Information for Combat Engineer and the 1100/1300 field

[PeteJLaw]

Good afternoon Marines,
I swore in at MEPS finally and DEP'd in on October 6th, after waiting for 3 months ( I was originally supposed to DEP in back in July, but was delayed because my recruiters were worried about my acne, it was pretty bad, but got a lot better since then) my ship date is August 17th, 2015.
Any way to the question, I told my recruiter back in July my top three job fields of interest were 1. 1100/1300 Construction and Utilities (preferably Combat Engineer and the 1300 field) 2. Logistics option, and 3. Combat support (Artillery, tanks etc). Yesterday after PT with the other poolees, my recruiter told me my desired field (1300) was open and I told him I was ready to sign the contract. So I signed the 11xx/13xx contract. I am hoping to get Combat Engineer, but I know the Corps puts you where they want you. My question is does anyone know how likely it is for me to get 1371? And how do they put certain people in a certain MOS? Do they use your PT, Rifle and ASVAB scores into consideration of what MOS you will get? Or is it just like a luck of the drawl kinda thing?

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[josephd]

Good afternoon Marines,
I swore in at MEPS finally and DEP'd in on October 6th, after waiting for 3 months ( I was originally supposed to DEP in back in July, but was delayed because my recruiters were worried about my acne, it was pretty bad, but got a lot better since then) my ship date is August 17th, 2015.
Any way to the question, I told my recruiter back in July my top three job fields of interest were 1. 1100/1300 Construction and Utilities (preferably Combat Engineer and the 1300 field) 2. Logistics option, and 3. Combat support (Artillery, tanks etc). Yesterday after PT with the other poolees, my recruiter told me my desired field (1300) was open and I told him I was ready to sign the contract. So I signed the 11xx/13xx contract. I am hoping to get Combat Engineer, but I know the Corps puts you where they want you. My question is does anyone know how likely it is for me to get 1371? And how do they put certain people in a certain MOS? Do they use your PT, Rifle and ASVAB scores into consideration of what MOS you will get? Or is it just like a luck of the drawl kinda thing?

Your ASVAB will be taken into consideration but beyond that it is just luck of the draw.....I know alot of 13xx guys who wanted to be 1371's but ended up being 1391 Bulk Fuel Specialists and 1345 Heavy Equipment Operators.

There is nothing you can do really

[PeteJLaw]

That's fine. As much as i wanna be a Combat Engineer, I'm not gonna get mad or anything if I don't get it. I heard 1300 is a really enjoyable MOS field, so I'll be content with whatever specific MOS I get. Thank you for the reply Sgt

[josephd]

That's a good answer and good attitude. Any MOS is gonna be what you make of it, there are opportunities once you've been in awhile also to go do other things so don't think that is what you'll be stuck doing for 4+ years

[PeteJLaw]

Your right, Sgt. I'll definitely make the most of it regardless what MOS I get, again, thank you for the reply.

[Achillies]

I enlisted with the same option. As far as I can tell it's luck of the draw*, I was lucky and got 1371 Combat Engineer. That being said I was a first class PFT, CFT, an Expert Rifleman score, and I scored a 76 on my ASVAB. If you have any questions about the field I'd be happy to shed some light on it.

[PeteJLaw]

Awesome, thanks Cpl. Anyway, my first question is what does PFT and CFT stand for ? Also, about how many people were in your MOS school with you, ended up as a 1371? I'm not sure if it's true, but I've heard that 1371 is the biggest MOS in the 1300 field, and that the majority of people that go 1300 get 1371. But again, not sure how accurate that is. And also, on my contract it says I could go 11xx or 13xx, is there anyway that you can only go 1300? Sorry if it's a lot of questions lol, I just wanna know as much as possible before I go.

