Army FAO Proponent Update

There have been several significant advances since the last Journal was published. We've made great headway in addressing our Career Field Designation (CFD) problems and saw the release of the first OPMS XXI promotion board -- the O6 board.

Through close coordination with ODCSPER and PERSCOM, a process is being implemented to reduce our current loss of officers in the FAO training pipeline at CFD. First, ODCSPER and PERSCOM are working to more accurately identify the numbers of officers in each basic branch who will be available to move to a functional area at the CFD point. This should result in fewer losses across the board since we will not be forced, as we were under the old process, to train officers whom we could not realistically expect to retain at CFD.

Additionally, ODCSPER will revise the instructions to the CFD board to give primacy for designation as a FAO to those officers who are already trained/are in training as FAOs. They will also be directed to more heavily weight the officer's personal preference. FAO Assignments Branch will now track training status on our trainees' Officer Record Briefs (ORB). Additionally, prior to beginning training, FAOs will be required to commit to listing FAO as their first choice for a Functional Area.

Not quite the early CFD we were working for, however this option provides a solid possibility for success within the current framework established for the CFD process. Scheduled for institution prior to the next CFD board, to be held this summer, we will all be watching for more positive results.

I'm sure all Army FAOs have been waiting to see the results of the first promotion board conducted under OPMS XXI rules. The O6 promotion list was released last week and, as anticipated, FAOs continued to fare well. The selection rate for Operational Support Career Field FAOs was several points above the Army average and just slightly ahead of Acquisition Corps officers within the OSCF. With the exception of a few quirks resulting from the CFD of the senior year groups, the board selected well-qualified FAOs for promotion. A scrub of ORBs indicates the officers selected (combined OPCF and OSCF) averaged 2.4 FAO jobs while the average for OSCF FAOs was 2.8 jobs. This is right on track with what we would expect as we move into the OPMS XXI system. Congratulations to all who were selected!!

2001, Foreign Area Officer Association
Springfield, Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve Gotowicki.
http://www.faoa.org