Power Cycle The SIGO

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  • How I Grew My Net Worth from -$60K to $800K as an Army Officer

    A lot of Army officers go off the deep end once they commission and start earning real money. Everyone knows the stereotype of the 2LT with the brand-new Tacoma, living in the most expensive apartment downtown. Many soldiers assume that officers are loaded, but having lived it—I can tell you that’s not the case.

    In this post, I’ll walk you through the financial journey that took me from a -$60,000 net worth to over $800,000 in just ten years—all on a military salary. I’ll share the mistakes I made, what I learned, and the steps you can take to get your finances in order.

    Starting Behind: My Early Financial Mistakes

    I didn’t receive a full ROTC scholarship—just a two-year one—so I had to take out student loans to cover the first two years. When I commissioned, I was already $40K in the hole.

    After graduating, I worked a $10/hour job for three months while waiting for BOLC to start. I had a fun summer… funded by credit cards. Thankfully, I was able to pay them off with my first Army paycheck.

    Then came Kuwait. I didn’t pay income tax while deployed, but I also didn’t get BAH. I was just making it month-to-month. A wise CPT told me to max out my Roth TSP. At first, it felt like I was losing money I desperately needed. My paychecks dropped to $800 every two weeks—but I did it anyway. In hindsight, I’m so glad I did. Roth TSP contributions in a tax-free zone = tax-free forever.

    Then I made a huge mistake.

    I bought a brand-new Jeep Wrangler for $30,000 while still in Kuwait. After one year in the Army, my net worth had fallen to -$60,000.

    Turning the Corner: From Broke to Stable

    Back in the U.S., I dialed my TSP down to 10% and started living it up—eating out all the time and spending most of my paycheck. My monthly take-home was about $3,000. Rent was $1,000. Car loan was $500. Student loans were $500. That left me with $1,000 in fun money every month, and I spent every penny. I didn’t take on more debt, but my savings didn’t grow either.

    Things changed a year later.

    My Jeep started having issues—bad ones. It spent two months in the shop. After going back and forth with corporate, I got Jeep to buy it back under the Lemon Law. That alone raised my net worth to around -$30,000.

    I bought a $2,000 ‘98 Ford Ranger and broke my lease before deploying again, cutting my bills to just $130/month. I also discovered Dave Ramsey and became determined to get out of debt.

    While deployed, I had no expenses and lots of extra pay. I funneled every dollar toward my student loans and paid them off in four months. For the first time in my adult life, my net worth was $0.

    Growth Mode: Saving and Investing

    After getting out of debt, I kept $10,000 in savings and started investing the rest. By the end of that deployment, I had $30,000 in investments.

    Once I redeployed, I kept my expenses low and stuck with my beater truck. Without debt weighing me down, my net worth started to climb.

    After SCCC, I PCS’d and bought a house in 2020. I got lucky with the timing—$300,000 purchase price at a 2.8% interest rate. That house is now worth over $500,000.

    Including my investments and real estate, my net worth is over $800,000. Even without the house, I’ve passed $500,000. And I haven’t made any money yet from this website.

    3 Money Mistakes Army Officers Should Avoid

    1. Don’t buy a car you can’t pay cash for.
      I drove beaters for five years with no issues. My Ford Ranger had a cult following and a YouTube video for every repair. If you want a nicer car, save for it like you are making payments—steady and automatic. I eventually saved enough for a new car but didn’t buy one because I liked watching my investments grow.
    2. Don’t rack up credit card debt.
      Always pay off your balance every month. It’s easy to let credit cards spiral out of control. Many people think they need to carry a balance to build credit. Not true.
    3. Don’t co-sign loans—not even for your kids.
      If you want to help your kids build credit, add them as authorized users on your oldest credit card. Just don’t give them the actual card.

    3 Money Moves That Made Me Wealthy

    1. Pay off debt aggressively.
      Minimum payments will keep you broke forever. The faster you pay it off, the faster you can build wealth.
    2. Invest in your retirement.
      At a minimum, contribute enough to get the TSP match. I prefer the Roth TSP so I know that money is all mine, tax-free. If you’re in a combat zone, max out your Roth TSP—that money will never be taxed. Pro tip: log into TSP and make sure you’re not sitting in the G Fund. Personally, I invest in the C Fund while I’m young.
    3. Invest for the long term.
      Don’t try to time the market or day trade. The S&P 500 has averaged 9% annually over decades. When it drops, that’s your chance to buy cheap. Stay the course and let compounding do the work.

    Want to Learn More About Personal Finance?

