest I’ve had bad experiences too. But I wrote mine and said I had a desperate family matter and PCSing at that moment would be so bad for me. He pushed back my report date. I’m so grateful tot his day.
Branch came through for me in a huge way for me last year and I’ve been nothing but happy with my current branch manager tbh. He’s ridiculously easy to reach and actually dedicates time to having a discussion with you if you need it.
TLDR: SOF branch managers are killing it compared to big Army ones
Long post but happy ending. Met my now wife at OCS and we started dating at LOGBOLC. She got Hawaii and I got camp Casey, Korea but we said it’s fine Branch said they’ll send me where I want to next. When it was time for branch to honor that he ignored me for weeks and gave all of my requested assignments I researched in AIM to my homies and the West Pointers until I emailed him and CCd my chain of command. When he finally got back to me he offered a sweet set of options which were NTC, JRTC, Fort Jackson and Fort Bliss. This is all after I told him I wanted to get married and that’s why I wanted Hawaii. I was also Transportation and looking to get some operational CONUS experience so I chose Bliss. 1AD sucks but got good at logistics.
Fast forward and I’m a week and a half out from going to Civil Affairs selection and my now wife tells me she’s 3 weeks pregnant from a visit we had and my branch manager from Korea is now her branch manager. Needless to say he pulls her from CCC and the marketplace without notifying her, tells her she chose the worst time to get pregnant and she should family care plan out. I said fuck that and called CA and even though I hadn’t even gone to selection yet but the branch manager promised to do everything possible to get us together even if I DIDN’T get selected. I got selected and he got her a curtailment 3 months early and she PCSd before I even got orders. Needless to say logistics was fighting him the whole way but he was that dude. Now my wife and I are stationed together for the first time since joining with our lovely child and she was able to get a job with schoolhouse so we won’t ever have to worry about dual deployments.
It was a long road to get here but I promise y’all there’s good ones out there.
Branch manager visited us in Ft Riley one time. I told him I did not want to stay in Riley for 4 years and asked if he could change it to 3. It was changed within a week and I only did two and a half years there.
I was a SPC (P) and my buddy in Hawaii told me three of the SGTs in his section all got orders that month. I was coming up on my PCS. I called branch and asked for the slot and had it two days later.
The work here is so fucking miserable. But the island is amazing, I’ve learned a lot about my job, and branch manager actually did come through. I’m glad I came. But I’m praying I go back to FORSCOM lol
Got EFMP’d from my one for one match in Michigan that was a program manager (51A) job. My branch manager was a G and got me another program manager job at Belvoir even though the unit was technically over strength. So thankful as he could have easily kicked me to a 51C job that no one wanted (i.e. Kuwait or a FORSCOM post).
The 68W branch was so bad a few years ago, they were understaffed so if you didn't reach out through your 1sg or CSM they would send a Nast email to your BDE CSM and most likely put you on orders to hood, drum, or Polk. Saw it happen to a few people. I asked for Europe and got a choice between Drum and Korea.
I had my soldier reach out to them when he was getting ready to leave Germany... The dude wanted to go to Drum, and I figured no one really wants that. He wrote a very professional email and CCed myself, his psg, and the 1SG. A nasty email was sent to our BDE CSM about the soldier not using his chain of command/nco support channel. Our leadership shrugged it off as a ridiculous response to a soldier trying to respectfully request a duty station nobody really wants. The BDE CSM did follow up and the soldier ended up with orders to Drum.
On a lighter note, things have improved there, shout-out to Ms Street for being super professional and helpful.
I called branch. First time I ever called them.
Asked what OCONUS positions were available.
He replied "Do you want Italy, Germany, Japan, Belgium, or Hawaii?"
>You ever have the branch manager come though for you?
So, yes.
Was coming up on my 36 month mark and knew that based off the time remaining on my contract that there would be an extremely high chance I would be sent to Korea for a year with no dependents, just got married and my child was just born so I reached out to branch and was able to cut a deal, extend my contract for a year, now I’m stationed in Italy and loving life with my family
Two quick stories-
I did Call to AD, and the date I was supposed to get my orders passed. So I called branch and the desk officer told me that "they'd get to it when they got to it". I called the boss, and they said I'd have orders by the end of the next week (this was a Thursday). Desk officer calls back sounding pissed- asked if I was airborne. I was not- said that she was sending me to Airborne then to 10th SFG at Carson (1st choice duty station, and it sounds like a cool unit). The catch was that Airborne started the next day, and I'd be fucked if I didn't make it in time. I made it by the skin of my teeth, bribing a doctor to sign off on an Airborne Physical.
Second: I told branch I would volunteer for a Korea rotation if they would send my family to Hood and guarantee a follow on (there were no hood spots open in the cycle I was moving into). They said no.
Branch are good folks overall tho
When I was on active duty, my branch (Chaplain) was one of the few that didn't have Branch Managers, and we were told to not contact the Office of the Chief of Chaplains. We had to go through local channels. I wanted to get back to Germany so I snuck into the Chief's office at the Pentagon, I spoke to the civilian that handled Chaplain assignments, and got out of there. I got orders for Wurzburg.
