Posted: 7/2/2007 7:10:51 PM EDT
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My neck of the woods offers arty or engineer units, no 11B stuff (National Guard). I'm leaning towards the 21B for an MOS. I've done some reading, but it always is better to hear from someone who has done the actual MOS, or knows the MOS. Any feedback would be good. Thanks- |
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I am on my way to work and will be brief but will check back later. #1: If you think blowing shit up is cool, then this is the MOS for you!  #2: While it is technically not defined as a Combat Arm, your role is more or less one anyways: mobility, counter-mobility, survivability, general engineering, fight as infantry. #3 Alot of people I know who have deployed don't do 21B stuff overseas. GWOT needs boots on the ground alot of times and not nessicarily a lane breached for a column of tanks. I am sure others will be around with more opinions, but feel free to IM with anything specific ESSAYONS! |
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This is an explanation of 21B that I posted in another thread earlier this month... also feel free to IM me with any questions you have. I've deployed once as a 21B and I am deploying this month to Iraq again as a 21B. Basically Combat Engineers are jacks of all trades on the battlefield. Our primary mission is to either creat or destroy obstacles to allow free movement of our army or hinder the movement of the enemy. This means emplacing minefields, wire obstacles, bunkers, or in reverse blowing them up. We deploy typically as an asset to aid the Infantry when they come up on obstacles that they can't take by themselves, then we go in and demolish it. Our secondary job is to be used as heavy infantry. we are armed with all the same weapons and cool guystuff that the infantry has, and have the same infantry tactic training. Basically we're Infantry who have been augmented with explosives and tools. In the current battlespace we work with EOD a lot clearing IEDs, as well as with the Infantry breaching buildings etc. We have a long standing tradition of being close with the Infantry, which is why A Combat Engineer is a combat arms soldier whereas the rest of the Corps of Engineers is Support. When the going gets tough, call "Sappers Forward!" and you'll see the most rag tag, scariest, dirtiest bunch of lugs on earth run forward with demo bags strapped to their backs and grenades in their hands. Essayons! |
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Engineers are everywhere in a theater of operations, and people have a hard time figuring out whether we are combat arms, combat support, or combat service support. The truth is the Engineer Corps is all these things. That is why we have a variety of MOS's, which include Combat Engineers, Bridge Crew, Equipment Operators, Plumbers, Electricians, Divers, and Firefighters. Like Castillo (above) said, the Combat Engineer missions are Mobility, Counter-Mobility, Survivability, General Engineering, and Fight as Infantry. Sappers do NOT do tilework, run electrical conduits, fix air-conditioning systems, create and install beautiful wood bannisters, install sinks and showers. However, we will gladly take a stab at it. Just don't blame us if it turns out all fvcked up.  During OIF3, my combat engineer unit's main mission was to hunt roadside bombs and the bad guys who plant them. We were like State Troopers/Highway Patrol riding in crazy-looking vehicles. Unlike other units who drive away at 100 mph after getting hit by an IED, we have no problem with having to chase down bad guys killing or capturing them. We were so pissed off at the AIF assholes who kept trying to blow us up and disappear, that we always jumped at every chance to kill or capture them... and we did. Some of the other things we did were conduct flash TCPs, searching people and vehicles, search buildings along our routes, cordon and search with the infantry, knock down buildings and trees, blow-up buildings and trees, blow-up IEDs (until EOD started crying, and the higher ups explicitly ordered all engineers to stop). We also built and repaired roads, improved camp drainage, built new or fortified old checkpoints, filled miles of HESCOs, cleared rubble, cleared vegetation, etc. (ETA: Whenever we didn't have a construction mission, we dissolved our Equipment platoon and beefed-up our 3 Sapper platoons. Our equipment and crane operators became combat engineers. Every so often, we also had our mechanics and clerks fill-in on patrols as well.) The Brigade we were made part of, used to have a combat engineer battalion, but when they transformed into a "Unit of Action," they got rid of their engineer battalion and gave each maneuver (infantry/armor) battalion an organic "Echo" combat engineer company. Thus, my company became the brigade engineers. Whenever I talked to the sappers in each Echo company, they said the maneuver battalion staff didn't know what to do with them, and ended up treating the engineers just as another infantry company and tasked them as such. Hope that helps. Essayons! |
Hohenfels  Grafenwoehr  Let's not forget the good ole Bamberg LTA  1.Insert picket into ground, apply head until picket is secure. 2. Attach wire that will rip apart your BDUs, boots, LBE, ammo pouches, and weapon sling. 3. Return aforementioned ripped apart items to quartermaster to see if you can exchange them. 3.5 Feel stupid as entire of quartermaster laughs and points at you. 4. Repeat. God I miss it sometimes. 
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There is a new Engineer unit (Sapper Co.) "standing to" very close to me that will be attached to a 21B Engineer Batt. They want to fill this unit quickly and since there isnt any 11B available (no 11B units anywhere near me), the next best thing is the new 21B Sapper unit. I could join an arty or an MP unit... but from the people I've talked to including Iraq/Afgan vets, being a "sapper" is just like what has been explained here. Thanks for the input. 
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Lol. I still have shredded boots, BDUs, and black leather gloves from back-in-the-day.  |
| 21Boom and the other guy said it pretty good. When you're not doing a combat engineer task you're infantry. There are some differences between heavy mechanized combat engineers and light engineers. I was a light (airborne) combat engineer all except for one year of my eight served. In the light units we did A LOT of infantry work. It is a combat arms MOS, no doubt about that. You will be right in the shit. |