What are the responsibilities of an Officer?

Question

What does a 2LT do, a 1LT, a Captain, a Major, so on and so forth...

Also, im interested in knowing what these officers would be doing if they field artillery offcers, infantry officers, or armor officers...thanks alot, 10 points to the most helpful answer

Answer 1

Well, it all depends on what branch they belong to, for example; a second lieutenant that is infantry would have the designation of being a platoon leader, whereas a second Lieutenant that is finance would be maybe the junior budget officer for his Brigade. As you gain rank so do you gain responsibilities, a First Lieutenant is usually considered as a Company executive officer (XO) and the Captain is the Company Commander (CDR) Majors are usually Battalion XO's or S-3's(Training Officers) Lieutenant Colonels (LTC) are Battalion Commanders and "Full Bird" Colonels (COL) are Brigade Commanders, General Officer ranks are somewhat different, Brigadier Generals (BG) have one star, and are usually Assistant Division Commanders (ADC)Major Generals (MG) have two stars and are Division Commanders (DC) Three star generals or Lieutenant Generals are usually Corps Commanders (CG) and Four star Generals (Gen) are Senior Staff officers. All General Ranks are Non-Branch Specific which means that when you get to be a General Officer you are not bound by branch considerations for your assignments. I cannot answer for Armor, but as far as Infantry and Field Artillery I can. 2LT's are Section or Platoon Leaders, 1LT's are Company or Battery XO's or in FA (Field Artillery) Fire Direction Officers (FDO) Captains are still Company or Battery Commanders and the rest of the ranks remain pretty much the same, I believe that after Company or Battery Commands you become a "Field Grade" Officer (Major and above) so your assignments start preparing you for higher command or staff positions.

On a Historical Correction for the Pinhead Moron above me. There has never been a 2 time MOH Recipient.

Answer 2

Well, there are a lot of things. And, like all real answers, IT DEPENDS.

What branch (job) is the officer your talking about? An Armor 2LT will be a platoon leader of a tank or scout platoon, with about 16-25 men in his platoon running patrols in downtown Bagdad. A Finance 2LT will likely be an assistant staff officer working disbursement issues with local contractors and maybe one NCO working for him/her. An Ordanance 2LT may be a quality control liason officer in a munitions plant producing 120mm mortar shells.

But generally speaking a lieutenant will be either a platoon leader or assistant staff officer. Senior lieutenants may be company executive officers or even hold a primary staff position in a battalion.

The best job for Captains is Company Command, but they usually have to pay dues as a battalion primary staff officer first, or on some other level staff.

Majors have the worst of all worlds -- no really good jobs. The only guarentee for majors is that they are all tied tightly to a Lieutenant Colonel. Majors are the staff grunts of the force, making all those grand plans into something approaching reality. And usually getting no credit for it.

Lieutenant Colonels who are blessed have the chance to command a battalion - a truly awesome job not only because you are king of your own fiefdom, but because you get a couple of majors to do all the ugly staff work for you. All the rest of the LTCs are back in the higher levels of staff hell, working long hours for little recognition and the only joy they have is passing on the most painful parts to the majors unfortunate enough to be assigned to them. :)

Colonels can command a brigade, or they can direct the staff hells previously mentioned. Directing has the disadvantage of being held responsible for the actual products / actions of the staff but also has the advantage of being generally above the dirty part of the work and the ability to be a 'big thinker'. Or at least claim to be one.

Generals get to pretend to be in charge of the whole thing.

Answer 3

I was an enlisted soldier for 4 years and I am now a military wife, I can tell you that the officers do NOTHING! No it really depends on you fall under i.e. Artillery, Infantry, etc. But I can tell you from experience the best officers are the ones who were enlisted first.

Answer 4

Middle management basicaly... Except with guns.
Just like the corporate world, you have supervisors & managers that head sections or depts. Officers serve the same function. 2nd LT's are at the bottom running say 20 people or flying a plane. A General is a CEO with 100,000 people and lots of power.

Answer 5

It was best summed up by Marine General Smedley Darlington Butler, two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor:
"Take care of your men and your men will take care of you".

Answer 6

Officers sign the paperwork and walk around pretending they're in charge.

NCO's do the work and tell the officers which papers to sign.