This article is specifically for field grade officers who are currently serving, or will be potentially assigned, at echelons above corps (EAC) and particularly in joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational (JIIM) environments. The military focuses field grade officership primarily on the “key and developmental” staff assignments held by “iron majors” or command at the battalion or equivalent level in each of the services.  Most field grade officers spend the majority of their careers serving in battalions, brigades, groups, regiments, squadrons, and wings, or their higher-level tactical headquarters, such as a division or corps in the Army. These units provide readiness and lethality to the United States military. Many of the hard-earned skills developed to this point in an officer’s career are transferable. However, these higher-level formations introduce new dynamics, particularly in the JIIM environment. The following discusses the expectations and unique requirements for success as Joint Staff J5 desk officers, theater army or air force planners, and other such assignments.

Mastering your portfolio as quickly as possible is the most important task an action officer faces. You are expected to be an expert, from day one. Self-directed study and reading outside working hours are required to excel. Seek out people more knowledgeable than you; be humble and willing to ask for help. An action officer may find themselves working issues to which they have never been previously exposed. Two real world examples are an Army officer leading foreign military sales of F-35s to European allies or an Air Force acquisitions officer serving as the lead political-military planner for African countries involved in counterinsurgencies. In both cases the officers had to dive deep into regulations, doctrine, authorities, and the general literature surrounding these issues to meet the minimal performance expectations. Action officers are expected to brief their equities at a moment’s notice – this cannot be done without a deep understanding of the subject matter. It pays to rehearse before you go into that first briefing as the expert where you are facing a four-star combatant commander. Fumbling with the slide deck, audio-visual failures, or not having enough hard copies can all be addressed through effective rehearsals. At more senior commands, officers without stars on their collars do not routinely get into meetings unless they show competence – it is not merely by position. Competence and substance matter much more than style, verbosity, or excuses.

If the portfolio is the action officer’s weapon, then communication is the means of employment. Rank is not commensurate with expertise, and action officers must strive to synthesize, contextualize, and communicate in such a way that key leaders understand the “so what” of important issues. Learn to communicate effectively by telling senior leaders what they need to know, not everything you know. Seek to craft an effective “bottom line up front.” How would you condense an hour’s briefing into 10 minutes if that is all the time the senior leader has available? The action officer serves as the random-access memory upon which the data is stored, ready to be recalled at a moment’s notice. On a staff there is no pride in ownership. Collaboration is an imperative skill and an excellent action officer is the one who can recognize when others have good ideas to emulate. Don’t be afraid to freely provide assistance, even if you will never get credit for the end result. Cultivate relationships with lower and higher headquarters’ action officers to create a community of purpose. Support each other to better support your respective senior leaders without undermining your organization. Teamwork is vital to mission success, make sure you give junior members of the team opportunities to get in front of the bosses for their own development. When externally imposed pressures are pushing the team hard, remember to do small acts of kindness for others. Your peers will appreciate the support and leaders will notice.

Napoleon described unfolding entire campaigns within his mind, after which he would issue operational orders to his staff. Action officers must strive to anticipate the needs of the organization. Knowing what is important to your boss and his or her boss is a skill that can be developed. Listening to daily update briefs, looking at the organization’s or leader’s calendar to see what events are approaching, and cultivating relationships with senior leaders’ personal staff can help you anticipate future demands. This greatly reduces the surprise factor associated with emerging requirements or crises. No leader expects the staff to be clairvoyant but having your finger on the pulse of key issues is not an unreasonable expectation. Understanding where the organization is focused also provides greater time for analytical thinking to provide leaders with second- and third-level analysis while avoiding superficial discussions. In the words of retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, GEN Martin Dempsey – “move without the ball.”

Often, action officers must not only master their portfolio but are looked upon as experts for their specific service. This is particularly true in JIIM organizations. If you are the sole Navy officer and an issue related to maritime equities arises, you will be looked at as the expert, even if you are a supply corps officer and have limited surface warfare experience. One reason joint and interagency billets are nominative is to ensure the best officers represent the providing service, or even the military, as a whole. An action officer could be the only military officer in a civilian organization, like an Army civil affairs major assigned to the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. In such an environment, you must fully know your branch, service, or department equities, as it is just as important for the overall success of the organization. You may be an Army officer asked to provide guidance on employment of maritime domain awareness equipment or airspace management.

The day-to-day battle rhythm or tempo at EAC and JIIM organizations can be crushing. Combatant commands, the National Security Staff, or other such assignments require long days. Self-care is key to resilience, especially when you encounter hard times – such as when you struggle to expertly execute a briefing in front of the Secretary of Defense. Keeping up with your service’s physical training expectations is key to both your physical and mental health. Developing a mentorship network that may include leaders from different services, or civilians, or even foreign military officers, can help keep you grounded when the going gets tough and you need some help seeing the forest through the trees. Talk with your leaders about broadening your experience. After a period of time as an action officer seek out opportunities as an executive officer, aide-de-camp, or other billet inside the organization that will provide a fresh perspective and learning experience. However, if assigned to such a position, don’t confuse power with proximity, and understand you will eventually return to “regular” life on the staff.

The learning curve can be vertical on four-star staffs and at echelons above corps. Officers must learn a new language, new structures, and new systems where rank or authority may be distributed in ways not previously encountered. For most officers this will be the first time they regularly and routinely personally interact with multiple-star flag officers and/or senior civilians. Alternatively, the boss may be a 20-something presidentially appointed civilian, instead of a long serving colonel or flag officer with 25-plus years in uniform. Often larger staffs are the first time an officer encounters civilians with organizational knowledge and clout that exceeds that of even the Central Issue Facility manager! There is a world of difference between getting joint credit for operational tours as opposed to an assignment to a specially designed JIIM organization, many of which are primarily civilian led and staffed. The capabilities developed during these assignments provide a truly broadening experience and are a key component of building the necessary skills to become an effective strategic thinker ready for ever increasing levels of responsibility.

Colonel Brad Nicholson is the Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché at US Embassy Nigeria. He was previously an action officer on the Joint Staff and Army Staff. Additionally, he supervised numerous joint and civilian action officers as both a branch chief and division chief at US Africa Command. Colonel Nicholson is an SSC graduate, a PhD candidate at the University of Utah, and a School of Advanced Military Studies Advanced Strategic Planning and Policy Fellow.