Posted: 11/7/2007 4:18:05 AM EDT
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got some questions and want some feedback on something i have been considering lately. i have two years left of a 4 year hitch as a 19K, tanker (E4). im currently deployed to iraq. i dont really like tanks too much, im kind of big for them and they piss me off a lot. plus im not a huge fan of my unit or brigade in general, nothing serious, i just think it could be better elsewhere. plus i hate being stationed at FT Benning, GA. my wife doesnt like GA much either. i had planned on just waiting out and ETS'ing. but.... i was told that if i reenlist and reclass to a different MOS i could get a deployment bonus and clear my unit and leave for retraining once we return to the states. rather than doing a job i dislike and living in a place i dont like for 2 more years i have the chance to fix both and only add a year or two to my contract. now comes the issues. what the hell should i do? what job should i go into? should i try something that i WANT to do where ill be gone all the time again (wanted cavalry when i first came in, wasnt open), something that i dont want to do but will give me job training for the future (dont even know which jobs will pay out post service), or something that will simply keep me out of iraq again and home with my family every night until i ETS? im not in for 20, thats for sure. if i re-up it will be for 3-4 years max, extending me to a year or two over my original contract. i have 2 years of college and plan on finishing and majoring in spanish and maybe work with border patrol when im done, and have a bunch of cash saved up to open a business at some point. i dont really NEED any type of job training from the army, already have that aspect kind of planned out but realize it doesnt hurt to have more options. BTW, im 29 and have a wife and three kids, they are what i am trying to base my decisions around at this point. ive seen plenty of combat, got my purple medal, and got the action junkie fix out of the way for a little while...i want to stay combat arms but at this point in my life there are other considerations i need to weigh in, i cant be selfish about it like i was when i came in. so yeah, its kind of a complex and long winded diatribe, and probably a lot simpler than i am making it out to be, but there it is. any thoughts? |
haha..i thought about that...my dad was career active duty CA and works it on the civilian side now here in baghdad. i would have to go to ABN school and the only duty station is Ft Bragg for active duty, but its an option. i already speak 3 languages, working on a fourth, and thats a plus in that MOS. one more thing. i came in with a misdemeanor from 11 years ago. i had some other things listed on my recruiting packet but they were non-convictions (arrests) from even longer before, maybe 15 years ago. i was told would never appear again and the misdemeanor would only be relevant up to 7 years for security clearance. i would need a security clearance for that type of job, whats the odds of me getting one? i thought about EOD or MP, but this question needs to be answered for me before i can even consider them. |
FDC, you deserve a Beer, And yes 37F is a great MOS. I started out as an 11B, reclassed to 71L for a special assignment, then went 37F since it was much closer to what I had been doing than 11B. To be perfectly honest I was lazy, 37F was a 2 month school that allowed me to go back downrange much quicker. I got the same TDY trips to the same locations as guys on ODA's without all the pain and suffering and a year plus in the schoolhouse for 18 Series. 37F grows its own experts on the Strat side, but really needs folks reclassing from Combat Arms to fill out the tac side and keep the 3/3/3 linguists from getting wacked. |
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apparantly its pretty easy to do an in-service transfer into that without even re-enlisting, we have a paper up on the wall in the TOC for 37F transfers. if i can get the security clearance thing resolved i would seriously consider that. i would have to start running again, i can pass a PT test easy but havent really ran for maybe a year plus being that ive been living permanently on an outpost in iraq maybe 400m across. i live at benning and always see the guys at the airborne school constantly running. |
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Jump school is cake. You run slowly for 5 days a week and jump off 3 foot high platforms. That is really the only abuse your body takes until you get to jump week. After a month of running 3 times a week--might have to move to a bigger FOB  -you'd be able to pass it with your eyes closed.I don't think you'd have an issue getting a clearance--I don't know what level they would grant you though. ETA: Bragg is a great place to be stationed. I've been stationed there 3 different times since 92, and would kill to go back. |
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A misdemeanor should not be a problem in getting a security clearance, nor should arrests that do not invlve convictions. The problem lies in the fact that you've had so many (7?). WHoever told you about criminal checks going back only 7 years is mistaken. Questions on an SF 86 go back 10 years for things like employment and housing history. Criminal, drug etc questions cover your entire life. Usually, with minor offenses, it's not a big deal if there's no lingering effect and you are COMPLETELY HONEST when filling out the forms. As far as the number of incidents, that can be a problem when your investigation comes up for adjudication. Depending on the criteria used, you could be judged as unfit for a clearance due to a trend. Also depends on if you need just a secret or a top secret. Bets person to talk to is your BN S2 NCOIC. Even better, if you can get to them, is the division SSO (SCI Security Officer). |
You need a Secret just to attend the school for 37F, and a TS for promotion to E7, might now be E6. |
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thanks for the info guys. i am going to seriously look into it, and am going to hit up the BN S2 with some questions next time i go in for refit. im still on the lookout for jobs (non secret) if a clearance doesnt pan out. i spoke with my chain on this and was told i shouldnt be stopped from getting a secret but ill find out for sure. the mere mention of this to my company re-enlistment NCO got my name on a board in the TOC with "reclass psyops" next to it and a date area left unfilled. looks like i may be in for a bit of harrassment for the next few weeks untill i decide what to do. 