    Here’s a list of books that helped me:

    1. The Simple Path to Wealth – JL Collins
    2. The Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey
    3. The Millionaire Next Door – William D. Danko
    4. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing – John C. Bogle
    5. Money: Master the Game – Tony Robbins
    6. Millionaire Teacher – Andrew Hallam
    7. Everyday Millionaires – Chris Hogan

    There’s a lot more to learn, and I’m just getting started sharing what I’ve picked up. If you’re an Army officer who wants to build wealth, you don’t have to struggle. You just have to be intentional.

  • How to Make a Perfect Army Memo Template

    Every officer in the Army will have to write a memo at some point — whether it’s an executive summary, an SOP, or just a memorandum for record to cover your bases. With how often we write them, you’d think everyone would be a pro… but bad formatting is everywhere.

    I’ve seen it all — from O-6s handing out counseling memos riddled with errors to an old BN XO who turned off Word’s auto-formatting just to manually space everything with the spacebar. (Spoiler: not efficient.)

    My journey started as a brand-new 2LT, struggling to center a signature block. A CPT told me to just print the memo out, fold it in half, and “keep folding until it looks centered.” At that moment, I knew there had to be a better way.
    After a full workday of trial and error, I cracked the code. I built a perfect Army memo template that auto-formats properly — and now I’m sharing it here so you don’t have to suffer like I did.

    Formatting your memo correctly is low-hanging fruit — an easy way to look good early in your career.

    References

    Before you start, download two things from https://armypubs.army.mil/:

    1. Letterhead Template: Found at the bottom of the homepage under “Publishing Templates.”
    2. AR 25-50: Preparing and Managing Correspondence — found under Publications > Army Regulations > 25-50.
      (It’s actually one of the best-written Army regulations out there — it even includes pictures for every format. Honestly, it’s usable by even the dumbest person. If you can follow step-by-step screenshots, you can format a memo.)

    Common Mistakes

    1. Spacing:
    AR 25-50 clearly lays out spacing rules. Use the “Show/Hide ¶” button in Word to see hidden formatting like spaces, tabs, and breaks. It makes spotting errors easy.

    2. Indentation:
    Subparagraphs are tricky. The first line of each subparagraph should be indented .25 inches — but subsequent lines should be justified left, not indented. (Word’s default settings will try to mess this up, so you’ll need to adjust.)

    3. Centering the Signature Block:
    Never eyeball it. Never tab over. There’s a clean way to get it perfectly centered, and I’ll show you.

    How to Build the Perfect Army Memo Template (Step-by-Step)

    1. Download the Letterhead:
    Input your unit and address. (Company for PLs, BN for staff.) Set margins to 1 inch.

    2. Add the Office Symbol and Date:

    • One space below the letterhead.
    • Tip: If you don’t know your office symbol, check an old memo from your unit or ask your S1.
    • Tab over to right-align the date (format: day month year).
    • To keep it clean, manually space the date instead of inserting line breaks.

    3. Add “MEMORANDUM FOR”:

    • Two spaces below the date line.
    • Usually “MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD.”

    4. Add the Subject Line:

    • One space below “MEMORANDUM FOR.”
    • Format: SUBJECT: Your subject here.

    5. Add the Body:

    • Two spaces below the subject.
    • Now the magic begins: set up multilevel numbering in Word.

    Setting Up Multilevel Numbering

    • Go to Paragraph > Multilevel List > Define New Multilevel List > More.
    • First Level:
      • Numbering: 1., 2., 3.
      • Alignment: Left, start at 0″, text indent at 0″.
    • Second Level:
      • Numbering: a., b., c.
      • Alignment: Start at .25″, text indent set to 0″.
    • Third Level:
      • Numbering: (1), (2), (3).
      • Alignment: Start at .5″, text indent set to 0″.
    • Fourth Level:
      • Numbering: (a), (b), (c).
      • Alignment: Start at .5″, text indent 0″.

    Pro Tip:
    Set “Follow number with” to space, not tab.

    6. Adjust Paragraph Spacing:

    • Go to Layout > Paragraph.
    • Set “After” to 10 pt (for 12-pt font).

    7. Handling a Second Page:

    • In the header, add the Office Symbol on the first line, then Subject on the second.
    • Under Header Options, select “Different First Page.”

    8. Writing the POC Paragraph:

    • The POC doesn’t have to be the memo signer.
    • Include name, rank, duty title, phone number, and email if needed.

    9. Center the Signature Block Perfectly:

    • In Layout, set Left Indent to 3.25″.
    • (8.5″ page width ÷ 2) – (1″ margin) = 3.25″.

