Pathways
Certain roles in the Army and Air Force are grouped within pathways. In these exciting careers, you start out as an officer, learning world-class leadership and management skills. As you progress through training and assessment, a combination of your job preference, performance and position availability determines which pathway and the specific role you're best suited to.
If you want assurance of your specialisation, you can explore non-pathway officer roles on the officer roles page.
Unlock your potential with the Army Officer - Command Pathway, where you’ll learn to command, lead and manage soldiers as a military leader.
The Command Pathway gives you an exciting career as an Army General Service Officer (GSO).
You’ll receive world-class leadership training at the Royal Military College - Duntroon (RMC-D), which will prepare you to take on any challenge as a leader within the organisation.
You’ll be allocated to a specialisation based on your performance, your role preference, and position availability towards the end of your training at RMC-D. Specialisations range from combat roles, like infantry, armoured or artillery to logistics, health and communications. No matter where you end up, you’ll be able to mentor, influence, problem solve, make quick decisions and much more.
No previous leadership experience is required, and the application process is the same no matter which specialisation you apply through.
Army Officer - Command Careers
Full time
There are 13 full-time specialisations within the Army Officer - Command pathway. Once you’ve completed training, you’ll be ready to lead troops in the following roles:
Part-time
Don’t want to give up your day job? You can receive the same world-class leadership training around your other commitments.
Alternatively, if you’re between 17 and 24, you can undertake an Army Officer ADF Gap Year where you’ll be employed full-time to complete expedited training as an Army Reserve officer in the Army Officer - Command Pathway. To find out more, view the Army Officer - ADF Gap Year page.
There are 10 part-time specialisations within the Army Officer - Command pathway. Once you've completed training, you'll be ready to lead troops in the following roles.
Become an accomplished leader with the Air Force Officer Aviation pathway, where you’ll operate some of the most advanced aircraft and aviation systems in the world.
The Officer Aviation career specialisation refers to a group of air and ground-based aviation roles that sit within 2 pathways: Mission and Pilot.
In these exciting officer roles, you’re trained to become a world-class leader, manager and decision maker, operating some of the most advanced aircraft and aviation systems in the world.
The application process for all roles is the same - you apply as Mission or Pilot and you find out which career pathway you’ve been chosen for as your application progresses, which is based on a combination of your job preference, performance and position availability.
Information on the 2 pathways can be found below.
In a Mission pathway role, you’ll be part of a highly skilled team, with a keen focus on the skies and making key decisions in challenging environments.
There are 5 roles within the Mission pathway:
In a Pilot pathway role, you’ll be responsible for operating Air Force aircraft, either flying fast jets or fixed-wing aircraft.
There are 2 roles within the Pilot pathway:
