Field Wireman or Field Artillery?

[rustyshackle]

After taking the ASVAB at my school and expressing interest about enlisting, I made an appointment at the recruiters office. We discussed several MOS options and a couple stood out to me.

1. Field wireman- What does a field wireman do and whats his average day? The recruiter told me that I would be maintaining communications between outposts and HQ/setting up new comms. What are the chance of me being in firefights or ambushes etc?

2.Field artillery- What does an average artilleryman do in a day beside shooting big guns?

My ASVAB score is a 71 with high scores(my recruiter was impressed) in paragraph comp/vocab/general English. The rest of the scores were above average/ average(never scoring below the 50th percentile)

[Beltayn]

1. If you want a combat MOS sign up for a combat MOS.

2. Clean big guns. PM big guns. Limber and unlimber big guns. Move big guns from place to place.

[rustyshackle]

I know the wireman isn't a combat MOS I just want to know the chances of being in combat are(such as going to outpost to HQ/Forward operating bases)

[Marine84]

If you have a problem with being inside the wire, I would suggest NOT going in the Corps. They teach ALL of us straight out the gate how to fight because there will ALWAYS be a chance of you being in a combat situation.

Do ANY of you know what the military's purpose is?

[rustyshackle]

I didnt say I had a problem with being in combat. Nowhere in my post does it say there is a problem. I just asked because I was was told while I was deployed I would do some of traveling to the front and back

[Quinbo]

At one time wireman was very likely to be in the thick of things. Every artillery unit had at least one and the wireman was charged with setting up effective comm between the guns and the FDC. I'm sure in the age of computers much of this has changed.

[ArtyOps]

After taking the ASVAB at my school and expressing interest about enlisting, I made an appointment at the recruiters office. We discussed several MOS options and a couple stood out to me.

1. Field wireman- What does a field wireman do and whats his average day? The recruiter told me that I would be maintaining communications between outposts and HQ/setting up new comms. What are the chance of me being in firefights or ambushes etc?

2.Field artillery- What does an average artilleryman do in a day beside shooting big guns?

My ASVAB score is a 71 with high scores(my recruiter was impressed) in paragraph comp/vocab/general English. The rest of the scores were above average/ average(never scoring below the 50th percentile)

Depends on what you do in artillery. If you're in the Fire Direction Center you'll be the coolest cat on the block.

[ArtyOps]

At one time wireman was very likely to be in the thick of things. Every artillery unit had at least one and the wireman was charged with setting up effective comm between the guns and the FDC. I'm sure in the age of computers much of this has changed.

Nope!!... Ok, well maybe a little. The Marine Corps was working on more effective ways to communicate with the gun (computer to computer) but overall the old trusty 2-wire was still the way to go for voice.

Unless you're HIMARS, that's a whole new world.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Wiremen...run wire. Lots and lots of all kinds of wire. Probably some fiberoptic stuff nowadays too.

I'd say you'll be 'outside' the wire plenty if you go wiredawg. In my day they were part of "Communications Platoon/Company", not sure if that's changed.

I also changed the thread title to more accurately reflect the question.

[Capital M]

Depends on what you do in artillery. If you're in the Fire Direction Center you'll be the coolest cat on the block.

Fat dudes chillin, right Sgt?

[ArtyOps]

Fat dudes chillin, right Sgt?

Absolutely!! Among other names for FDC. My favorite is Fvckin Dumb Cvnts. I stopped hearing it though after I replied, "You know why they call us Fvckin Dumb Cvnts? Cause we've been Fvckin Dumb Cvnts like you for a while".

[dizark]

I'm a radio operator who knows wiremen. Their job is skate. They setup phones (not network phones, that's Data), but other phones using slash wire. Other than that, they monitor the switches for those phones (like a switchboard operator), and do nothing else. Chances of leaving the wire are slim. We're in an infantry battalion, and they have not gone out the wire much, very minimal, and that's going from one place to another, not going on patrols.

[ArtyOps]

Sorry about that Sgt Leprechaun. I got a little carried away.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Fair enough. "Let us never speak of it again"

[ArtyOps]

Speak of what?