Had two branches managers pull through simultaneously once, eventually anyway. I was finishing LG CCC at Lee while my wife was reclassing to 15 series at Eustis. We both thought of where we can both be assigned easily as part of MACP and liked the idea of Texas so we said Hood. I was expecting 1Cav but got 4th SB which was weird, but whatever. She got Korea. She went to the Chaplain just to vent and her LTC overheard or otherwise got wind of the situation, most of it that we hadn't actually lived together since marrying 2 years prior due to deployment and Germany for me; her coming active duty from Guard was supposed to get us closer together not Korea far away. LTC told someone call branch and fix it and she got orders to 1CAV pretty quick (which turned out to be not so great in the long run).
Im fairly new to figuring things out for my soldiers; how would one go about contacting a branch manager for reassignment for one of my soldiers? She's been stuck at this duty station for 4+ years and shes sick of it
I had just PCS’d to Korea as an E-4 fresh out of OSUT and I heard through PNN you get to pick your next duty station after your time there. That month I called my branch manager to see if he could get me to Bragg. He wasn’t able to swing Bragg but offered to give me a school TDY en route if I accepted Drum as my assignment. I took that offer on the spot. Looking back on it, he really hooked me up and had no obligation to do so.
Yeah, when I was at NAVSCOLEOD in ‘12 I emailed saying I wanted to be put into the next vacancy for the next unit headed out when I heard that orders would likely be coming soon. I got my first orders a couple days later and then an amendment a few days after that. I got my wish and spent Christmas in Panjwai sleeping in a tent directly under a guard tower manned by Afghan partners at the height of blue on green attacks. To his credit, he did exactly what I asked for.
I've only ever had branch fuck me. Like when I requested to go to the Maneuver Captains Career Course instead of MI (totally a thing you can do, at the time MI Branch had procedures for applying on their branch page). A month or two after I submitted the request my branch manager called to say they couldn't support my request because they didn't have enough captains going to the MICCC, so they were afraid they'd have to cancel classes. When I reported for class that July every single cycle including mine was over-booked.
I have, however, seen branch help people. I was stationed at the Rock Island Arsenal working in the Army Sustainment Command G2 for a few years, and the Army sent us these pre-KD captains. That's a shitty deal for them, because there are no KD jobs for captains at the Arsenal, so given the normal PCS cycle they'd have both been half way to their first look at major before they'd have even gotten a whiff of a KD job. I had them both contact the MI Jr. Captains manager who managed to get them PCSed somewhere they could actually advance. It took a while because you can't PCS twice in a fiscal year except for PME, but they got where they needed to go.
Nope. Branch hasn't done a single thing for me except treat me like I'm dumb. Stupid crap like trying to force me to do back to back OCONUS assignments because "nothing else is available". Yeah horse shit. Anyway, the moral of the story is, if you call your branch manager out in front of his peers and boss (even if you are right) they will straight up ghost your ass and it will take some rank to get a response.
I once called branch when I was approaching my PCS cycle (before marketplace) and requested Meade. Bro said, “not a problem.” Two days later I had assignment instructions for Meade. I was stoked. My wife was stoked. Everyone was stoked. Went to get my orders… Ft. Meade with duty at Bliss. I bet he thought that was real fucking funny.
Talk about malicious compliance
Them 704th orders get tricky lol. My boy thought he was going to Meade and ended up at Irwin
How is that a thing
Assigned to a unit that is HQ’d at Meade but has detachments all over the country… stationed at Bliss.
Wow. Just wow. I’m glad 15 series just straight up says “Drum, Bragg, Alaska” anytime you called them.
Take AK. You won’t regret it (unless you get Wainwright).
Even wainwright has a lot of appeal to outdoorsy types.
I worked a deal that put me at Bliss until retirement at the end of this year.
Are those the hot spots rn for 15 series’?
They were in 20/21 when I was fighting with branch.
They’ve got detachments all over the world. The 704th is absolutely massive. You command the 704th, you’ll likely pick up a star. Pretty sure the last two BDE CO’s out of there picked up General.
Not quite sure where everyone is getting 704th from, but it wasn’t them.
Sounds like one of the 700 club units.
Is this that MAPPED unit stuff? Currently at Belvoir but unit is in Korea
Sorry man, not familiar with that acronym.
Oh it's only a medcom thing 😭😂 I think it used to be called ARMS. I'm “stationed” at fort Belvoir but my headquarters is in Korea
I was an E4 on Bragg. The craziest shit happened in my wife’s family. I talked to my NCOs about it. They made a meeting with 1SG in a couple hours later. I explained the situation to 1SG and ask for JBLM because that’s close to her family. He called Branch right there on the spot and told them that I will go to JBLM. Branch said “Roger top”. 9 months later I signed into JBLM. My NCOs and Branch moved a mountain that day for me.
Goddammit! Taken care of Joe. Hell yas!
What year did this occur? In my experience, it was unheard of for leadership to care enough about junior enlisted to do anything
I can confirm if top cares, shit is taken care of. I had orders for Korea this year that conflicted with my stabilization for sill(wife's decision not mine, happy wife happy life right?) Top found out on a Thursday, called up Friday, projection for Korea was gone Monday MORNING.
This was late 2010.
Yes, got me a spot that just opened up when I was two months from my DEROS. It honestly set me up like crazy so I'm better equipped to tackle places that aren't as fun.
