An eight-week application window has opened for women lieutenants of the Army Competitive Category who want to branch-transfer to Infantry or Armor.
The career-change opportunity supports a multifaceted Army campaign to open all branches and specialties to women, as ordered by Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December.
Other recent initiatives supporting that decision include combat arms reclassification opportunities for enlisted women, and the opening of officer, warrant officer and enlisted assignment opportunities with the 75th Ranger Regiment, a unit previously closed to women.
The Infantry and Armor branch transfer program that opened April 5 will close May 31. It is targeted at female lieutenants in year groups 2014 and 2015 of the Army Competitive Category.
These officers have second lieutenant dates of rank of Oct. 1, 2013, or later.
The ACC is a management category that encompasses the basic line branches of the Regular Army.
The Infantry and Armor transfer program does not include officers of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, Chaplain Corps, Army Medical Department or Warrant Officer Corps.
Officers in these categories should contact their career management branch regarding branch transfer procedures.
ACC lieutenants who meet the year group and date of rank criteria, and who want to transfer to Infantry or Armor, can do so using a DA Form 4187 (Personnel Action), and a recent Army Physical Fitness Test Scorecard (DA Form 705).
Officers must be able to attend the Infantry or Armor Basic Officer Leadership Course, and serve a one-year assignment as a platoon leader in their new branch, before attending the Maneuver Captain Career Course at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Application packets should include any other documents that support the transfer request, such as transcripts, that may not be in an officer's official personnel file.
Applications will be reviewed by a branch transfer panel that convenes June 14 at the Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky. The results are tentatively scheduled for release in late June.
Personnel officials suggest that before submitting an application, officers read the appropriate sections of DA Pamphlet 600-3, the commissioned officer career guide, which lays out the professional development timelines for Infantry and Armor.
For specific details about the application process, officers should consult MilPer Message 16-096, dated April 5.
