(Army) 33yo non prior service. Help decide on a combat MOS

[GTF425]

OP,

I was an 11B for 8 years, and intend to return to Active Duty as a Physician Assistant. I'll be in my mid-30s by the time I'm eligible to commission.

You're already aware of the cons of joining the Army at your age; namely, the high risk of injury in training which could drastically change your career trajectory, the common demographic of enlisted Soldier is far and away different than where you are in life, and that being in a conventional unit has a lot of downsides. Culture issues, lack of relevant training, toxic leadership, etc. You won't necessarily escape this in SOF, however you'll be in a community of motivated volunteers that will be an immediate 180 from the rack grade Soldier. With my current teaching gig, I have the fortune of working with various SOF units (mostly Army), and their maturity and capabilities are nothing short of astounding.

I wouldn't change my career, to be honest. I was a Paratrooper, served in a Scout Platoon for a while on a Recce team and got some great experience out of it. I spent a cumulative total of 3 years deployed over my 8 years in and, depending on perspective, was very lucky to have deployed at a time everyone's tempo was through the roof.

I was not a Combat Engineer nor a Cav Scout, so I don't have an opinion on the lifestyle, training, etc. of either.

My recommendation will be simple; do whatever job you want to do WHILE IN the Army. Some guys pick an MOS for the purpose of pursuing something else post-ETS, and they always end up miserable during their term of service. Whether you want to serve as an Infantryman, or a Medic, or a Mechanic- go for it. I did the job I wanted to do at that point in my life and wouldn't swap MOS' for anything. I'm doing quite well post-ETS because of all the intangible benefits that I gained from service- discipline, attention to detail, perspective on life, and the ability to commit to a cause greater than self.

I'll firmly recommend pursuing the 75th Ranger Regiment. Every Ranger I have met or had the opportunity to work with were highly competent, motivated, and extremely proud of their heritage. That's a good community to be a part of. I had guys I served with throughout my career who were Released For Standards for various reasons, and even though they were "kicked out" of Regiment, they were good Soldiers. The 75th have a fairly large list of eligible MOS', and you can direct pipeline in with an Option 40 contract. Yes, they are available. If a recruiter is giving you the runaround or telling you to volunteer later, do not gamble your career on a chance. Do not sign shit unless it's precisely what you want, in writing. You are never more valuable than when you first enlist, so make that count.

I went through a selection at one point and was one of the youngest guys there. Age range was mid 20s to mid 30s, and I firmly believe age has no more value than we give it. You will be at a higher risk of injuring yourself, but I assure you- none of your Drill Sergeants will want to break you. They have enough headaches from the punk 17-20 year olds coming in thinking they run the block. I had a Joe that enlisted at 32yo, and he's currently a 38yo E-6 with a Ranger tab, RSLC, Sniper School, EIB+CIB, etc etc. Solid guy that will be an asset wherever he goes. I had a handful of other Gray Bushes at various points and they all were the stereotype; chronic injuries plagued them. But you are not them, and there is no telling how your body will hold up. I was putting a minimum of 20 miles under my guys feet during a week of PT. You may have a fat **** of a Squad Leader who barely PTs, you may get a marathon runner, you may get someone training to go to SFAS, you may get someone who's on steroids and is a tank that just wants to kill things. No telling.

I know you can't reply to this thread, but PM me if you want the opinions of a conventional 11B. Good luck.

[yoni]

I can't speak to specifics of the U.S. Army, but military is military.

It it a young mans game for sure, which is just a fact of life.

If I were you I would PM a couple of the guys that posted here that have been there and done that in a Ranger Battalion or in the SF. I would ask them for input as to the PT program you should be doing. I would run a hard core PT program for a month, then do an honest assessment of how your doing.

I am all for following your dreams, but you have to be honest with yourself. Because if you aren't, life will suck worse than not following your dream.

I am not saying don't do it, but understand it is a hard life. Ask any guy that did a career in Special Ops, how his body feels when he is in this 50's or 60's, and these are guys that started as teenagers or early 20's. I did a total of 15 years in special ops, and then moved on, I have to do yoga 5 days a week for 30 minutes a day to keep from having pain.

[Korgs130]

OP,

Don’t let anyone talk you out of something you really want to do. That said there is a lot of experience here giving you advice. Probably a good idea to take it under consideration. As was mentioned earlier, you might want to talk to a USAF and an ANG recruiter. I know my former ANG wing has an ASOS and is hiring TACPs.

My cousin joined the ANG as Security Forces when he was 25. He loves it. He is in the RAVEN program which is a special SF qual. Ravens fly with AMC airlift aircrews (C-130 & C-17) and provide aircraft ground security when operating in any of the sh!thole countries they fly to. He’s deployed to Iraq a couple of times, and has rolled in to dozens of countries.

[Hank6046]

Dude has a college degree in STEM? Dude is 33 years old?

Uhhh...... yeah I don’t think enlisting at that age is a good plan. Sorry but infantry is a younger man’s game, at 33 even in good shape you’re going to be much more likely to pick up an injury and take a lot longer to recover from injuries. You’re starting out 5-7 years younger than a lot of career guy’s age when they retire.

Here’s what will happen you’re a grown ass man, you’re going to go to boot camp with some kids young enough to almost be your kids. You will be treated like a kid, but hey it’s boot right? Things will be better when I get to my unit. Nope. You’re still a private, and will be treated as such. This goes beyond mere private busy work, you’re going to be treated like a moron by policy like you were 18-19 years old. Every aspect of your current adult life where you get to make decisions will go away to be replaced with your unit dumbing your existence down to what an 18 year old can be expected to do and not totally screw up. Plus GWOT is winding down, you’re not deploying anywhere any time soon.