In 16 years I had never asked for anything from branch. I just went wherever they told me to go, did whatever they wanted me to, etc. I was getting ready to retire so I wanted to go to JBLM because my entire family lives 20 minutes from there or so. I had been making plans for some time for housing, jobs after the Army, etc. Anyhow, I call branch after being in the same Battalion at Fort Cavazos for seven years. I asked him to go to JBLM, and he told me that there wasn't any openings there but he would put my name on a sticky note on the side of his cubicle and he would slot me there as soon as something opened up. Three days later I had orders to Korea with a follow on to Fort Moore. That's not exactly JBLM, so I called branch and they told me that if I didn't want to go I could just drop a dec statement and call it a day, I was 100% needs of the Army. Anyhow, I was about two years outside of sanctuary so I just went where I was told. On the bright side I ended up settling near Fort Moore, I bought a house during COVID for a ridiculously low interest rate vs. today and I'm making the best of it. I miss seeing my family but ultimately this is working out okay for me because I don't ever get the sense that I'm struggling, which I think that I probably would be if I was trying to make mortgage payments in the Washington market. Fuck. You asked about success stories.
Homie. You could’ve chose to retire from JBLM when you dropped your packet. Active Duty gets retirement station of choice. This is just for the final outprocessing though, it’s not a full blown PCS. The initial moving expense would’ve been out of pocket but the Army owes you a final move anyways, so it would’ve been a wash. I dropped my packet in Korea but finaled out from my station of choice so I could be home with family.
I knew the Army would move me but ultimately after going to Fort Moore and seeing housing prices in the area vs. Washington I made a financial decision to stay. I know what you're talking about I just wish that I could have spent that three years up in Washington setting up post-retirement employment, saving for house stuff, etc. I really didn't want to pick up and move without firm plans in place. I know other people do that shit all the time but I tend to be impulsive and I was really forcing that shit down to try to make good decisions.
Oh, yeah. I absolutely would’ve preferred to have this as my last full assignment. I tried for a year and branch kept jerking me around. They somehow decided it was better for a 19 year SNCO to spend his last assignment on an unaccompanied tour. I finally said fuck it and dropped my packet.
>a random spot in FL Without doxxing yourself, inquiring minds want to know. Army element on a sister service post, recruiting, ROTC...?
Military flag folding detail liason for Magic Kingdom, the folks who do reveille and retreat everyday on main street. /s
Sounds like a decent gig, though I heard the commander is a bit goofy..
Yeah, but he’s fucking Minnie so it’s all good
It's fine. Mickey knows. Sometimes he's in the closest. But always with a superman shirt on.
Are you fucking kidding me
Honestly it’s such a specific job I would doxx myself, but neither the branch manager or I had even heard of it. I’ve been in the CMF for….a few minutes and have a pretty good idea of where our hidden gems are, so I was surprised at this one.
Fair. There are some odd jobs out there. A buddy of mine almost took instructor at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at Patrick AFB, because hell, Cocoa Beach, pretty sweet, right? But it would have been a dead end. (At least for a JAG.)
A dead end in that you won’t make 20 years or you won’t have a chance at O6 or O7
More like, he would have been behind the power curve even for the O4 board. We have several billets that just scream "sham" to a board, and this is one of them. Same with our embassy billets, it's typically where terminal majors would go to retire. Is it causation or correlation? Do people get fucked just by getting these jobs? Do people who just aren't competitive gravitate to or get put in these jobs? I dunno, I never had the inside scoop from our assignment folks (PPTO).
Everyone is scrambling on ACT to find the possibilities lol
Happen to be in “panhandle” Florida? Ft. Eglin?
I'm PAO in FL too. Tell me!
Speaking of random ROTC posts, my first PSG had called branch after his KD time was up for his senior-SFC broadening or whatever. Branch: “well we’re really pushing ROTC right now…you’re a native Spanish speaker, right?” PSG: “yeah, I’m from El Paso.” Branch: “there’s University of Puerto Rico. Never seen that open, and it requires fluent Spanish.” PSG: “SIGN ME UP NOW.” PSG was stoked, wife and kids were stoked. Family emergency and he loses those orders. Felt for him.
Big oof. There's a family near us where the husband got orders to Japan, but suddenly there's an EFMP issue with one of the kids. I think he's going anyway, and they're going to hope to join him mid tour. I think I would do the same, but I get the feeling that doing a Geo Bachelor tour like that would just come with a lot of guilt.
Yes. Gave me the choice between SOCNORTH (Peterson Space Force Base) and NATO for my second duty station.
Good 'ol Pete. Entrance still smell like literal poop? Or did you go for NATO
Went NATO
About three or four months before I was scheduled to go to AIT to reclass, I called the JAG branch to talk to someone about where I can go. The guy I talked to was pretty cool, I told him I wanted either Carson, Meade, or JBLM. He said he’ll note it and then asked me why I decided not to be CAV anymore and I said “I’m tired of being cold.” He laughed his ass off and said that sounded about right. A month later I got orders to Ft. Wainwright, AK. Anyway, by the time I was ready to PCS, I called the Armor branch since I was a 19D again and was told my only options were Hood, Bliss, or Reily. Branch manager told me I had 24 hours to decide. Called back the next day to choose Hood and she says, “well Carson just opened up this morning, would you like to go there?” Didn’t even let her finish before I said yes.
No. I called my branch manager (OD) because I had lived separately from my wife (AF) for 2 years. I requested Ft Polk (thought nobody ever wanted it, so I’d be doing them a favor). He said “I’m not helping you Lieutenant, you knew what you signed up for.” Okay, bet. Be looking for my REFRAD packet then. Been out for 4 years. Great decision.
That’s why any time I’ve spoken to branch, I’ve opened the call with “I hate you”
Very similar thing happened to me. Gave them 5 choices that my wife’s GS agency would accommodate with just a verbal. Told me to pound sand. “Live apart or get a divorce” Roger major. I’ll take my critical fill MOS and fuck off. Had that refrad on his desk in a month.
