Army Jobs..?

Question

Ok so in the next year or 2 when i can enlist i want to be a Cavalary Scout (19D)..I want to make a career out of the Army but idk how hard that would be..So can anyone tell me that?

And if its hard to do it as an enlistee what are some examples of jobs that would help in a civillian jobs w/o having to go to College?

Answer 1

Niether of the above answers are very helpful. The army has tons of slots and tons of room for 19Ds. Iowa National Guard might only have a few open slots, but the Army as a whole has a need for dozens and dozens of 19Ds.

And as for only going officer if you want to go career, that's crap too. Officers make about 50% more than their enlisted counterpart, true, but enlisted soldiers get alot more leeway to actually do their job. Also, officers deal with alot more interpersonal politics and have to kiss alot more ***. Enlisted soldiers can absolutely do 20 or more years of service and earn a retirement.

Now, as for jobs: If you are planning on enlisting and staying in for 20 yrs or more, what you should do is look at the promotion rates in the MOS (job skill code) you are considering. The lower ranks, Private through Specialist, it doesn't matter what your MOS is, you'll get promoted the same. Where it matters is promotions to Sergeant and higher. These promotion rates are MOS specific and indicate how much the Army needs people in those jobs. If a job is overstrength, promotions will be slow. If a job is understrength, promotions will be fast. The Chief of Staff of the Army publishes a list of the highest-need most understrength MOS's, called STAR MOS's. There's a good indicator of what the Army really needs. As an example, recent promotion selections for 19D Staff Sergeants for promotion to Sergeant First Class was 221 out of 688. Almost 33%, not bad, well above Army average. But compare that to the 13F Fire Support Specialist MOS, which had 146 selected out of 250, or almost 60%. So obviously, if you wanted to be successful and make a career out of the Army, 13F seems better than 19D. 96B, Intelligence Analyst, had an 89% selection rate, just about the highest.

You're not enlisting for 2 years or more, so I'd wait at least a year before choosing an MOS, but if I was choosing today, here'd be my top ones:

13F Fire Support Specialist - kinda like a Cav Scout who finds the enemy then calls on and directs artillery fires.
15U CH-47 Helicopter Repairer - You're a mechanic for the largest Army helicopter, the CH-47 Chinook.
21C Bridge Crewmember - Kinda liek a civil engineer who moves motorized bridging assets to where they are needed and deploys them. May be involved with building more permanent bridges.
31E Internment/Resettlement specialist - These are MPs that specialize in detainee operations, kinda like the Corrections Officers of the Army.
46Q Public Affairs Specialist - Kinda like a combined Journalist and a Marketing Consultant. You put together and speak the Army's message.
89D Explosive Ordinance Disposal - You're on the Bomb Squad, finding, disarming, and defeating explosives, whether it's dud rounds or enemy IEDs.
92L Petroleum Labratory Specialist - Samples and certifies fuel sources as safe to use.
96B Intelligence Analyst - Receives intel for a variety of sources and other MOS's and analyzes and processes the info and makes the assessments on what the enemy is doing or may do in the future.
96D Imagery Analyst - Looks at intelligence pictures and video and evaluates what is really there
97B Counterintelligence - You find the enemy's intellignece sources and defeat them.
97E Human Intelligence - You develop intelligence sources on the enemy and exploit them. You also do some prisoner interrogations.
98Y Collect intelligence on enemy communications.

Answer 2

Being a Delta doesn't have to hinder future civilian job prospects. The mistake a lot of Troopers make is to assume that the only job you can do in the civilian world is the one you did in the Army.

Having been a former Cavalryman myself (If you ain't Cav...) I'm certainly not roaming around a battlefield looking at NAIs and screening flanks as a civilian. Rather I am a Training Manager. I've also helped my company recruit former military into our work force.

My company wants former military not for their prior MOS, but for the fact that we are motivated, show initiative, and can operate in a wide range of functions. (Where is sweeping the motor pool in the SMCT and MQS for 19D?)

You can make a career of it both as an officer or as an enlisted trooper. Likewise, you are marketable both ways if you decide to pursue a different path after you ETS or resign.

As far as officer vice enlisted, there are pluses and minuses both ways. If you enjoy being a Cavalry all the time, enlist. As an officer you get precious little time in the line with the troops. Most of you life is as a staff officer. Likewise, officers get better pay and have greater responsibilities (being in command is quite a heady experience).

Think about it and ask more questions. Don't base a decision solely on what you read here.

Garryowen! The Seventh First!

Answer 3

if you want a job where you can get out and do it in the civilian world you should be an intelligence analyst. or anything intelligence for that matter. my husband is an intelligence analyst and there are several jobs for when he gets out of the military where the starting pay is 75 to 100 thousand a year, with no college. being a cav scout, there arent any jobs for you when you get out. also if you like law enforcement you should be an MP, another job that will seriously help you find one if you choose not to stay in the military. oh and by the way, in response to what andrew said about there only being 2 slots, the recruiters are pulling a quick one on him. that is not true, the recruiters only tell you that because they have quotas in each MOS to fill, if you are told that you cant have a certain job you want because it is full, tell your recruiter that you wont join until it opens, magically a slot will open up, TRUST ME on that, dont believe everything a recruiter says.

Answer 4

Being a Cav scout is awesome, but unfortuantely it probably wont be good in the civillian side. But if you do your twenty years who cares you'll be retired and get a easy part time job at your local walmart. Otherwise if you dont plan on making the Army a career, I would suggest air traffic controller. It all depends on you.

Answer 5

I am enlisting tommorow and am trying to go 19Delta as well. I would hurry. Currently in Iowa there are about 2 spots that open a YEAR. I don't know if I will get it because the unit is slowly going out of commision.

I also have a friend in 19D.

Answer 6

the 18 series jobs have great demand in the civilian sector. If you want to make more money and get shot at less than be an officer. If you like the action than be enlisted.

Answer 7

I have to agree with the last guy, health care always needed, M.P, CID, computers, intelligence, try and think of what you might want to do when you retire and have the choice for a 2nd career.

Answer 8

You should go to a military academy so that you can be an officer if you want to make a career out of it