The MOS is either from Vietnam or from NG duty in the 70's.  Thanks in advance!

13B is a Cannon Crewmember (artillery). 4 would be the skill level, but you would have to be an E-7 to be at that level. and O is an identifier meaning no special qualifications. This is based on todays definitions of that stuff anyway, it could have been different back then.

Quoted: 13B is a Cannon Crewmember (artillery). 4 would be the skill level, but you would have to be an E-7 to be at that level. and O is an identifier meaning no special qualifications. This is based on todays definitions of that stuff anyway, it could have been different back then.

I don't think this is exactly right. It's been decades now, and my memory is shaky, but I was an O5C40 in the early 1970’s.

O5C = Radio Teletype

40 = team chief, which was an E-5 sergeant position.

At least, that’s what I remember. But, you know how memory goes as the years pass by.

viator

OK, to see how accurate my memory was, I went down and got my DD-214 out of the safe.

My unit reorganized while I was serving as an O5C40, so my primary MOS is listed as something else, an 11D.

But, my secondary MOS is listed as O5E40.

IIRC:
O5B = voice only
O5C = voice, radio teletype and crypto qualified
O5E = radio teletype and crypto qualified

Why they reduced me to an 05E, I have no idea.

But the main thing is, the 214 shows GRADE: SGT and Pay Grade E5.

So, an E5 could be a 40 at that time, at least in commo.


viator

Cannon crewmember, NCO

www.ichiban1.org/html/history_mos.htm

he U.S. Army used alphanumeric codes (e.g., 11B10, Light Weapons Infantryman) to identify the Military Occupational Specialty (job) each person held. The MOS that a person was qualified in was called the PMOS (primary MOS), while the DMOS (duty MOS) was the job they actually held at a given time. Different MOS coding systems were used for enlisted, warrant officers and officers:    * Enlisted codes consisted of five digits. The first three (e.g., 11B) indicated the position while the fourth and fifth indicated the relative level:      xxx10 - basic Infantryman (E1-E3) = 11B10      xxx20 - specialist (Specialist 4th Class, E-4) = 11B20 (Note: some SP5s were 20s, e.g., 63B20, 91B20, 94B20)      xxx30 - team leader, specialist (E-5) = 11B30 (A number of SP5 positions had "30" MOS codes, including 64C30).      xxx40 - noncommissioned officer (Sergeant E-5, Staff Sergeant E-6, Sergeant First Class E-7) = 11B40      xxx50 - senior noncommissioned officer (E-8, E-9) = 11B50 (or, as we shall see, 11B5M, first sergeant)

13B   Cannon Crewmember

Another site had the Vietnam Era MOS for 13B containing the following specialties:

13B   AMMUNITION SUPPLY SERGEANT   ARTILLERY MECHANIC   ARTILLERY TURRET MECHANIC   FIELD ARTILLERY CREWMAN   GUNNER   REDEYE GUNNER

Cool thanks.  That was my uncle's MOS in the early 70's.  He was a Ranger in Vietnam (saw his wedding pic in uniform with the proper flash and all that), was WIA and after he healed up and got out, he went back into the reserves in IL as a cannon cocker.  Left after his commitment was up, he said he was tired of the half-assed "soldiers" in the reserves.  Apparently a lot of drugs and BS in the reserves at that time.

Quoted: 13B is a Cannon Crewmember (artillery). 4 would be the skill level, but you would have to be an E-7 to be at that level. and O is an identifier meaning no special qualifications. This is based on todays definitions of that stuff anyway, it could have been different back then.

Sounds like the chief of firing battery, aka, "Smoke".

I wouldve guessed a arty SFC kicking a SGT's ass, I dunno...

Sounds more like he was holding the 40 slot in the TO&E for the unit. Because that was his assigned slot that was his listed MOS. Used to be you could hold a slot two up or one down for your rank.

Quoted: Sounds more like he was holding the 40 slot in the TO&E for the unit. Because that was his assigned slot that was his listed MOS. Used to be you could hold a slot two up or one down for your rank.

What is a 40 slot?

I looked him up on Military.com.  In Vietnam he was a buck Sergeant in the Rangers until his leg got shot up and he came home with big chunks of both calves missing.  I did see pics of his Ranger class and he wore dress whites I think for his wedding with the following scrolls:  Airborne, Ranger, and Special Forces.  I am going from memory here, I am almost positive they were dress whites in that pic, but thinking about it now, I didn't even know Army had dress whites.  

He then went to IANG in the 70's, an arty unit, or at least that's what I remember.  That MOS is the latest one listed on the buddy finder.  I know he hated the NG unit he was in.

This guy is the husband of my mom's best friend.  My father bailed on us when I was 4, and he took my brother and I under his wing as a role model when we were teenagers.  He took us camping every year, taught us how to drink beer, etc.  

Some of his various comments over the years:

"When I went through Ranger school, we shot M14's, they were the best".  "I was over there when they gave us the new M16's, and they were JUNK.  I ditched mine and carried a sawed off 12ga. with beehive rounds!"  "I figured I was gonna get drafted anyway, so I volunteered for the coolest shit I could, figuring I would have a better chance of doing something good and making it back".

Dude is devout Catholic and NEVER talked about missions at all.  All he ever told us about getting shot up was that they were on patrol in the jungle and got ambushed.

Great guy, I love him dearly.  He's a 5'4" fireplug that has NO fear whatsoever.

Quoted: What is a 40 slot?

Reread my earlier post.