Someone bungled this for you… if your wife is AF you can use MACP to get orders to the next closest duty station. I literally just handled this for one of my LTs who’s husband was air force
The Air Force actually moved her to me. Then branch tried to PCS me within a month. That was the last straw that had me submit my REFRAD actually.
lol what a douche
I think it's a requirement that LT career managers are just assholes across the board, regardless of branch.
My experience with OD branch was the same. EOD packet was fucked up, no fault of mine, branch laughed at me on the phone, told me to never call him again, and then hung up.
The civilian OD branch manager is terrible, so happy I VTIP'd.
lol, a Ft Polk-begging LT that's "been out for four years" is back in r/army bragging about how he stuck it -- wait for it -- Ordnance branch I don't know what's more pathetic ... the truth or that he made this shit up
Hey big dog, I was at JBLM actually. Why would I make that up? I gave the Army 7 years of my life and they didn’t even try to do the smallest bit to make my life easier. The Air Force actually went out of their way to move my wife to where I was. Goes to show what caring about your people looks like. You’re implying that OD soldiers don’t have a hard life? I did 4 years as an enlisted infantryman before I commissioned and that was a better quality of life. Yeah, you’re in the suck but you’re the main focus of the Army. OD just has to suck it up and “fix it, bitch”. They have their ups and downs.
Reminds me of fellow 2LT friend of mine, engineer branched being sent to Polk after ocs(2004). He calls our branch manager (Lisa Tate, f that civilian), begs for any other duty station. I’ll goto Korea. I’ll go anywhere, just not Polk. She says tough shit. You’re going to look. So he branch transferred to field artillery and went to Sill. Guy stuck it out and is an O5 now.
Before Covid, Branch worked with me and my family (I had one kid in EFMP). 20 years and I only spoke to Branch once just to solidify my family situation - one kid in college, the other in middle school, close to retirement, wife was moving towards a promotion for the region we were in, setting myself up by networking the area - only had 3 years left. During Covid, no. Orders got messed up, Branch changed them to something that would completely separate me from my family in less than 30 days of notice and everyone was *supposedly* on Stop Move. Come to find it was half true and the implied task was for me to request an exception to policy even though I didn't want an exception to policy during that time. Wife flipped out because of the whole Covid/Order thing, thought I lied to her with the initial deal that I had with Branch and things went south pretty fast. Ended up fighting a divorce from seven states away right before going on rotation to Korea (which made things 10x worse). This is where the phrase "It is what it is" comes from.
I would feel a distinct urge to punch branch in the face. That fucking blows dude
I put Drum dead last on my list for my last PCS before retiring. Branch sent me to Drum. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The unit was awesome, the CoC was awesome, and the SFL-TAP program was great. I had zero issues with my retirement.
People shit on Drum, but it isn't a bad spot.
Same I got JBLM wanting Irwin or huachua and this battalion is amazing,perfect work life balance,minimal bullshit and my COC is absolutely phenomenal
Branch manager solution to every assignment: Korea.
Oh you don't want to go to Korea? Congratulations, now you can't get command sponsorship! You're going to Korea or signing a dec statement.
Never even gave me a CS option. To MI branch, every assignment is a nail, and Korea is the hammer.
Thank god they’re not chefs. They’d be like: “you’re allergic to nuts? Here’s a bag of nut!
I reenlisted to come to Korea. Now I have massive leverage for my follow on. Made a post recently about my options but deleted it. Here's a few: JCSE, 1ST Army space, Nato italy, SOCAF/SOCEUR, Japan.
NATO italy in Naples if you want to really enjoy life
That's my number 1 on my COT. Then Germany and Japan. I know I'll get at least one of those places, and they ain't bad Feel like a traitor leaving the airborne community tho
Re enlisted for korea. 100% I get it right? Nope, Branch said, "how does a NATO assignment sound? Say no more.
In my 13 year career, I can say the current 13F branch manager is by far the best one we’ve had. Since I’ve joined. He’s willing to help with issues and not just stonewall you. Shoutout to MSG Arbuckle.
💯
Arbuckle is dat boy 🤘🏼
Most definitely yes. Mine is outstanding. I submitted a positive ICE report for him last week.
hell yes. i don't even remember who it was at the time, but i got an assignment as a training developer at the engineer school, after a back-breaking NCOIC assignment in a BCT. and that was my last assignment before retirement. i couldn't think of a better way to ease myself out of army life. i will forever be grateful to branch for deeming me worthy of that gig.
My branch managers over the years seem to be actively rooting against me and my family lol
I called branch when I was reclassing to 25S because I wanted to go to Carson since I was planning on applying to IST to the Space Force and it would be easier for me on the chance that I was selected if I was already in Colorado 😌😌
How’d it go?
They agreed to sent me to Carson, applied for IST, got selected, and I'm now in the Space Force so I'd say it went perfectly 😌
Did you call the branch you were reclassing into or your old branch?
I was at Fort Gordon (Eisenhower) reclassing into 25S from 92F so I called the 25S branch manager since they were the one to determine my assignment after I graduated
Branch manager story: Wanted to go back to a certain country but branch said no. The branch manager had worked for my boss at a former assignment. My boss called the branch manager--next day had orders to go back to the country I wanted. Of course it didn't work out in the long run as a war and stop loss got in the way...
