Differences between the Services in career paths leading up to a joint assignment may surprise new staff Service members in joint assignments. This demonstrates which key element to remember when working with other services?

Prior Experience Working with Senior Officers versus Little or None.

Explanation:

Differences and disparities between the Services in career paths leading up to a joint assignment may surprise new staff officers in joint assignments.

For example, Army and Air Force officers will likely come to a joint assignment with prior junior officer experience as an administrative "exec" to a senior officer at the O-5 and above level.

In contrast, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard officers will have had no such experience unless selected for one of the highly competitive Flag Aide or Aide-de-Camp billets to an O-7 or above who rates such an aide.