Posted: 4/20/2009 8:10:36 PM EDT
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I have been looking at different sources on the internet about Army MOS. Why? Well Im graduating from college soon and Im interested in becoming a soldier.
Specifically Armor Crewman or (19K). It stated that persons over 6'1'' are not allowed to be in this MOS. Is this true? Even for Enlisted officers? |
| Uhm, there is no such animal as 'enlisted officers'. There are non-commissioned officers, but they are privates first. I have never heard the 6'1'' rule myself, but I was not armor. I imagine being tall would make it pretty rough getting stuffed into an M1 tank, but again I don't know. |
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My childhood dream was to drive a tank. How is that determined? Would suck to join the Army to be a tank driver and get stuck being a loader. I believe you will rotate through all 4 positions as you advance in rank/experience. Thats what I have been told... |
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I was Armor for 5 years from 2002-2007.
There is no height restrictions. I had a platoon SGT that was around 6'5". I am 5'7" and I found the different stations in the M1 to be pretty cramped so I can't imagine what it was like for him. You will start off usually as a loader or driver when you first get to the unit. Which one you get assigned to first usually had to do mainly with what spot was open when a new guy came into the unit. You will switch at some point so you will be in both positions for some length of time each. The next step is gunner. Most of the time the gunners were either soon-to-be promoted SPCs or SGTs (mostly SGTs). After that is tank commander. But that is years down the road. If you are mechanically inclined or like working on stuff then Armor is a good fit. You do a LOT of maintenance on those steel beasts to keep them running so be ready to swing a wrench and get greasy. The actual mechanics in the unit are only there for advanced repairs/troubleshooting and everything else is usually done by the tank crew. |
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I'm going 19k, and I heard about the 6'1 limit as well. How tall are you? Im 6'2'' I'm only 5'9. Usually you'll start out as driver and switch as you get higher in rank like has been said. From what I hear it's about 8 hours of maintenance for every 1 hour of drive time. |
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I have been looking at different sources on the internet about Army MOS. Why? Well Im graduating from college soon and Im interested in becoming a soldier. Specifically Armor Crewman or (19K). It stated that persons over 6'1'' are not allowed to be in this MOS. Is this true? Even for Enlisted officers? If you're graduating from college, why aren't you looking into earning a commission? Use the talents God gave you and at least consider it. If you can hack 10 weeks of OCS in Quantico VA, Marines have armor officers too. Yes, it's more demanding than anything the Army or USMC offers for enlisted training. They'll run your ass off, and could care less if you quite if you don't want to be there. If you're up to it, a commission means more money which helps pay the bills. No, I'm not an officer. Yes, I regret not applying for it when I graduated from college. One of our resident posters here is a U.S. Army tanker (19K), and he's 6'2"-no issues there, and he knows his shit. The Abrams is a little more forgiving of tall people. You'll start out as a driver, then loader, then gunner, and then become the TC if you're up to it. I've had five MOSs, and tanks is probably my favorite. Lots of maintenance between gunnery and field ops, but it's all worth while when you're going down range firing the big bullets. I was a section leader for a TOW platoon (like Scouts), and it was fun too. Lots of the same thing tankers do (kill hard targets), without all the PMCS that goes along with being a tank crewman. HUMMVs don't require as much maintenance as a tank, by any means. They also don't have two feet of armor in front either. Take your pick. Edit: You can start out as either a loader, or driver. I don't recall it being written in stone, although it seems most new guys checked in and became loaders, and then moved on to being drivers with a little experience under their belts.... |