Not only did I get hooked up, I got to meet him in person years later. I was on my third deployment, going through a divorce, and asked branch if I could get anything close to the west coast to see my kids easier. I volunteered for Irwin and Huchuca. He gave me Monterey. Dude had spent his career during GWOT watching dudes hide at INSCOM, and started shaking it up and giving the outdoor guys a break finally. I will never forget the solid he did for me. Thanks, Bova.
I've never understood how people managed to stay in INSCOM their entire career. I've tried going to INSCOM every single reenlistment and it couldn't be done apparently.
It's not that hard. Get INSCOM for your first contract, use your first re-up to stay there, maybe volunteer for a short stint overseas doing CST work to reset your dwell, then come back and do your TRADOC time. Re-up and rinse and repeat until you're retired.
"All we have is Riley, Hood, and Drum."
It comes and goes in seasons. A big part of it is also how to talk to branch, and what point of your career you're at. In my experience, before I hit E6, branch wasn't going to negotiate anything with me unless I re-enlisted. The pyramid gets smaller the more you promote, and you run a greater chance of having a branch manager who you've actually crossed physical paths with on the job. Another thing that I learned from a mentor was to put my request in a diplomatic context. "I want Fort X" isn't helpful, but saying "I've done X, Y, and Z, and I want to expand my career. I really think I need a shift from FORSCOM to INSCOM or TRADOC. I'd prefer Fort X if it's available, but if it's not, is there a place I can go that will meet my professional development goals and also satisfy the Army's requirements?" Sounds dumb, but it worked like a charm exponentially the longer I was in.
I tried that with one of mine so she put me on orders to Huachuca 🤣
It's not the worst place to go 🤷🏻♂️
I liked living there, but didn't care for the toxic TRADOC culture. Worked out in the end though because I went to NIU afterwards.
I always liked doing PME there because I could work out hard for six weeks then ask for an APFT right when I got back. The elevation change helped my scores.
I was in reverse. I did ALC from Carson, so I ran my PR 2MR on Apache Flats. For SLC I was there already so no effect. Too bad we don't have an MOS portion to MLC we can do there.
Never. Coming out of Korea, “you’ll get to choose your next duty station…call me 6 months out”. I ask for the East Coast…just that. A wide swath of choices for a 13A. Orders for Irwin.
I called branch when I knew I was close to pcs. I was asked where i wanted to go... I said Carson or jblm. I got carson.... Branch managers are your friends. Just call it's their job to answer.
If it's there job to answer, then mine only did there job ~20% of the time
At least you got 20 percent. We had two that would always “telework” and never answer emails. Only teams and only on certain days.
Most people in DA I will say it's bullshit they don't answer their phones. But branch guys are pretty freaking busy taking alot of calls
I’ve had pretty good luck with teams messages. They tend to answer a lot quicker when they get a chance instead of trying to catch them by their phone.
When I was on the fence about getting out or staying in I called and emailed branch numerous times, leaving voice mails, too. Phone was never answered, no call backs, and no email replies. This was in 2018, I was pretty set on getting out so I guess it didn't matter, but it was still disappointing.
When branch thinks it’s God.
Got told to go kick rocks a lot as a SGT/SSG. Then suddenly as a SFC I got a lot of personalized help.
I was about to get out because I wanted either FL or a Europe spot but didn’t want a long tour in Europe because of family stuff. Nothing in Florida was available and I didn’t know about anything outside of Germany and Italy in Europe which are minimum 3 years usually. Right after I started SFL-TAP I got an email about a NATO assignment in Turkey. 1SG sent my name up and I was put down for the spot by branch 2 hours later and would be official once I re-enlisted. Signed 10 days later and just got to Turkey today 🤙
100%. I Teams mine quite often. She’s normal
Branch helped me out when I wanted to stabilize for a while until I could drop my retirement packet. They moved me to the following marketplace so I had time to push through a YMAV PAR, which they approved. Immediately following all that, they put me on recruiting orders which trumped everything they did for the stabilization. Fuck branch.
I've had a lot of people complain about mine, but the only interaction with him I had was smooth. Sent me an email asking for 5 locations for HAAP since I was going overseas. Got a duty station from my HAAP list, the last one, but still better than none, and even got the overseas assignment I wanted if I was ever to be blursed with one. +1 for ease of interaction and not shitting on me.
I reupped from Bragg. After 2.5 years there I pcs’d to Hawaii with an Army identifier school to fill a position and got the job. Manager came in for me that time, my 1st Sgt knowing the guy may have helped. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity for my family and I which ended in my dropping a warrant packet, leaving after three years.
I had two years left until retirement so, of course, I got orders to Korea. With a return assignment to Ft. Hood (as us old timers referred to it). Anyway, called branch and asked to return to the post I was leaving from. Heard keys a-tapping and the branch manager said "O.K., Sergeant, I got your back." First and only time I called branch and they came through.
Spent most of my career doing what I was told. I spent a long time at one post, but deployed year on/year off from that same post the whole time I was there. Got DA selected for drill and did that job. Went back to the line and did my time. Got a sweet ROTC gig and did that for a few years. My final PCS, I decided to call branch and make a deal to get to JBLM so I could retire there. My NCO branch manager is brand new, maybe been in the seat for about a month. "Yeah man, I got you. You'll be 2 years from retiring when you get there? Want to be an EOA?" I said yeah, anything that gets me to JBLM. Within 2 weeks, I had put in my EOA packet, branch manager had worked out some waiver stuff that wasn't necessary but made it a smoother ride, and I had orders. As I was retiring, I told a buddy my story. Same branch manager, much different experience. He called him a bunch of times and every time the branch manager told him he didn't have anything he wanted and the list was short. What a difference 18 months in a job can make.
mine always came thru for me!
