MOS Help!!!

[surfer2513]

Good afternoon Marines,


I'm come to a difficult task. I am trying to figure out what MOS I should choose. The 2 that my recruiter and I have narrowed it down to was a 5 yr. Infantry contract, or Combat Support (Artillery, Tanks, AAV). I can't figure out which one I want. If any you Marines out there have either of these MOS's, could you please give me some info about it and what it is like?

Thanks,
Smith

[DontTreadOnMe]

I don't have either of those MOS's but that 5 yrs Infantry contract sounds to me like the security forces contract. I was going to be SF when I first enlisted but changed my MOS before leaving for bootcamp.

[03Mike]

I'd seek clarification - Tanks and Artillery are combat arms, not combat support.

Basically, you have three roles in combat:

1. Combat Arms
2. Combat Support
3. Combat Service Support

If you take a contract for combat support thinking that you're going to be a tanker or artilleryman you will be in for a surprise. All three areas are essential to warfighting - and all three have advantages and disadvantages. Do a little research, talk to the recruiter to seek clarification, and see which one you think will fit you best.

[brian0351]

...and a basic search of the 'Ask a Marine' forum will outline all you need/want to know about all of those.

[jburke1983]

I don't have either of those MOS's but that 5 yrs Infantry contract sounds to me like the security forces contract. I was going to be SF when I first enlisted but changed my MOS before leaving for bootcamp.

I could be wrong because I'm about as boot as they come but I think five year 03xx contracts are fairly common now. Myself and a few other recruits at recruit training had five year infantry contracts but none of us were SF.

[DontTreadOnMe]

I could be wrong because I'm about as boot as they come but I think five year 03xx contracts are fairly common now. Myself and a few other recruits at recruit training had five year infantry contracts but none of us were SF.

5 years... I never heard that for grunts except for the SF option... I'm not sure why you guys got that, maybe it helped the recruiter out heh :D. But usually 5 year contracts are common in technical fields that require long schools like in the air wing where schools are up to a year long sometimes.

[GunRock0811]

I was Artillery, 0811 cannoneer. It was a pretty good time. If you actually shoot artillery you'll spend a ton of time in the field. Depending on what the Corps needs your unit could be tasked out to do other missions though. Besides shooting artillery I did convoy security, and civial affairs. Arty has also be tasked to be provisional MP's and provisional infantry as well. I'm sure all the grunts in the house are laughing at that last one. Pick whatever interests you the most.

[michagnu]

Do you want to be a smaller target or better armored?
I enjoyed the infantry myself. Some don't. I got to do a lot more than just tote a gun around. I was part of a raid company so we did worked with boats and amphibious landings. You might get training for assault climbing, desert-mountain-cold weather-urban combat, air assault, over the horizon and on and on. I got to work with the DEA and others doing drug interdiction (we provided intelligence). There's all kinds of things that may come up though I would expect you might be busy with combat operations in Afghanistan for a while yet. If you do choose infantry take care of you feet.