    Final Thoughts

    Once you set this up once, save it forever as your Perfect Army Memo Template.
    Share it with your friends and look like a rockstar.

    Formatting right is an easy win. It shows attention to detail, professionalism, and effort.

    Word of caution: if your memos are too perfect, you might end up stuck writing everything for the battalion… but that’s a problem for future you.

    Bonus Tip:
    If you’re stuck on content, that’s between you and ChatGPT. 😉
    If you nail the format, you’re already ahead of half the Army.

  • Welcome to PowerCycleTheSIGO.com

    Welcome to PowerCycleTheSIGO.com, a place where you can learn how to be a halfway decent Signal Officer in the Army — mostly by learning from the mistakes I’ve made over the past 10 years.

    Being a Signal Officer is one of the most thankless jobs in the Army. There have been times when I had to give a commander bad news that sounded completely made up. I once had to tell a commander that comms didn’t work because there was a monsoon in Okinawa… and we weren’t even in Asia.

    The truth is: no one notices when everything is working perfectly, and everyone notices when the littlest thing isn’t working as advertised.

    I’ve worked with Officers and NCOs from the MI, IN, SF, LG, FA, and EN communities. Every single MOS (except FA) claims they are kryptonite to technology, which can make the job that much harder.

    What It’s Really Like to Be a Signal Officer

    As a SIGO, you’re expected to know a little about everything — computers, radios, satellites, antenna theory, COMSEC — and still lead Soldiers and NCOs like any other officer.

    Continuity Books almost never exist. All your equipment will be broken. You won’t use any of the information you learned in BOLC. And the equipment you do have almost never matches the mission requirements.

    You might find yourself wondering why you ever became a Signal Officer in the first place.

    Some are “recruited” into the branch with promises of civilian riches. Some get Signal because it was one of their last branch choices. For me? I had an interest in radios and thought I’d work with them more directly. Spoiler alert: I didn’t.

    Instead, I found myself in computer help desk roles, or in tactical jobs where — as the “Officer” — I wasn’t the one actually working the radios.

    Everyone gets here a different way, but once you’re here, you might as well make the most of it.

    What Makes a Good Signal Officer?

    Here are a few traits that will carry you far as a SIGO:

    1. Technical Acumen

    Understand how your equipment works.
    Know its capabilities, its limitations, and how to align it with your unit’s mission.

    You don’t need to personally operate every piece of gear — that’s what your NCOs and Soldiers are for — but you need to know enough to advise the commander and build a solid PACE plan.

    2. Innovativeness

    You’ll often be stuck with broken, outdated, or misaligned equipment.
    You’ll need to do a lot with a little.

    Sometimes you’ll feel like the Rube Goldberg of communications plans, but learning how to adapt will serve you well in every job that follows.

    3. Resilience

    As a Signal Officer, anything with an electrical current is your responsibility — and your fault when it doesn’t work.

    You’ll feel like you’re constantly one radio failure away from getting fired. Breathe. Troubleshoot.
    Sometimes the problem is outside your control — like a busted radio on the other end of the net — but every failure is a chance to set better conditions for next time.

    Why Being a SIGO Can Actually Be Awesome

    Despite the headaches, there are real upsides to being a Signal Officer:

    1. Signal Officers Are Needed Everywhere

    Unlike branches like Cyber, Aviation, or Special Forces — where duty stations are limited — Signal Officers are needed across almost every Army post worldwide.

    2. Diverse Career Opportunities

    You can work at a strategic level in a NEC, operate tactically with an IBCT or Special Forces Group, or even end up supporting a Special Mission Unit (SMU).

    3. Easier to Stand Out

    In many units, you’ll be one of very few Signal Officers — making it easier to stand out.

    For example: In an Aviation unit, the BN CDR once told us he wouldn’t rate pilots on their flying — that was expected — but on what else they brought to the team. The same goes for you: If you can provide reliable communications and support command and control, your commanders will notice.

    Final Thoughts

    It was never my plan to stay this long in the Army — or in the Signal Corps — but the good parts have kept me going.

    I’ve thought about changing branches or going into a functional area. But I honestly believe we’re at a critical point in Army communications, and I want to help improve it for the next generation of Signaleers.

    I very rarely recommend that someone branch Signal.
    But if you’re not scared off by this post — or if your ship has already sailed — welcome aboard.

    Stick around. PowerCycleTheSIGO.com is just getting started. 🚀
    I’ll be sharing real-world lessons, hard-won tips, and survival guides to help you navigate one of the Army’s toughest jobs.