I always chuckled when Officers complained about staff positions.  Uh, you do realize that Officers only command Soldiers at three levels, right? Company, Battalion, and Brigade…? Two of those really aren’t guaranteed and in the case of a Brigade Commander, you’re essentially managing the battalion commanders and their staffs.  The rest of your time as an Officer, like over 90% of it, is in a staff position.   Some newly commissioned Officers have some expectation management issues as they think they’ll always be on the “line.”

The most important piece of advice I can give a young Officer who just had their world end when they find themselves on a staff somewhere….there’s only one thing that can limit your impact on Soldiers: YOU. You can impact the Army however you want to, regardless of the job title you hold.