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This is tough. I spent four years out of eight as an E5 19d trying to change my MOS. My CSM told me that I should hold back my promotion points because once I made E6 I would be screwed. My ankles were screwed and this is why I was changing. I finally ETS'd instead. For four years either my rank, MOS, or both were locked. I couldnt even re-enlist for something under the bear program. I was then offered a walk on warrant officer program. Patriot Missle electronics. Qualifications stated e5 or e6, bncoc,and must complete the 18 month course. Once complete you get your bars pinned on. I was still locked in to 19D so it was a No-Go. If you want out of your MOS, keep trying. I had a friend who submitted a 4187 for 00B and got it within four months or try for SF/Delta I enjoyed my time in the service. Too bad the military saw fit to drive me out. I would have stayed in if it wasnt for injuries or lack of MOS transfer. Keep driving on! Best of luck. |
! how about 19D? or 13F thats the shit man! medic? i dont know just throwing stuff out there. good luck!
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Im a former tanker that wanted to change MOS also. BUt I was told that it was a shortage MOS and could only transfer to other shotage MOS's. Which was all combat arms and bomb disposal. Im not sure what state your in but there is a Psy OPs reserve unit in Parma, Ohio that I was in back in 99. Back then there was only one active duty unit that i believe was at fort bragg. The rest of the units were all reserves. |
i went to S2 to ask about my secret clearance, found our S2 shop is an empty desk in a corner of a dimly lit room in the ALOC behind a mountain of boxes. didnt help me much. 19D is what i originally wanted. im kind of torn as thats what i want to do but not what my wife is digging right now. 13F is cool, i hang out with our fisters all the time, not sure about medic but it would put me back home in san antonio for AIT. my wife keeps telling me "do what you want to do...." but i can already see she isnt very happy with my current list of prospects. ive only been in two years and ive been gone almost all of it, and since i got wounded she hasnt been into the army much at all. |
they said i was over the height max when i joined, and they told me it was ok, i would just be more uncomfortable.  and that i am. not so much as in a bradley, but enough to make me want to switch.they say im a tanker but im in an infantry company in an infantry BN, as a gunner on a humvee. if im going to be doing other shit anyway i might as well reclass to an MOS where the points are low, and bonuses are actually high, platoons are full sized, and theres some prospect of a job once you get out. |
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Its much better to get pulled out of the Infantry and trained as a crew member/door gunner than it is to spend years wrenching on helos to eventually work your way into into a flight slot. Its also a little known part of Psyop, using the Helo mounted LS system. Thats a great way to earn your crew wings and get door gunner training. Big deal that your crew wings are not permanent awards, you have the knowledge.......... |
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ive been scanning jobs religiously and have no idea what i am going to do, especially if i cant guarantee a secret clearance. ive heard that if you dont qualify for a clearance and you re-enlisted, you just get dropped back with your original unit and you just gained a few years on your contract. they are saying they wont even bother doing the clearance while we are deployed, i would have to wait until i am back at benning and after i re-up to figure out if i even qualify for the job i signed for or not. i dont know how true that is but, its a scary leap to take. id love to go to the defense language institute and leanr a language, i already speak spanish and german, and have been getting pretty conversational in arabic. i just dont think ill be able to pass the security clearance necessary for the job. its one of those deals where your mother told you you would be sorry for things you did, and she was right. im still feeling the crunch over a decade later, even over something small. |
Crew chief/door gunner, I'm telling ya.  Get to fly, be part of a small/tightknit team, door gun(thats always a plus!), wear cool uniforms ( ) and it'd give you a little mechanical experience for when/if you ever get out you have at least a little bit of formal background experience if you should choose to go into that line of work.And hell, Ft. Rucker is only 2hrs from Benning... |
Yes its great once you work yourself into a flying job, but how many folks go straight out of AIT to a flying slot? How many get stuck in a D Co and turn wrenches doing phases's their entire enlistment and never draw flight pay? |
True, I forgot he would get into AD flying. I would think though if it were between him and say 3 other guys right out of AIT that he would get a little more preference being AD for a few years as well as a combat tour? |
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anyone know the specific MOS that i would have to get into to (eventually) become a crew chief? blackhawk or even for a chinook. does it require any sort of clearance? i have plenty of deployment gunning experience, both 240 and .50, dont know how much that would help me get selected to actually do it. with my luck ill get stuck turning wrenches on a medevac bird with no armament. i almost shit myself when they told me i couldnt bring my weapons when i got medevac'd, and i saw there was no door gun. |
Army MOS 15series Should be "15T" |