The Junior Officer Guidebook: The Book I Wish I Had as a Newly Commissioned Army Officer - Softcover

Vigars, Joshua

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798245397962

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

This genuinely may be the best book available on the market for junior Army officers. Instead of being written by a senior / retired officer, removed from the junior officer cohort by many years, I wrote it as a Captain who was recently a part of this group of officers. I reflected on all the things that I had to learn the hard way or weren’t taught during BOLC / CCC.

This book would’ve been incredibly helpful to have when I initially commissioned, and it shortens the learning curve for what junior leaders need to learn or know prior to being in the seat – whether that’s as a Platoon Leader or as BN Staff. The book includes how-to guides; checklists of doctrine & products to collect; and insights from Company Command, each of the BN S-Shops, Some Special Staff, and Senior NCOs for what junior officers should know before taking a position at their 1st or 2nd unit.

This book covers:

- Advice to Lieutenants

- Equipment Maintenance

- Army Property

- Evaluations

- Advice to Junior Captains

- Career Planning

- Command & Staff Insights and Resources

- Other Helpful Resources

- And other helpful first-hand knowledge from my time as a LT / Jr CPT

The intent of this book is to offer a resource to bring junior officers up and to better develop the leaders that future U.S. Army Soldiers deserve.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798245397962
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 178