You will get to enjoy this existence until you’re able to get a shot at doing something that doesn’t totally suck a bag of dicks. Then you go to Q course or RIP or whatever have you, and try to not get injured and keep up with kids who are PT studs, or guys your age who have been doing this stuff since age 18 have forgotten more than you know at this point.

So unless you get a contract specifically giving you a direct shot at SF, you should run away. Do not walk, run. Also remember if you fail, the Army still gets to keep you, and you will just be another private.

If you currently have gainful employment I think I’d stick with that.

Sorry to be a downer but someone needed to point out some harsh reality.

Now if you want to commission.... that might be a better route. A 2nd Lt might show up knowing almost nothing but he is still an officer, and that means less menial stupidity.

^^^ This
I'm 34 right now, I was a Marine aviation POG who put in just over 5 years of service from 20-26 and have had 2 broken ribs, multiple knee and back issues due to hard landings in Helicopters. I was medically separated because of a lung issue. Honestly other then the guys I served with, I don't miss the life style a bit. I don't want to piss on your dreams, and if you really want to do it, then do it, but realize the life you live now will drastically change and it could have life lasting effects.

[Zane1844]

Did I mention gay?

(obviously a little biased, see sigline!)

That's exactly what I was thinking. Avoid 19D.

I was 11C and just got out. Unless you're in the 82nd ( or SOF)I don't think you'll deploy anywhere meaningful. Look in a normal Army formation and there's hardly any deployment patches. We had E6's with nothing.

The general lack of morale, lack of training, no deployments and constant stupid games in my unit led to extremely low motivation for me and others. Plus I got injured twice in the field. Do I miss it? Somewhat yes, the people were great.

Overall, I can't tell you not to join. We had an older 11B not get selected at SF, but he was able to go back I think.

I think 11B would have been better, they played Army more, but they also got hazed the most. You have like 40 people in your platoon so someone is bound to ruin it for you. As a 11C we had a squad of like 8-9 people. It was laid back and pretty sham. But we also sat at MFPs in the field all day while the 11B at least shot at stuff.

[ABNAK]

That's exactly what I was thinking. Avoid 19D.

I was 11C and just got out. Unless you're in the 82nd ( or SOF)I don't think you'll deploy anywhere meaningful. Look in a normal Army formation and there's hardly any deployment patches. We had E6's with nothing.

The general lack of morale, lack of training, no deployments and constant stupid games in my unit led to extremely low motivation for me and others. Plus I got injured twice in the field. Do I miss it? Somewhat yes, the people were great.

Overall, I can't tell you not to join. We had an older 11B not get selected at SF, but he was able to go back I think.

I think 11B would have been better, they played Army more, but they also got hazed the most. You have like 40 people in your platoon so someone is bound to ruin it for you. As a 11C we had a squad of like 8-9 people. It was laid back and pretty sham. But we also sat at MFPs in the field all day while the 11B at least shot at stuff.

Surely you got to blow stuff up, right? Times must have changed, the mortar squads I was in only had maybe 4 or 5 guys in each one (don't ever recall 6). 11B's humped more but when we did we were weighed down like freaking mules! PT was pretty much the same across the board from one Infantry company to the next.

[RMike89]

I'm sorry, you lost me at have the most fun...and you wanna join a combat arms MOS?

I was in discussion with a dear friend and this subject came up. He's very well versed in deployments, the military, and ultimately killing the enemy. He articulated what he believes what should be the culture combat arms and it goes like this:

"Killing the enemy is the only thing that matters. Your proficiency at said task is your measure of worth, regardless of the job or the unit. Light infantry exists within a cult of death, mired in the fear of failure, but redeemed by the brotherhood that surrounds you."

If any of that sounds off to you, you'd be wasting your own time. You'll have fun along the way because the training is fun, but in the end, what's stated ^ is what is expected of you.

The US won't have a shortage of enemies anytime soon.

[Zane1844]

Surely you got to blow stuff up, right? Times must have changed, the mortar squads I was in only had maybe 4 or 5 guys in each one (don't ever recall 6). 11B's humped more but when we did we were weighed down like freaking mules! PT was pretty much the same across the board from one Infantry company to the next.

Oh yeah, I hung a lot of rounds. I was in a Stryker brigade, so even in a line company we were rarely on the ground with the bravos. We just hung out far away with the 120 ready. We were basically artillery, but at NTC, artillery would be called and not us.

We actually complained to our commander about our lack of training and never being used in the field. They'd even forget about us when the company gathered for the day. Oh well.

Nothing like shooting a 60 handheld under NODs while HHC was shooting IR Lum rounds though.

[ABNAK]

Oh yeah, I hung a lot of rounds. I was in a Stryker brigade, so even in a line company we were rarely on the ground with the bravos. We just hung out far away with the 120 ready. We were basically artillery, but at NTC, artillery would be called and not us.

We actually complained to our commander about our lack of training and never being used in the field. They'd even forget about us when the company gathered for the day. Oh well.

Nothing like shooting a 60 handheld under NODs while HHC was shooting IR Lum rounds though.

I will still go with my suggestion for the OP to explore USAF Security Forces. At his age (which isn't really that old) and knowing what I do, the Air Force lives a better life than the Army and the SF folks still get to shoot and train with weapons. Hell, some units even have mortars! (didn't know that until I looked it up)

While I certainly don't regret my being an Airborne Infantry Mortar Maggot, the above certainly would appeal to me more as I got older and wiser and had more sense!

[cd228]

"Killing the enemy is the only thing that matters. Your proficiency at said task is your measure of worth, regardless of the job or the unit. Light infantry exists within a cult of death, mired in the fear of failure, but redeemed by the brotherhood that surrounds you."
.

Your friend has a way with words.