Im currently 17 years old in my senior year of high school. i plan on going to community college and a get a degree in automotive. Then plan on joining the military to work on their stuff. i hope to work on APC's, is that the correct term?
what mind of things do i need to know?
Posted Nov 24, 2011, 3:18 AM UTC
The Army will teach you everything you need for your job in basic knowledge. You will learn more on the job than in school. Basic knowledge of a mechanical nature before hand however is wonderful tool to have. We had some people that had never touched a wrench before or even changed a tire. Army wize after training you end up working across lots of fields. I was 63S heavy wheel , I ended up working on everything from hummers to hemmets to gensets. Other services are setup differently so your mileage may vary. good luck.
Haha i already have hands on. me and my stepdad have a racecar. so what is a 63S heavy wheel? A hemmet and genset?
In the Army every job has an alphanumeric code 63S is for a heavy wheeled vehicle mechanic. 63B is light wheeled vehicle mechanic ans so on an so forth. A Hemmit is the large 8x8 truck they use in different configurations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Expanded_Mobility_Tactical_Truck. they are cool as heck to drive and work on. a genset is military for a big diesel generator.
Ahh haah, gotcha gotcha. did you enjoy working for the military?
I loved it, I didn't want to leave but I got hurt, and was unable to reenlist. I have many fond memories of my time in even if some bad things came about.
Make sure you know what MOS you want before you enlist, don't let your recruiter pick it for you. Also don't let basic training get you down. You'll have to deal with Drill Sergeants yelling at you and getting in trouble for other soldiers mistakes, but it gets better. How good or bad AIT is depends on where you go.
Im so dumb when it comes to military terms. whats MOS and AIT?
MOS is your job within the army, and AIT is your job training school. He's saying make sure you get someone to put in writing the job you want. And life in AIT is easier than basic training, so don't get hung up on the head games in basic training.
Just to throw the Navy vote in (hi guys!) In the Navy we have a rating known as an AS (aviation support eqiupment tech) and while it isn't an APC you will have SERIOUS work on all kind of Heavy Dielsel engines, Gas engines, hydraulics and Eletrical engines. Possible some of the most well rounded Mechanics I have ever met.
Awesommme
Mechanics.
Army Recruiter here - Go to www.goarmy.com and look up MOS's or Military Occupation specialties to see which type of mechanic you want. When you say APC your thinking personnel carrier so maybe track vehicle mechanic which would be repairing bradleys and Abrams and the like. However strykers are personnel carriers to and fall under light wheel vehicle mechanic.
And just a heads up someone said dont let your recruiter pick your job for you, I agree. We use a system called Future Soldier Reservation system or FSR2 which pulls from a nation wide listing of jobs that are available to you at that time for your test scores on the ASVAB. This system allows you to pick what available to you at that time and well give you all the details of the job your getting I.E. job title, MOS code, Bonuses if any, any other schools like Airborne, Ranger...Dates youll be leaving and getting out of basic and the army as well as your title time in the army. This is called an temporary reservation and as recruiters we are not allowed to click the last button that says reserve. You have to do that. Thats basically you accepting everything on that reservation so if you do not want it do not click that button. Even then that job isnt official and can still be changed up until the time you swear in and even after that given certain circumstances you can do whats called and renegotiation.
If ya got any other questions just ask away.
Saweet man. thanks for the help! Upvote for you!!!
Alright im thinking 91B, H, or S will probably be what i go for.
Is General Dynamic not taking care of Strykers anymore ?
Random, I am headed to MEPS on Mon to (hopefully) enlist. The job I want is 35M w/Airborne and I'm really not willing to settle for anything else. I was in my recruiters office today and they told me that there were no 35 slots available, and that the Army is not currently giving out Airborne options.
I told them I would wait as long as it took, and although they didn't like it, told me that MEPS has more leeway in job assignments. I made it clear that I would walk if I didn't have that job and that option, and they supported that. I still have been projected for Mon, however, so I just was hoping to get a little input on the contract.
I am what they called and "Alpha" candidate as I have a degree/97 ASVAB, passed PT, etc.
So my question is, how likely is it that if I walk I'll end up getting 35M w/Airborne? I will certainly walk, but I just would like to know if the whole "no Airborne" thing is true, as I think they'll come around to the MOS part, or sell me getting the MOS but say Airborne isn't possible.
Any insight on this would be REALLY appreciated. Thanks!
Yea your considered a GA which is Graduate (Graduated from highschool) Alpha (which means you scored above a 50 on the test). The passing of the PT is awesome but doesnt factor into you joining unless its SF because you would have to pass it to leave.
Its not that they have more leeway up at MEPs, it just seems like it. If they call the ROC (recruiting operations command) they should be able to pull a job on the system. The ROC overall is who is in charge of jobs being on the system. For example i had a guy today who only had water craft operator pop up. So i called the ROC told them he was interested in 88M (truck driver) and fortunately they found something and he was able to get it and surprisingly it came with an airborne option.
Unfortunately the bad part is there might not be anything open, the army is moving to quality over quantity because all training slots are full for the next year. What i would do if i was your recruiter is call the ROC from the office first. Try twice maybe three times make sure you get a different guy each time and see what happens. The recruiter needs to make sure that the person knows your only taking 35M with Airborne which is option 4 i think and that your ASVAB was a 97. Airborne is still an option but it just might not be attached to the job you want.
Just be patient man, youll get it. Kinda comes down to checking every day and calling the ROC. Guidance counselors might be able to help but its nothing the recruiter cant do by calling the ROC. Let me know if ya got any more questions man. Good luck.
Thanks so much for the reply. My recruiter called the ROC today, and it's he who said there were no slots open.
I made sure to let them know that I was willing to wait, I just wanted to see if it was possible that there really were no slots open or if they were just trying to fill slots they needed, mission-first.
This definitely helps and I'll wait until something comes open. Seriously, thanks again.
No problem man, honestly most recruiters want to get you the job you want. The filling the slot thing only comes from your GA rating. This month that station is probably missioned for 1 Regular Army GA and your it. It only becomes a sale and hurts you when they try to convince you to go reserves over regular army because they are missioned for it.