Can the ARMY guarantee me an MOS?

Question

I talked to the Army recruiter last week. He said that open MOS' change daily and thus he could not guarantee me an MOS of my choice even once I signed up for one. Is this true?? I heard several different things from different people. Any info on helicopter MOS' (Mechanic/ doorman/ pilot)? Thank you in advance. God bless.

Answer 1

Yes. they can guarantee but you must make sure it's the right MOS, you have to read over you Contract. Many people sign the contract finding out that they aren't in the job or MOS they wanted...make sure this Contract is all that you want...it's like a legal negotation. I wanted a Administration Job when I signed and I wanted my school loans paid for and I wanted a bonus and no more the 3 yrs. I signed my contract with me walking in as a E-4/SPC, 15 months MOS 42A and $18,000 loan re-payment and $5000 signing bonus, I'm out of the military for 3 years I have got my $5000, $18,222 loan payment and I only served from May 2004- August 2005, with honorable discharge. Remember you are volunteer...it's not the draft. Got my masters in the Military and I'm finishing up my second in MBA-Finance and Mgmt. and I'm going to Law School in Chicago, there are success stories just you must be smart when you sign "YOUR CONTRACT" and make sure you get what your want.

Answer 2

Read what "atomwing" wrote carefully. The recruiter is correct in that he can't guarantee you an MOS of your choice because things fill up. But that doesn't mean that he can't guarantee you an MOS in writing and a discharge from the service if that MOS isn't available.

In the old days some branches of the service would actually make a guarantee in writing for a certain MOS. But that wasn't a guarantee either because there still might not be an opening. The person with the guarantee will go through almost all of boot camp then find out their MOS is closed. Then they would be given a discharge if they didn't want to switch their MOS.

So a guarantee is really no guarantee in the military.

I guess in the Air Force you pick your top four job choices and you probably end up with the one you hate the most. I do know one guy that repairs and services the Planes. Everybody sees that as their big glamor job. He says it sucks because they do so much overtime.

I would want to know if I was to join the army what would happen if my MOS wasn't open. Do you have a pick of more than one Job. Being told you are a cook or infantryman when you wanted to be a mechanic will ruin your day.

Answer 3

I was told when i went to join the coast guard that they could not guarentee a mos either. I then joined and in boot camp found out about a thing called guarenteed A school which was basically guarenteed mos.

There is such a thing as a guarenteed MOS. But the recruiter might never offer it or might say it does not exist. I am going to imagine that it depends greatly on what the need is for the mos at the time and how good the area is doing for recruiting efforts. They they need to recruit people they will offer all sorts of things from bonuses to guarenteed MOS to guarenteed stations or picks of stations. If they need to they can offer a lot.

Answer 4

Yes, if you get an MOS put in your contract, then thats what you'll be going to school for, unless you do somthing stupid to make the army not want to send you to that specific school. Anything dealing with aviation, you can't have any dui's or any drug related charges or they won't let you near an air craft.
Mechanic is a decent job, the best guys get qualified as crew cheifs and actually get to fly, black hawk and chinook mechanics atlest.
Doorman isn't an mos, that's a job they'll just grab a few mechanics or flight ops guys, and qualify them as door gunners, and they get to go out on missions too.
As far as being a pilot, you can put a warrant officer packet in, but they are very selective, if you don't have any previous flight experience, any college, or a remarcable high school transcript, you can pretty much forget about that. Plus recruiters hate applying guys to flight school cause its alot of work for them, versus just getting you to enlist.

Answer 5

Your not listening to your recruiter. If you get a mos in your contract, it guarantees you will go to that mos's AIT. It is up to you to pass, if you fail the AIT, they can retrain you as anything they want to. No you are not guaranteed to only do your mos, the entire enlistment. Yes, they can retrain you involuntaryly. Now if you asking, will they force you into another mos, Not in your first enlistment. Not unless they do away with your mos. IE: the job no longer exist. They are not gonna train you to be a computer repairman, then after 6 months make you go infantry. But they can, if they wanted to.

Answer 6

With the Marine Corps, here's how it works... They can guarantee you an Occupational Field (OF) which contains many different MOS's... They can't guarantee you a specific MOS, but they WILL guarantee the OF.

Here's how it worked for my son. He wanted to get into Aviation Electronics... It's a 64XX series MOS... He was guaranteed a job in the OF "Electronics Maintenance/Aviation Electronics" which contains MOS's in the 59XX/63XX/64XX series. All the new Marines with this same OF left boot camp, completed MCT, and arrived in Pensacola for Basic Electronics school... and all with a 5900 MOS listed on their orders. Once they completed basic electronics, they moved on to more difficult training... as each Marine reached their maximum potential, they were assigned to their actual MOS and given orders for their Permanent Duty Station, so each higher level of tech school had fewer and fewer Marines in training...

That way the needs of the Corps were met without putting someone in an inappropriate job. Each Marine is working at an MOS that is to his capacity.

Answer 7

that is one plus to serving in the Army over the services. At Meps when you meet with a career counsler you not only choose the field you want to work in but the actual MOS. That said once you pick an MOS it is on you to make it through AIT or your job training. If you fail to many tests in AIT then the Army will reclass you to needs of the Army. (AKA 88M, or 11B).

Answer 8

They cannot guarantee your MOS. Most recruiters will tell you anything. With the MOS you desire, it will probably be available to you, and you should have a good chance at getting it. You can always talk to another recruiter and get another opinion.

Answer 9

Yes, they can guarantee you any MOS for which qualify and which is open at the time you sign your contract, so long as you pass the training.

The recruiter himself cannot guarantee you that. When you sign the contract it is guaranteed

Answer 10

they can gty you you a slot in the school for that MOS, PROVIDED that you qualify for it and it is available. and what is available literally changes daily, and in some cases..hourly.