What are the chances of being forced to change jobs in the Army?

Question

I am a senior in High School thinking of joining the Army. I took my ASVAB and got a 99, and now my recruiter is making me look at a lot of cool jobs like PSYOP and Intel. I was wondering what it the chance that if I sign up, I will later be forced to "retrain" and get another, bad, job, like infantry. I know the Army has garenteed MOS, but how does that affect job chances?

Answer 1

You scored a 99 on ASVAB, even if they retrain you, it would be a waste of your talents to shove a rifle in your hand and send you to the field. That would make no sense. They need talent and you may actually be the one who chooses to cross train into something else you like better.

Answer 2

Your enlistment contract is legally binding on both sides. It has bailout clauses that allows the service (the Army in this case) to reclassify you if you fail to meet your half of the contract.

The Army is not as dumb as you may think. It has very specific manpower goals it needs to fill, and the ASVAB scores are translated into basic scores that are used as initial criteria to pick up people.

Say you flunk your MOS. What is going to happen is training is expensive, so they will try to see where they can reuse you. Back when I was enlisted (92-97) there was always a standing offer to move to a combat branch, but first they will try to see if you still fit in another MOS that is hard to recruit for.

I was 29Y/31S with the 1C ASI. It cost over a quarter million dollars to train each of us. Of the very few classmates that flunked was piped into another MOS with similar core training.

Don't be too quick to knock off the infantry. You are probably going to be safer with the grunts than if you get stuck driving a truck in some detail with little escort.

Now, don't trust the recruiter at all, since he can't give you jack squat. The guy that is going to give you the actual billet is the career advisor at the military entrance and processing station (no idea if it is still called that, we called it MEPS).

The recruiter's job is to bring in his quota, and a certain % has to score above a threshold, these are called "A" recruits and are worth more for their quota. This is why you are feeling the love, since you scored 99. The career advisor is the one that makes a living placing recruits in a specific MOS, that's the man you need to deal with. Of course, he won't even talk to you until you are at MEPS taking a physical and going through psychologic and clearance evaluations.

Answer 3

There are only a few reasons I've ever heard of people being forced to re-class to a new MOS. 1 - if your job is obsolete. I have a friend whose husband is an administrative assistant. The army is turning his job into a civilian job, so he is being forced to re-train in a new MOS. 2 - if you are physically incapable of performing your job anymore. Several of my husband's soldiers have come home with injuries and been told they can remain in the army, but not in a combat arms MOS. They re-train them in a support job that they can do without regard to their injuries. 3 - I think occasionally they can force people into critical MOS's where they are low on man power, especially combat arms MOS's and during wartime. Mostly I think they offer financial incentives to encourage people to volunteer to re-class, but if they have to I'm sure they can force people.

And infantry and other combat arms MOS's aren't "bad" jobs. They're the essence of the army. Who do you think you'll be gathering intel for? If you don't want to be in a position where you may have to walk around the streets of Iraq all day with a heavy load on your back and weapon in your hand, don't enlist. No matter what your job, during war time, you'll end up where they need you, doing what they need you to do.

Also what someone said about the Army breaking your contract - the last clause in my husband's contract basically says that you have to do what you said you would, but they reserve the right to change anything at anytime. That's why you have people getting stop-lossed and stuck in for longer than their contract. If the Army changes the terms or length of your contract they ARE NOT going to let you out. They can do whatever they want with you once you sign.

Answer 4

I used to work in the recruiters office, So I know allot of "Behind the scenes" type things. The stuff they dont tell you to your face. My email is [e-mail] if you have any more questions but on this one there is NO WAY they can force you to change jobs. PSYOPS is a great feild by the way. Your contract is just legally binding on their half as it is on yours. If they break it, you can get out. The army may offer a diffrent job to you, but they cannot force you take it. When you go to MEPS and choose your MOS that binding. The only way the MOS gets changed is if you ask for it. They cant foce you to change, so your safe on that one.

Answer 5

leo girl is not correct the highest asvab scores are usually people in combat fields. i am a 13f foward observer much like a scouot for the artillery and i have a 117 GT. the army wont change your mos unless that job is no longer offered. but remember you are a slodier first not like the air force we have to fight thats why everyone is given basic rifle marksmanship

Answer 6

My husband went in as armored crewman or tanker and after basic and Hurricane Katrina he was deployed,in the meantime tanks were taken from Ky. and his MOS was changed.Now hes a gunner in a humvee.What a crock of sh*t,huh?.
His advice to you would be do yourself a favor and DON'T.Or use your 99 ASVAB score and go to the air force.Good Luck!either way.

Answer 7

the only guarentee you get is for the schooling. If at some point down the line they require you to retrain in another field, they can force you to do so.

Additionally, if you fail out of the school or otherwise fail to qualify(like not being able to ge the required Security clearance, or are color blind) they can force you to convert.

Answer 8

About 110%! Lots of people score high and end up in nowheresland. Borrow $ to go to school and you choose the major/degree. How about a military academy? Contact your U.S. representative or senator for a sponsor. In 4 years you could be in great shape educationally!

Answer 9

Once your in they can pretty much make you do any job they want you too.