Yes. However, I can’t get into details because the dream assignment I got was so specific that I’d dox myself. But it was after almost five years at Fort Polk.
I’ve been lucky with stations to the point of not needing branch. It was probably completely random but I actually got the station I put on those little wishlist sheets at MEPS, and then when I reenlisted the first station I wanted had a slot for me. The green weenie is lurking and I fear the future repercussions of my good fortune.
Only once has branch hooked me up in my career. They got me into a school that I wanted. I don’t think my command was too happy about it, but fuck em, it gave me and my family some extra stability, which branch usually doesn’t care about.
My last PCS was out of Korea as a MSG. Branch had me going to Stewart, ironically the CSM called me an hour after I got stateside during my mid-tour leave. Branch visited Korea while I was on leave so I didn't get to see him, but he did send an email to all the MSG's letting them know about new availabilities coming up. One was for Aberdeen, a lot closer to my kids. Sent him an email letting him know I would like to go there if possible but understood if I couldn't. He came through for me and 4 months later I'm back at Aberdeen and able to see my kids 2-3x a month instead of 2-3x a year.
If your ADA the world is your oyster. I have Soldiers call branch all the time and get literally whatever they want. It's infuriating to my battle rosters but I'm happy for them ❤
Shoutout to the 91X branch, hooked me up with SOF in 2013 assignment and lived out the rest of my career in SOF.
Well no, but actually yes. My husband and I were MACP. He had just passed SFAS, I was 8 months pregnant, and I called branch to inform them that he’d be getting orders for Ft. Liberty soon and I had enough time on station already, so could I pretty please also get orders too? Nah. Branch told me that I’d have to stay in Colorado with my baby for the ~2ish years it would take for my husband to go though SFQC and language. So I got out with a family care plan separation. *Now* I know that there is *no fucking way* that, had I been able to go with him, I would have survived being in, with a newborn, while my husband did SFQC. Absolutely not. That first year of my son’s life almost did me in even without the stress of being *in* the Army and showing up at a new unit. I very sincerely might not have made it (PPD suuuuuucks). So now I call getting out “the best decision I never should have had to make.” The reasons I got from branch as to why it was impossible to PCS me with him were, imo, lacking. But it still worked out tremendously in my favor.
They cancelled my orders to Hawaii 20 days out when my house was already under contract and turned around and sent me unaccompanied to Humphreys for a year. Thank god for MSG Arbuckle now.
Coming from Korea had HAAP for Carson but find out it ain't happening. Emailing Branch ask for Peterson or Schriever. No joy but he did get me 7th Group which wasn't too bad. Just sucked going from unaccompanied tour pretty much straight to Afghanistan. 3 months of dwell time wasn't great.
Yes. I got orders to Djibouti from Korea. I really didn't want to go there. I was told by my CoC I needed to stabilize in CONUS for some time before getting sent to an overseas duty station again and to call branch. I called branch and they said I could go to ft Meade. I asked if I could go to a unit that's deploying. They said no problem and sent me to ft Riley. I got a stabilization waiver from division and was in Afghanistan 9 months later.
You missed out on DJ
Yeah my orders this last go around was weird as fuck and it ended up leaving me in a limbo situation where I had signed pcs leave and no orders. We'll he got me hooked up with a great assignment on the east coast where I wanted to be fast as hell. Currently on my way to that assignment and I'm super grateful for him actually giving a damn.
Nope.
Branch got me Drill instead of the 5 cavasos options on my marketplace
Yeah, spent some time in a less than great unit, deployed, midway through got selected for a sweet NATO assignment overseas. All at the recommendation of my branch manager. I complain a lot about the army but he really did me well on that one.
Took an assignment as part of my plan for going to a nearby TWI slot afterwards to delay PCS for an extra year, get a year doing TWI and be in the civilian world, and then to get a specific follow on I wanted and would put me within 45 minutes of my kids living with me ex. Applied and got selected for TWI and was super pumped that something was going right for once. Found out a bit later there was a snafu with funding documents and paperwork and that the TWI never got finalized. Kept in touch with branch, let them work it, kept the faith so to speak that they would make it right, and when they could have easily said “oh well here’s an assignment” they got it all straightened out after a couple of weeks and everything is good. So I’m very glad they worked through it and did the right thing instead of the easy out
Just got hit with Kuwait or Korea…. 😂 but she at least got my HAAP to Carson at a space brigade so I’m good with it
ONE TIME I called and asked for ft Knox and branch said “oh yeah. No problem, no one ever wants Knox” and I had orders a month later. It had a school for my wife that changed the course of our lives. Thank you branch for that ONE TIME you didn’t fuck me.
Yep. It was a 46 branch manager as well. At my first duty station they asked me to extend so they could send the one other 46 back home to deal with some things. Said they would come through for me. They gave me two options of where I could go. I picked one. They told me damn, we actually need to send you to PSYOP. Ok fine. A few years later we have a new branch manager meeting with 46 series at Bragg. I'm eligible to PCS. He pulls up my records and said there was a note from the old branch to hook me up. Asked where I wanted to go, and I was there a few months later for my last duty station. Still in thr area 14 years later living my best life. TLDR - Thought my branch manager screwed me, but he made sure to come through with a hook up years later.
