Colonel Rodney D. Burns was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School 11 December 1967. His first duty assignment was as the Assistant Adjutant, E Company, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Platoon Leader, Command and Control North, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Danang, Vietnam; Detachment Commander, Company A, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Bad Tolz, Germany; S-3, Detachment 2, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Bad Tolz, Germany; Company Commander, Company A, 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, Fort Carson, Colorado;  S-3, 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, Fort Carson, Colorado; Executive Officer, San Antonio District Recruiting Command, San Antonio, Texas; Assistant G-3, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; S-3, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Plans Officer, J5, U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; Battalion Commander, United Nations Command Security Force, PanmuNew Jerseyom, Korea; Executive Officer, Readiness Group Pittsburg, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Senior Army Advisor, 99th Army Reserve Command, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Commander, Charles E. Kelly Support Facility, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.