How To Become An Action Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an action officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

In the Army, action officers are staff members that collect information and provide recommendations to senior decision-makers through well-written documents. These recommendations become decisions upon approval, which means that the job of an action officer can affect the entire branch or division.

Action officers perform a wide variety of duties. Some of their specific responsibilities include informing upper officers of security approvals, communicating with different agencies, attending meetings of special projects, and overseeing staff engagement activities. However, their main duty is to create well-researched, well-written, and actionable documents for the perusal of upper decision-makers.

To qualify for this position, you must first have a bachelor's degree in a relevant field, at the very minimum. Proficiency in technical writing is also a must, as well as skills in research, communication, and analysis. Moreover, you must have a security clearance, which your employer will typically assist you in getting.

Action officers typically work regular 40 hours weeks and earn an average of $27 per hour. Action officers with more experience and skills can earn more at around $117,000 per year.

ScoreAction OfficerUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,575

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

2.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 4.35%

Black or African American 6.38%

Hispanic or Latino 11.35%

Unknown 6.07%

White 71.23%

Gender

female 21.94%

male 78.06%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Key steps to become an action officer

Explore action officer education requirements

Most common action officer degrees

Bachelor's

64.8 %

Master's

19.0 %

Associate

12.6 %

Start to develop specific action officer skills

Skills	Percentages
DOD	18.71%
National Security	9.34%
Government Agencies	7.97%
Direct Support	5.96%
POC	5.43%

Research action officer duties and responsibilities

Apply business engineering/re-engineering principles to achieve productivity and quality improvement of DoD products.
Implement upgrades, manage security and troubleshoot problems in numerous environments and on many levels of computer technology.
Define technical support requirements, coordinate tasks, develop technical documentation and maintain reference materials on C2 training.
Upload and maintain data on SharePoint portal page.

Prepare your action officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your action officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an action officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Action Officer Resume templates

Build a professional Action Officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Action Officer resume.

Apply for action officer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an action officer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do action officers rate their job?

3/5

Based On 1 Ratings

5 Stars

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1 Star

Action Officer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2023

Pros

Leadership training and a chance to become more

3.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019

Pros

Exploring the field... no currently known knowledge yet.

Cons

Not sure yet; need more information about the career field.