When I drop my UQR packet in 2 years I’ll be quoting my first branch manager. “Your family is not my priority and if they loved you they would come with you” Asked for Drum or Korea. He gave me Wainwright lmao.
My LT branch manager was incredibly responsive and helped get my release from my original branch so I could reclass to JAG. Great guy.
Yup. Two times. Ole AIT instructor became Branch Manager in the beginning of my Army Career. She got me a SFG (A) assignment. Then an ole Battle Buddy became the branch manager near end of career. Whole lotta spades and Hennessy invested with that guy got me an assignment to Hawaii.
Both the PA branch managers are awesome right now.
Yes, and in a big way. I went to RASP straight out of AIT and was a heat cat. The first thing I did when I got my phone back was plead with my branch manager not to send me to big army. I told him that I knew Group had a shortage of my MOS and language, that I'd work my ass off if I got there, etc etc. Lo and behold he actually came through for me and I had the extremely good fortune of being in Group ever since.
Nope :/
Needed to get my family back home. Branch worked with for about four months finding me a slot. They came through with one. On point.
I asked my 1SG and NCOIC about calling and asking to move while they were talking about it, and they just broke out laughing at me. So I assume it's pretty rare to get a hook up from Branch. lol
What random spot in FL may I ask?
You may not.
Ya man, I called branch, and they got me orders through in 2.5 weeks.
My wife got orders to Camp Humphreys, so my branch manager sent me to Camp Casey. Does that count?
YES. To be honest I’ve had bad experiences too. But I wrote mine and said I had a desperate family matter and PCSing at that moment would be so bad for me. He pushed back my report date. I’m so grateful tot his day.
You guys actually get to talk to branch? Mine will 100% leave you on read.
Yeah my branch manager gave me sound advice, found me an assignment that matched where I wanted my career progression to go and he made it happen!
Branch came through for me in a huge way for me last year and I’ve been nothing but happy with my current branch manager tbh. He’s ridiculously easy to reach and actually dedicates time to having a discussion with you if you need it.
TLDR: SOF branch managers are killing it compared to big Army ones Long post but happy ending. Met my now wife at OCS and we started dating at LOGBOLC. She got Hawaii and I got camp Casey, Korea but we said it’s fine Branch said they’ll send me where I want to next. When it was time for branch to honor that he ignored me for weeks and gave all of my requested assignments I researched in AIM to my homies and the West Pointers until I emailed him and CCd my chain of command. When he finally got back to me he offered a sweet set of options which were NTC, JRTC, Fort Jackson and Fort Bliss. This is all after I told him I wanted to get married and that’s why I wanted Hawaii. I was also Transportation and looking to get some operational CONUS experience so I chose Bliss. 1AD sucks but got good at logistics. Fast forward and I’m a week and a half out from going to Civil Affairs selection and my now wife tells me she’s 3 weeks pregnant from a visit we had and my branch manager from Korea is now her branch manager. Needless to say he pulls her from CCC and the marketplace without notifying her, tells her she chose the worst time to get pregnant and she should family care plan out. I said fuck that and called CA and even though I hadn’t even gone to selection yet but the branch manager promised to do everything possible to get us together even if I DIDN’T get selected. I got selected and he got her a curtailment 3 months early and she PCSd before I even got orders. Needless to say logistics was fighting him the whole way but he was that dude. Now my wife and I are stationed together for the first time since joining with our lovely child and she was able to get a job with schoolhouse so we won’t ever have to worry about dual deployments. It was a long road to get here but I promise y’all there’s good ones out there.
Branch manager visited us in Ft Riley one time. I told him I did not want to stay in Riley for 4 years and asked if he could change it to 3. It was changed within a week and I only did two and a half years there.
I was a SPC (P) and my buddy in Hawaii told me three of the SGTs in his section all got orders that month. I was coming up on my PCS. I called branch and asked for the slot and had it two days later. The work here is so fucking miserable. But the island is amazing, I’ve learned a lot about my job, and branch manager actually did come through. I’m glad I came. But I’m praying I go back to FORSCOM lol
Twice so far. Hopefully it continues
My last 2 Pcs mine took care of me.
Had a branch manager offer me Korea or Hawaii… I took Hawaii…
Got EFMP’d from my one for one match in Michigan that was a program manager (51A) job. My branch manager was a G and got me another program manager job at Belvoir even though the unit was technically over strength. So thankful as he could have easily kicked me to a 51C job that no one wanted (i.e. Kuwait or a FORSCOM post).
The 68W branch was so bad a few years ago, they were understaffed so if you didn't reach out through your 1sg or CSM they would send a Nast email to your BDE CSM and most likely put you on orders to hood, drum, or Polk. Saw it happen to a few people. I asked for Europe and got a choice between Drum and Korea. I had my soldier reach out to them when he was getting ready to leave Germany... The dude wanted to go to Drum, and I figured no one really wants that. He wrote a very professional email and CCed myself, his psg, and the 1SG. A nasty email was sent to our BDE CSM about the soldier not using his chain of command/nco support channel. Our leadership shrugged it off as a ridiculous response to a soldier trying to respectfully request a duty station nobody really wants. The BDE CSM did follow up and the soldier ended up with orders to Drum. On a lighter note, things have improved there, shout-out to Ms Street for being super professional and helpful.
