I knew Adam wanted to go into the army as a linguist. After his foreign speaking mission, he craved learning new languages and he seemed to just have a gift for it. He loves his job now, so much that I'm afraid he's going to be dead bored when we get out. Ah, well, sacrifices.
So, on to my questions...
Do you like your/your husband's MOS (military job...is it bad that I don't know what that acronym actually stands for)? If you could have your pick of any military MOS, what would it be and why? What is the most unusual Military job you've heard of?
You can answer 1, 2, all 3, or relay any other interesting bit of wisdom. The floor is yours. :)
11 comments:
My husband is a 31P (microwave radio operator/maintainer). I like his MOS because he likes his MOS.
Right now he's an instructor at the Signal Corps headquarters, teaching advanced training to several signal MOS's. He loves the instructing part, but hates the extreme babysitting and the horrible hours that go along with it (like, 4 am PT, and after school training until 6:00, so 14 hour work days plus a mandatory 12 hour shift on every 4 day weekend).
In October he leaves to become a Signal Warrant Officer (I can't remember the exact MOS. 251 N, I think?). I'm excited because he's excited.
I figure that the most important thing. If he has to do it everyday for the next however many years, he should like it, regardless of what I think of it.
I admit that I'm absolutely thrilled he's not in an infantry MOS. That would suck. A lot.
Matt was a 98 C (and analyst, but also a linguist) he did many "jobs" under that MOS and really liked them all. He loves the career field that opened up to him, you can have ultimate job security and still do a different "job" every year if you want. It all sounds pretty similar to me, but apparently analyzing things is pretty broad. I honestly didn't care, he was happy. I may have been a little disappointed if Matt was deployed a lot, but he would have been too. Maybe if he was the type who loved it, I would react differently.
Overall, we really enjoyed all the benefits the army gave us. Matt will tell you he was glad to get out, but just as glad that he joined in the first place.
Tj is in Public Affairs (I still have no idea what the actual MOS is even though he's told me a million times) and he hates it. He never excelled in english, and he writes news articles all day. But really, its a pretty cool job. He got to learn photography, and gets to meet all sorts of people. He met Katy Couric. He also took pictures for a Angels and Airwaves concert that was also on a One Tree Hill episode. And he met the actors from the show. So for some people, that might be what they want to do. Its just not for him.
He didn't pick an MOS, he just signed up for the Marines. So they handed him whatever was available. Which you should never do. But its better than infantry, I agree with Brandi, it would suck! They're typically in the front lines.
My dad was a linguist, but wishes he would've done something with computers because, thats where his talent is and its a marketable trade after the military.
When Sam was prior duty he was a communications tech for planes. I think he liked it but it wasn't really challenging enough for him. (This was before I was married to him).
Now Sam is a scientist- let me tell you we all love it. Sam is not very deploy-able. I feel bad for all those I know that have their hubbies go off on deployments, but am glad it's not likely to happen for Sam. He loves his job, which is even more important. He feels he's doing something important (and I'm fine not knowing a ton about it because I wouldn't understand it anyhow). He gets treated well in the AF. He does go on periodic TDY's, but no biggie. And sometimes he has long weeks due to projects- again no biggie.
My brother-in-law is infantry in the Marines. He can't wait til his end date. Enough said.
My grandpa was a weatherman (for the AF). He loved it. They helped him get his GED, and it was really good for him. He still thinks fondly of his time in the AF.
First off, it's ok that you don't know what MOS means, the first time I heard the term I looked at them cross-eyed too because the Air Force calls it an AFSC -- Air Force Specialty Code. :)
Anyway, my AFSC is 61SXD - Physicist. My former AFSC when I was enlisted no longer exists, but was 2A4X2...actually I think it still exists, but not in the same form as I knew it. At the time it was Aircraft Comm/Nav Systems Maintenance.
I'll start with 2A4X2, Comm/Nav Systems. We learned a lot of electronics, troubleshooting, and avionics systems that are common on all sorts of planes in the AF inventory, and in commercial aviation as well, so there was plenty of opportunity for jobs outside of the AF at some point in time. It was a great job, but I felt like it wasn't the best fit for me; it was still enjoyable though.