[Achillies]

You'll become well acquainted with the PFT and CFT soon enough. PFT stands for Physical Fitness Test, it's essentially just like your IST, but more is required of you. The PFT consists of pull-ups, crunches and a three mile run. To rate a maximum score you must do 20 pull-ups, 100 crunches and have an 18 minute run time. CFT stands for Combat Fitness Test, it consists of an 800 meter sprint, ammo can lifts, and a maneuver under fire exercise. I'm not 100% sure on the scoring, google it. These scores won't apply to your career right away but will definitely have an impact on how you are viewed by your peers and chain of command, first impressions especially. Later you will rate a Composite Score which is part of how promotion is handled. Hope that's enough on those two things. We had a full platoon in Engineer School. By the time you get to MOS school you will already have a designated MOS. I was the only Combat Engineer from my platoon in bootcamp, three other guys in my battalion were selected as well. I'm not sure how accurate that is either. I know a lot of the other fields end up as support for Engineers themselves in ESB(Engineer Support Battalion) but they also do their own things. I remember Bulk Fuel in Okinawa definitely outnumbered us. I don't believe there is a way you can just select 1300. It's a bundle deal. Think of it this way, you get that Old Corps experience of joining having almost no clue what you would be doing for the next 4 years. If your reasons are good enough, it shouldn't matter.

[PeteJLaw]

Wow. That's a lot of info haha. Thanks so much though Cpl. Just a few more questions, 1. What kinda stuff did you do in MOS school? From my understanding you learn a little bit of very thing, from carpentry to demotions. And 2, you mentioned that in your Engineer school, that the number of people in your class was about the size of a platoon. Of that platoon in the Engineering school you were with , how many of them became 1371's? Again, sorry for all these questions I'm just trying to get as much info as possible.

[PeteJLaw]

Demolition **

[Achillies]

You heard right. Even demotions if you go out and underage drink! We do a bit of everything in the school house. Depending on where you end up in the fleet, you may specialize in one or more of the things you learn and never do some of the others. However at the end of the day "Engineers Up!" means you will be called to do something that falls under your MOS so you need to stay at the very least well-read on the rest. We did everything from what you said to Fell Standing Timber(Cutting down trees), Masonry, fighting positions, mine sweeping, bridging and wire obstacles as well as other things. Like I said before, you'll know your MOS before you get to the schoolhouse. Only 1371's go to Engineer School. I found out on Marine week of bootcamp what my MOS was, proceeded through MCT and went to my MOS school. It's important to note that you CAN fail out of Engineer School and another MOS will be given to you. You haven't made it until you've made it.

[PeteJLaw]

Awesome. The MOS school sounds like there's a lot to be learned. Thanks a ton for the info Cpl. But one more question, not really about the MOS, but your experience with it. How have you enjoyed Combat Engineer so far? From what it looks like from all the things you guys learn in MOS school, it sounds like you guys could be pretty busy a lot of the time lol

[Achillies]

It's not all C4 and demo shoots, but it's a damn good job to have. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Corps, I think I owe a lot of that to the 1371 field. If you survive Boot, and earn that title, let me know how it turns out. Until then, stay motivated.

[Phantom Blooper]

Combat engineers are great...they have the best of both worlds....They get to build something from scratch and watch it come together....then they get to blow shiat up! I knew a lot of engineers....good men.... Heed the advice given...make it through boot camp....stay motivated...hopefully you will get what you want....do your time...and if you don't stay in longer than your initial enlistment and even if you do you will be steps ahead in the civilian world for getting the higher construction/planning jobs.....you may even get to blow up old buildings downtown...what a life! Good luck! Stay motivated and stay out of trouble!

[PeteJLaw]

Thank you guys for the support and for answering my questions. I will be sure to keep you guys informed on my process and steps towards becoming a Marine and so on and so forth. I will definitely stay motivated until Boot, I go to PT every Saturday morning, I go to the gym 3 times a week to workout, and go on daily runs. I also read up info on the internet and read books about the Marines as well. There's never a day that goes by that I don't think about being in the Corps.
Thanks Marines