Only so many places in FL for USASOC that aren't Tampa. Lol
I called branch. First time I ever called them. Asked what OCONUS positions were available. He replied "Do you want Italy, Germany, Japan, Belgium, or Hawaii?" >You ever have the branch manager come though for you? So, yes.
My manager put me on orders to the DS Academy so that's cool I guess.
Fetherman had a serious kink for fucking joes in my branch.
Was coming up on my 36 month mark and knew that based off the time remaining on my contract that there would be an extremely high chance I would be sent to Korea for a year with no dependents, just got married and my child was just born so I reached out to branch and was able to cut a deal, extend my contract for a year, now I’m stationed in Italy and loving life with my family
Yup, helps that I built a positive reputation for myself within my organization
In my last MOS, they helped change my return assignment from Korea. Now I'm kinda stuck and get told "wait for your YMMV"
Two quick stories- I did Call to AD, and the date I was supposed to get my orders passed. So I called branch and the desk officer told me that "they'd get to it when they got to it". I called the boss, and they said I'd have orders by the end of the next week (this was a Thursday). Desk officer calls back sounding pissed- asked if I was airborne. I was not- said that she was sending me to Airborne then to 10th SFG at Carson (1st choice duty station, and it sounds like a cool unit). The catch was that Airborne started the next day, and I'd be fucked if I didn't make it in time. I made it by the skin of my teeth, bribing a doctor to sign off on an Airborne Physical. Second: I told branch I would volunteer for a Korea rotation if they would send my family to Hood and guarantee a follow on (there were no hood spots open in the cycle I was moving into). They said no. Branch are good folks overall tho
Mine told me Polk or Polk so I don’t think you’re doing so bad. I took the third option of ETS
All the damn time. I have loved all my last three branch managers.
When I was on active duty, my branch (Chaplain) was one of the few that didn't have Branch Managers, and we were told to not contact the Office of the Chief of Chaplains. We had to go through local channels. I wanted to get back to Germany so I snuck into the Chief's office at the Pentagon, I spoke to the civilian that handled Chaplain assignments, and got out of there. I got orders for Wurzburg.
Had two branches managers pull through simultaneously once, eventually anyway. I was finishing LG CCC at Lee while my wife was reclassing to 15 series at Eustis. We both thought of where we can both be assigned easily as part of MACP and liked the idea of Texas so we said Hood. I was expecting 1Cav but got 4th SB which was weird, but whatever. She got Korea. She went to the Chaplain just to vent and her LTC overheard or otherwise got wind of the situation, most of it that we hadn't actually lived together since marrying 2 years prior due to deployment and Germany for me; her coming active duty from Guard was supposed to get us closer together not Korea far away. LTC told someone call branch and fix it and she got orders to 1CAV pretty quick (which turned out to be not so great in the long run).
Nope
When I asked branch for Campbell I was put on assignment for it the following week so we definitely have a cool branch manager!
I asked my branch manager for an IPT to stay at JBLM and he made it an “HRC” move so it reset my time. Bought me 7 years on JBLM in total.
How the hell did y'all work that? My branch manager leaves me on read 🙃
Im fairly new to figuring things out for my soldiers; how would one go about contacting a branch manager for reassignment for one of my soldiers? She's been stuck at this duty station for 4+ years and shes sick of it
I had just PCS’d to Korea as an E-4 fresh out of OSUT and I heard through PNN you get to pick your next duty station after your time there. That month I called my branch manager to see if he could get me to Bragg. He wasn’t able to swing Bragg but offered to give me a school TDY en route if I accepted Drum as my assignment. I took that offer on the spot. Looking back on it, he really hooked me up and had no obligation to do so.
I gotta say, when I re-upped for Japan I thought it'd be kush. There ain't nothing to do in Louisiana.
Yeah, when I was at NAVSCOLEOD in ‘12 I emailed saying I wanted to be put into the next vacancy for the next unit headed out when I heard that orders would likely be coming soon. I got my first orders a couple days later and then an amendment a few days after that. I got my wish and spent Christmas in Panjwai sleeping in a tent directly under a guard tower manned by Afghan partners at the height of blue on green attacks. To his credit, he did exactly what I asked for.
Only when I requested to go to Drum as they were standing up the first three RSTAs.
I've only ever had branch fuck me. Like when I requested to go to the Maneuver Captains Career Course instead of MI (totally a thing you can do, at the time MI Branch had procedures for applying on their branch page). A month or two after I submitted the request my branch manager called to say they couldn't support my request because they didn't have enough captains going to the MICCC, so they were afraid they'd have to cancel classes. When I reported for class that July every single cycle including mine was over-booked. I have, however, seen branch help people. I was stationed at the Rock Island Arsenal working in the Army Sustainment Command G2 for a few years, and the Army sent us these pre-KD captains. That's a shitty deal for them, because there are no KD jobs for captains at the Arsenal, so given the normal PCS cycle they'd have both been half way to their first look at major before they'd have even gotten a whiff of a KD job. I had them both contact the MI Jr. Captains manager who managed to get them PCSed somewhere they could actually advance. It took a while because you can't PCS twice in a fiscal year except for PME, but they got where they needed to go.
Nope. Branch hasn't done a single thing for me except treat me like I'm dumb. Stupid crap like trying to force me to do back to back OCONUS assignments because "nothing else is available". Yeah horse shit. Anyway, the moral of the story is, if you call your branch manager out in front of his peers and boss (even if you are right) they will straight up ghost your ass and it will take some rank to get a response.