Now, I feel like I'm in the perfect job as a Physicist. The only drawback is that there is no direct way to connect what the military considers a foreign language with it (although trust me, one look at the papers and books we read will convince you we learn a few foreign languages in the process! lol). I spent a lot of today working on getting a laser to work, and the rest of the day looking at other quantum mechanical consequences of interest to the Air Force and writing some computer code to help with the investigation. If I could somehow fit in a foreign language (preferrably Russian) in that picture too, I would be in perfection, but as it is, I am 99.99% satisfied...and I can work on Rosetta Stone to satisfy that remaining crave :)
A lot of people think my job with the AF is pretty unusual. It is, and it isn't...you'd be surprised how many scientists there are in the Air Force. We just haven't come across that magical alien technology that is rumored to exist somewhere, so we are stuck with the laws of physics as we presently know them, and that requires a lot of technical knowledge to make things work. What I would give to come across some alien technology about now, it sure would make writing my thesis a lot easier!!!! :)
If I could think of any drawbacks, I don't know of any that matter to me, but some people look at the huge disparity between the pay for a scientist in the military and a scientist in the civilian sector. I have also heard frequently the complaint that there are a bunch of specialty pays but not any for technically-related specialties; for example, a Ph.D. in a scientific field doesn't earn anything more in the military than a B.S. in a scientific field by virtue of the degree. They may get promoted a year or two earlier, but the degree, or the special training and knowledge of a high-tech, high-demand field like physics or mathematics doesn't confer any special pay, while a lot of other career fields do have specialty pay (such as flight pay). To me, that's not important at all in my choice of career. I get paid adequate to provide for everyone I need to and still be able to have a good time, but some people get irked about that. Also, there really isn't much of a career path in the military scientific community beyond 20 years for the standard retirement...and then possibly coming back in as a contractor or civil servant. So at that point, you either change career fields (most likely to acquisitions) or you retire from the military. None of that really matters to me, I love my job and I love being able to serve, but just be aware that no matter what job you do in the military there will be sacrifice. The sacrifice may come in different ways for different career fields, but there is sacrifice in all of it. Personally, I love my job and can't think of a better match for me, and I have respect for people who do a lot of jobs I never could do or wouldn't want to do, but are necessary for our military. But that gives an insight into one of the less common military jobs...I know at least in the Air Force, I can't speak for other services and their scientific communities too well.
Whig's a Systems Analyst. He likes his actual job, but his happiness level depends on what unit he's in. When he was stationed in Korea, for example, he HATED it. He was always assigned busy work and they treated him like a 13 year old. He loves it here though. His bosses treat him like an actual adult and his hours are awesome.
Wow! You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for your input. It seems that overall, people are pretty happy in the military. That makes me feel better about more family joining the ranks. :)
Here's my thought on military jobs. You can do practically any job in the military. So decide what you like to do, then do it in the military. You can be a photographer, cook, pilot, firefighter, doctor, lawyer, secretary, financial person, etc. They sky's the limit. If you choose something you enjoy, then you'll like your job. Even if your base or unit sucks, at least the job would have some redeeming qualities! Anton was both a linguist and a pilot in training, and other than the air sickness, he loved both. But they were both something he chose to do because it was something he loved.
MOS = Military Occupational Skill. Probably the most unusual one I've heard of is the 350Z - the warrant officer attache technician. They're the ones that work at embassies supporting the stuff that goes on there.
I think the important thing to remember is that it's not so much the MOS as your flexibility that's important. If you're a 97E but can only get promoted to E8 as a 97G, then you need to consider going back for more training so you can attend to your career.
The Navy calls 'em Rates. "Choose your rate, choose your fate." Cheyenne started out as a JO (journalist officer) but that has merged with PH (photographers mate) and something else that they joked was combat kinkos and is now one rate, MC (media something or other.) But cheyenne couldn't do that job due to paperwork issues. He went back to train to be a corpsman (HN, HM.) After that he had to pick a specialty, so he picked Search and Rescue Corpsman (SAR) but had more paperwork issues and ended up as a Aviation Corpsman (AVT.) He HATES this rate. He's so bored of records and being on the ship. In the fall he's putting in a packet to go to nursing school for the Navy.
I tell him all the time, "If you're happy, I'm happy." As much as we've been screwed, we do reap blessings. We've had a job for the last four and a half years that has enabled us to have 2 kids for free. He has gotten promoted fast for his rate (it's not uncommon for a HM to not reach E5 in 6 years and he made it in 4, not even becoming a corpsman until 2 years in)
My dad was a Korean linguist for the AF and is currently still using his skills as a contractor teaching new analysts.
My sister is a Services Officer with the AF in Vegas. She's currently in charge of the Dining facilities. She enjoys it and she even got to work out all the kinks for Top Chef to tape a challenge in one of her facilities.
No matter what branch of service your spouse is in, at the end of the day it all comes down to one issue.. Do they like their job? My husband loves his job. If they are not happy at work, that carries over into their home life.
Where we are stationed also plays a part. I know a lot of people love San Diego, but I could never move my kids there. The greatest thing about the military is the diversity that you find. I have meet wonderful people from all over the world. My kids are growing up, with a world view of things.
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