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I have been looking at different sources on the internet about Army MOS. Why? Well Im graduating from college soon and Im interested in becoming a soldier. Specifically Armor Crewman or (19K). It stated that persons over 6'1'' are not allowed to be in this MOS. Is this true? Even for Enlisted officers? If you're graduating from college, why aren't you looking into earning a commission? Use the talents God gave you and at least consider it. If you can hack 10 weeks of OCS in Quantico VA, Marines have armor officers too. Yes, it's more demanding than anything the Army or USMC offers for enlisted training. They'll run your ass off, and could care less if you quite if you don't want to be there. If you're up to it, a commission means more money which helps pay the bills. No, I'm not an officer. Yes, I regret not applying for it when I graduated from college. One of our resident posters here is a U.S. Army tanker (19K), and he's 6'2"-no issues there, and he knows his shit. The Abrams is a little more forgiving of tall people. You'll start out as a driver, then loader, then gunner, and then become the TC if you're up to it. I've had five MOSs, and tanks is probably my favorite. Lots of maintenance between gunnery and field ops, but it's all worth while when you're going down range firing the big bullets. I was a section leader for a TOW platoon (like Scouts), and it was fun too. Lots of the same thing tankers do (kill hard targets), without all the PMCS that goes along with being a tank crewman. HUMMVs don't require as much maintenance as a tank, by any means. They also don't have two feet of armor in front either. Take your pick. O I plan on earning a commission if i enlist. I would not go through college to go in as a private. Dont 2nd Lieutenants command tank crews? |
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I have been looking at different sources on the internet about Army MOS. Why? Well Im graduating from college soon and Im interested in becoming a soldier. Specifically Armor Crewman or (19K). It stated that persons over 6'1'' are not allowed to be in this MOS. Is this true? Even for Enlisted officers? If you're graduating from college, why aren't you looking into earning a commission? Use the talents God gave you and at least consider it. If you can hack 10 weeks of OCS in Quantico VA, Marines have armor officers too. Yes, it's more demanding than anything the Army or USMC offers for enlisted training. They'll run your ass off, and could care less if you quite if you don't want to be there. If you're up to it, a commission means more money which helps pay the bills. No, I'm not an officer. Yes, I regret not applying for it when I graduated from college. One of our resident posters here is a U.S. Army tanker (19K), and he's 6'2"-no issues there, and he knows his shit. The Abrams is a little more forgiving of tall people. You'll start out as a driver, then loader, then gunner, and then become the TC if you're up to it. I've had five MOSs, and tanks is probably my favorite. Lots of maintenance between gunnery and field ops, but it's all worth while when you're going down range firing the big bullets. I was a section leader for a TOW platoon (like Scouts), and it was fun too. Lots of the same thing tankers do (kill hard targets), without all the PMCS that goes along with being a tank crewman. HUMMVs don't require as much maintenance as a tank, by any means. They also don't have two feet of armor in front either. Take your pick. O I plan on earning a commission if i enlist. I would not go through college to go in as a private. Dont 2nd Lieutenants command tank crews? You don't "enlist" if you go to OCS. I think that's what's throwing folks off. No big deal, and I'm not trying to bust your balls about it-don't take it the wrong way. Yes, 2nd Lts command not only a tank crew but a platoon as well (although it seems to me, as an outsider looking in, that Army 2nd Lts don't "command" a platoon as much as the Plt Sgts do until they get more experience). In the Army, they call them Plt Leaders. In the USMC, you're a Plt. Commander. In the Army, you fight the platoon while your Plt Sgt talks to the company commander. In the USMC, you talk to the company commander while the Plt. Sgt fights the platoon. It's a different way of doing things, but whatever works for them is fine with me (I learned this while attending ANCOC at Ft. Knox-got to know Army doctrine inside and out, and it was quite an education in how the Army operates. Not saying it's a bad thing, just an observation). In the Army, you go to OCS, then graduate and go to AOBC (Armor Officer's Basic Course)-then on to the operating forces. In the USMC, you'll attend 10 weeks of OCC (assuming you've graduated from college already) at Quantico, 6 months of The Basic School (learning as much about everything as you can in six months of formal school), then off to wherever AOBC is now. It used to be at Beduino (spelling?) Hall, Ft Knox Ky. I understand everything is moving to Ft. Benning, GA. In the end, it doesn't matter which service you choose, as long as you put 110% effort into it while you're there. Go talk to the Army and the USMC OSO in your area and see what they can do for ya, if you feel like it. Feel free to IM me if you have any questions. By tomorow, there should be plenty of Soldiers that see this thread that can chime in on all matters U.S. Army that'll help you out more than I can. Good luck to you brother, and welcome to the armor community if you do indeed do it 
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