Life of an arty or tank crewmen??

[edwinrivera1990]

I have a Combat Support contract which from what my recruiter told me includes Artillery, Tanks, AAVS and I think LAAD Gunner.

I dont ship out until October so, which is the next fiscal year I think so all jobs open up. I have been debating on switching my MOS to Infantry but before I do that I want to get to know more about the life of an Arty or Tank Crewman or LAAD Gunner if they even have those anymore (I heard they were phasing or not really taking any more LAAD gunners)

What is training like for those MOS's, how much time is spent out on the field. I heard Artillery, when there's nothign going on there is a lot of civil affairs stuff that you have to do. I know when I signed the contract it said I had to be a 2nd class swimmer but is that only for AAVs? Also do any of these MOS's get to carry an M16 and kind of be an infantry in a way? or does that apply for all MOS's? I tried searching for an in depth description on what artillery or tanks really do but I couldnt find it, so if anyone here had one of those MOSs or contracts I would really appreciate your responses.

Thank you

[edwinrivera1990]

12 views but no responses? I know there have to be a lot of people doing artillery and tanks and someone who knows about LAAD gunners?

[Lisa 23]

Have you tried doing a search on the site? I know these MOS's have been covered before.

[edwinrivera1990]

Yes I did. I found one that had the detailed life of an infantry but cant find one for artiller or tanks. There are some that give the over all job description but I want something more personal, like training and what you do when your not training, etc.

[SGT7477]

When it absolutely has to be destroyed overnight, call in Marine Arty, OOHRAH, Semper Fidelis.

[GunRock0811]

In arty, if there isn't anything going on you are not automatically tasked with civil affairs. That is only if there is a need for it. Other mos's can be tasked out to do this as well. My first deployment was convoy security. My second, was civilian affairs, but thats only because that's what was needed in Iraq at the time.

In artillery you'll spend most of your time in the field. Either back yard shoots or major training exercises in 29 palms that last for a month or more. I've sent 30 days in the palms, went back to Pendleton for week, then went back to the palms for another 30 days in the field.

If you're not in the field you'll be doing preventative maintenance on the howitzers, cleaning rifles, having classes, and things like that.

[edwinrivera1990]

In arty, if there isn't anything going on you are not automatically tasked with civil affairs. That is only if there is a need for it. Other mos's can be tasked out to do this as well. My first deployment was convoy security. My second, was civilian affairs, but thats only because that's what was needed in Iraq at the time.

In artillery you'll spend most of your time in the field. Either back yard shoots or major training exercises in 29 palms that last for a month or more. I've sent 30 days in the palms, went back to Pendleton for week, then went back to the palms for another 30 days in the field.

If you're not in the field you'll be doing preventative maintenance on the howitzers, cleaning rifles, having classes, and things like that.

So when you did convoy security does that mean your out patroling the streets with M16's like infantry men do?

[GunRock0811]

No, we would escort convoys going to different places around Iraq. If one of the supply trucks, buses, or whatever hit an IED we would set up a cordon, assess casualties, and call in a medevac or wrecker if needed. We aslo had to protect the convoy from ambushes. Another thing we would do is go out with the army while they were doing route clearance. They would be looking for IED's and we would be watching for ambushes so they could contentrate on what they were doing.

While doing civillian affairs we did more things like grunts. We were doing foot patrols every day. We had to clear some buildings and things like that.

Just realize you're only going to be doing things like this while there is a war or conflict going on. Even then its not guranteed. Normally arty just shoots arty. If infantry sounds better, I suggest you talk to your recruiter.

[edwinrivera1990]

It's hard because I really want to do the infantry gig but I also want to try to get into the MECEP program. I know that program is very competitive but I'm willing to try, and from what I heard going infantry, that it's basically run by Lance Corporals you sometimes will spend your whole 4 years as an Lance Corporal and that's not going to do me any good because I need to be a Corporal to even apply for the program. I'm no saying as a grunt I'm not willing to give it my all to rank up but there is less of a chance.

I figure artillery is probably the closest to infantry?

[GunRock0811]

I don't know much about the MECEP program. If you really want infantry, go infantry. As long as you aren't a dumbass and do what you're supposed to do, you should have no problem picking up Cpl. Shoot expert on the range, do your MCI's, have a high first class pft, and you'll be fine. I know plenty of grunts that picked up Cpl in their first four years.

The only thing artillery and infantry have in common is the amount of time you spend in the field. The training and individual missions are two completely different things. Granted when we deployed as convoy security, all of our training was room clearing and foot patrols. When we actually deployed, we did very little of that. Like I said before though, this only happens once in awhile. Most of the time you'll just be shooting artillery.

Artillery is a pretty fun job and I really liked it. I know many grunts feel the same about their job as well. Its all up to you and what you want.

[edwinrivera1990]

Thanks a lot GunRock. On Monday my recruiter told me we'll put in a contract for infantry and combat support contract as back up in case I dont get infantry. I really hope I get infantry as the jobs havent even opened up for the next fiscal year yet so I dont see why I wouldnt get it.

[GunRock0811]

Not a problem. Good luck bud