Once you have completed training (and by this time you will have a degree, either through the military or by your own hand if you do it before enrolling) you will be posted to a regiment and battalion to take command of a rifle platoon. Your first regimental tour may last 3-5 years, during which you will lead your platoon and may then be moved to another job within the battalion (such as the Assistant Adjutant, Transport Officer or a support platoon commander or second-in-command job). You may during this time be selected to attend various training courses: examples include Advanced Recce Course, Advanced Anti-Armour Course, Unit Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence officer�s Course, etc. Not every young officer can expect to receive any of these qualifications.
Some of the things you may expect to do as a platoon commander range from conducting physical training, running firing ranges, and commanding your platoon on peacekeeping operations to counselling soldiers on personal financial matters, assisting them through the disciplinary process when they are charged under the Code of Service Discipline to running training courses conducted by the unit for soldiers.
Following your first battalion tour, by which time you should have made the promotion to Captain, you will be posted out to Extra-Regimental Employment (ERE). ERE jobs can include base or headquarters staffs, instructional duties, Regular Force cadre with a Reserve unit, or any number of other positions about the country. This employment can last another 3-5 years. During this period you can expect to be sent on the Army Operations Course, a 17 week course (7 weeks Distributed Learning via the internet and 10 weeks in residence in Kingston) to learn operational staff duties to prepare you for further employment in headquarters and unit staffs and to prepare you for further command appointments.
Many officers return to regimental duty after their first ERE. You would likely return to the battalion into a company second-in-command position, responsible for the administration of a rifle company. This posting may also see movement within the battalion to other captain�s positions.
After this second regimental tour you would probably have a pretty good idea of your future opportunities, whether you are on track for promotions and command appointments (Company, Battalion �.) or if you may be transferred to another ERE as a captain. Much depends on the assessments of your performance and potential throughout your career to that point.
I have known equally capable officers that have spent as little as 5 years and as many as 15 years on regimental duty out of 20. Not every infantry officer follows the same career path.