The Part-Time Army Officer Professional Development Plan
Become a Better Officer—One Skill, Experience & Lesson at a Time
A practical 26-page professional development workbook designed specifically for Army National Guard and Army Reserve officers.
Serving as a part-time Army officer presents a unique challenge. You want to develop professionally, improve your leadership skills, prepare for future assignments, and become better at your job. At the same time, you’re probably balancing a civilian career, family responsibilities, drill weekends, Annual Training, PME, Army requirements, and everything else life throws at you.
Professional development can easily get pushed to the side. The Part-Time Army Officer Professional Development Plan gives you a simple system for taking ownership of your development and deciding exactly what you need to work on next.
Only $9.95
26-Page Editable Word Workbook • Instant Digital Delivery
Your Professional Development Is Your Responsibility
Hopefully, throughout your Army career you’ll have good commanders, raters, senior raters, NCOs, mentors, and peers who help you develop. Learn everything you can from them. But don’t depend entirely on someone else to develop you.
The Army can send you to PME. Your commander can counsel you. An experienced NCO can teach you. A mentor can give you advice. Your unit can give you challenging assignments. You still have to do the work.
This workbook helps you identify where you are today, determine where you need to improve, and create a practical development plan you can actually follow.
A Simple Five-Part Development Framework
The entire workbook is organized around five areas:
LEARN
What do you need to know? Identify doctrine, regulations, branch knowledge, Army systems, professional reading, and other subjects that will make you more knowledgeable.
PRACTICE
What do you need to get better at doing? Focus on skills such as briefing, military writing, counseling, delegation, planning, communication, time management, decision-making, and training management.
EXPERIENCE
What do you need to experience? Identify assignments, responsibilities, exercises, leadership opportunities, and challenges that could make you a more capable officer.
CONNECT
Who can help you grow? Build relationships with mentors, senior officers, experienced NCOs, trusted peers, technical experts, and other professionals you can learn from.
TEACH
Who are you developing? Professional development isn’t only about you. Take what you’ve learned and help develop your Soldiers, NCOs, junior officers, and peers.
LEARN → PRACTICE → EXPERIENCE → CONNECT → TEACH
It’s simple enough to remember and practical enough to use throughout your Army career.
What’s Included?
The 26-page editable workbook includes:
- Officer Development Snapshot
- Professional Development Self-Assessment
- Feedback From Others Worksheet
- Top Three Professional Development Priorities
- Professional Development Dashboard
- LEARN Development Plan
- PRACTICE Development Plan
- EXPERIENCE Development Plan
- CONNECT Development Plan
- TEACH Development Plan
- Civilian-to-Military Skills Assessment
- Military-to-Civilian Skills Assessment
- 90-Day Professional Development Sprint
- 12-Month Professional Development Plan
- Monthly Professional Development Check-In
- Quarterly Professional Development Review
- Professional Development Resource List
- Personal Development Battle Rhythm
- Year-End Professional Development AAR
- Next Year’s Development Priorities
- Final Professional Development Checklist
This isn’t something you simply read.
It’s a workbook designed to be completed, reviewed, and used.
Designed for Citizen Soldiers
One thing that makes this planner different is that it was created with Army National Guard and Army Reserve officers in mind.
Your civilian career isn’t necessarily competing with your Army development. It can actually contribute to it. You may have civilian experience in business, project management, law enforcement, education, logistics, technology, finance, HR, healthcare, public speaking, or dozens of other fields.
This workbook helps you think about two important questions:
What civilian skills make me a better Army officer?
And:
What Army skills make me better in my civilian career?
Development can flow in both directions.
Stop Trying to Improve Everything at Once
You don’t need a list of 25 weaknesses. You need priorities.
The workbook helps you identify your Top Three Professional Development Priorities and then determine the specific actions you can take to improve.
Maybe you need to become a better briefer. Maybe you need more knowledge about training management. Maybe you need to improve your relationship with your NCO counterpart. Maybe you need staff experience. Maybe you’ve been avoiding military writing because you aren’t confident doing it.
Whatever your priorities are, the objective is the same: Identify them. Create a plan. Take action. Review your progress.
Build Your Next 90 Days
One of my favorite parts of this workbook is the 90-Day Professional Development Sprint. A year can feel like a long time. Ninety days is manageable.
You’ll identify a priority and next action for each of the five development areas:
LEARN
PRACTICE
EXPERIENCE
CONNECT
TEACH
Then you’ll narrow everything down to your three most important development priorities for the next 90 days. This keeps professional development practical rather than theoretical.
Who Is This For?
This workbook is designed for Army National Guard and Army Reserve officers, including:
- Second Lieutenants
- First Lieutenants
- Captains
- Majors
- Lieutenant Colonels
- Colonels
- Platoon Leaders
- Company XOs
- Company Commanders
- Staff Officers
- Officers beginning new assignments
- Officers preparing for increased responsibility
Whether you’re a new lieutenant or an experienced field-grade officer, there is always something you can improve.
Editable Microsoft Word Format
You’ll receive the workbook as an editable Word document.
You can type directly into it, print individual worksheets, add notes, customize sections to your situation, and update your plan as your career changes. Use it at the beginning of the year, when starting a new assignment, after counseling or an OER, before or after PME, or anytime you feel your development has stalled.
Get the Professional Development Plan
Don’t wait for someone else to manage your professional development. Take ownership of it.
Learn something that makes you more knowledgeable. Practice a skill that makes you more capable. Pursue an experience that challenges you. Connect with someone you can learn from. Then take what you’ve learned and teach someone else.
The Part-Time Army Officer Professional Development Plan
Only $9.95
Your Download Includes:
✓ 26-page professional development workbook
✓ Editable Microsoft Word format
✓ Officer self-assessment
✓ Five-part development framework
✓ 90-day development sprint
✓ 12-month development plan
✓ Monthly and quarterly reviews
✓ Year-End Professional Development AAR
✓ Instant digital delivery
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this an official Army product?
No. This is an independently created professional-development resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Department of Defense, or any government agency.
What format will I receive?
You’ll receive an editable Microsoft Word document.
Can I customize it?
Yes. You can edit the workbook to fit your rank, branch, assignment, career goals, and professional-development needs.
How often should I use it?
I recommend completing the main plan annually or when starting a new assignment, followed by quick monthly check-ins and more detailed quarterly reviews.
Is this only for junior officers?
No. The framework can be used by officers at different stages of their careers. Your development priorities will simply change as your responsibilities change.
Keep Getting Better
You don’t have to become a completely different officer overnight. Get a little better every year. Become more knowledgeable. Improve important skills. Gain useful experience. Build strong professional relationships. Help develop the people around you.
Do those things consistently throughout your Army career and you’ll continue becoming a more capable officer and leader.
LEARN → PRACTICE → EXPERIENCE → CONNECT → TEACH
Only $9.95
[GET THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN]
26 Pages • Editable Word Workbook • Instant Digital Delivery
Disclaimer
The Part-Time Army Officer Professional Development Plan is an independently created educational and professional development resource. It is not an official U.S. Army publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, approved by, or endorsed by the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Department of Defense, or any other government agency.
This workbook is intended to help Army officers organize and think through their personal and professional development. It does not replace official Army regulations, doctrine, policies, command guidance, counseling, PME requirements, or career management guidance. Army policies and requirements can change, so always consult current official publications and your chain of command or appropriate Army personnel when making career-related decisions.
Individual results will vary based on the officer, assignment, component, branch, unit, career path, and personal effort. No specific promotion, assignment, school selection, evaluation rating, or other career outcome is promised or guaranteed.