Anyone here 19D? Do you love your job? How much time do you spend away from your family? My husband is in AIT and I'm just curious to hear from other servicemen who are currently in this MOS. Also, what happens after you make rank past SGT? I've read SGT is the highest rank you could be in that MOS (any truth to that?)

Thank you for your time...

You might post down on the "Armor" thread. That's where most 19Delta Recon/Scouts hang out -

quote:

Originally posted by greywolfghost:
You might post down on the "Armor" thread. That's where most 19Delta Recon/Scouts hang out -

I was an 11Delta40 Recon/Scout Sergeant (Now 19D) years ago and was deployed to Germany. Most were sent to Vietnam back then. Armor Recon is kind of a hybrid between tanks and infantry. They use smaller armored and wheeled vehicles to go out front of armor and infantry brigades to find the enemy and direct the larger units towards them to destroy them. Recon/Scouts are major players in Afghanistan and Iraq because of that. They are the "Eyes of the Generals".

As for gaining rank, there is no limit, but Recon/Scouts usually operate at platoon strength, and Staff Sergeant E-6 is a common top end rank for Platoon Sergeant; however, just before I left Germany, we got 3 SSGs from Vietnam and already had a Sergeant First Class E-7 as Platoon Sergeant. That pushed me down from Squad Leader, Buck Sergeant E-5 to simply a Track Section Leader in charge of two Recon Tracks of our eight vehicles, with no reduction in pay or rank, so I didn't mind.

Those who wish to move up in responsibility and experience usually try to shift to one of the line Tank Companies. That's what I did. I moved out of Recon and into the Headquarters Bulldozer Tank Section, which was deployed to the Line Companies. I ended up with Bravo Company and was very happy with the new experiences that offered...

So, to put it simply, a 19Delta has few limits and many opportunities, but they all include spending a lot of time in the field at the front, shooting and moving, far away from family - -

I'm a 19D on active duty right now, have been for almost 3 years.

Not to cop out, but how much time you spend away from home and what you do REALLY depends on your unit. My Squadron Commander right now tries to get us out into the field every time he can, so we spend a lot of time in the field. Sometimes it's for a week straight, sometimes it involves us coming back at night. I also know of units that don't go out nearly as aggressively, so like I said, it's all situational.

It's a very physical job, and the skills we need are best practiced in the field. So, that's just the nature of this MOS.

As for topping out at E-5, that's ridiculous. If a Sergeant works hard, he can get promoted to Staff Sergeant, and keep going all the way up the ladder. Depending on the time, it's actually historically been a very "low points" MOS. This means that, if all things are equal, generally speaking 19D's get their E-5 and E-6's faster than some other MOS's. I went to AIT with 3 guys who were reclassing just so they COULD get promoted.

Also, just know that there is never a guarantee that anybody will do their MOS, especially if your husband goes to a Cav Squadron, where everybody else is a 19D. I'm in a Cav Squadron, and when I arrived I got put in the Headquarters Troop, then in the administration/paperwork office, and now I'm my unit armorer. It's not a bad thing, but I'm not kicking in doors if you see where I'm going.

Numbers:

Don't believe I missed this almost a month old, but hey ... I'll comment anyway. GWG didn't say that E5 was the "top-end" ... he said that E6 was the "common" top-end, and for the time he's talking about (36 years ago), is accurate. I was also an 11D-trained; however, upon getting to my first duty station, the Scout Platoon was at full-strength ... I was "optioned" to the tankers. As I ojt'd in the tanker field, I noticed that our unit's Scout Platoon had an E7 for a Platoon sergeant for most/all of my 2 1/2 years there; and, if memory serves, I recall perhaps one E6 for a short time in that timespan...the remainder of my time, no one above E5. It was just the nature of the times back then ... as for now, you may be correct, but for back then, in Germany, and the Cold War, he's "dead on".

No offense intended ... just a technicality.

Hey Mark, how goes it? No problem on the comments. In our Tank Battalion, the chances of becoming a First Sergeant out of the Recon Platoon was pretty much null and void. That's why SSGs and SFCs would usually try to move to the Tank Companies, where a Platoon Sgt could become next in line for 1st Sgt and maybe CSM. I think some of this was a result of the poor understanding of what the Mission of Scouts should be. The whole thing was "Tanks, Tanks, Tanks!! and TANK GUNNERY!!" We often called ourselves "11 Detail Platoon" because all we ever seemed to be used for was helping haul tank ammo, and target detail on the ranges. When we had an FTX, even if it was a major one like "Central Enterprise" or "Reforger", I don't remember the Recon Platoon being pulled together and given a pre-battle brief that would tell where the "enemy" would be coming from, or how we should try to Scout them out and relay the information to HHC. Can you imagine that? We were supposed to be the "eyes and ears" of the whole Battalion, yet we were always left in the dark. The Bn Co would just order the companies into positions to meet the opposing forces head on, and that was it. We were never told to coordinate with Air Craft or Artillery or nothing. The Bn Co had the Liaison Officers from both with him, and he did it all himself - usually from OH-53 chopper... It was not uncommon for us not even to be notified of hot chow when trucks brought it to the Line Companies. It was all bullshyyt! What even worsened the situation is that when new 2nd Lts showed up, especially if they were Infantry, they got assigned to Recon and whoever we had that might have a little experience would be pulled into the Tank Companies - what a joke. The last one we had: Lt Flowers, airborne , got us lost once near the border, and we almost ran up against the fence!! Our SFC was trailing in a M-113, so I finally raced up to the front (a relative term in an M-114), got him to stop, broke light discipline and showed him right on a map that we were about to create an international incident if we didn't do a 180 MACH SCHNELL!! He was an absolute idiot!! So what happened after that? He got promoted and moved to Bn Adjutant!!

Anyway, I envy the Cav guys, where Recon was better understood and used properly. In Tank Battalions in the 1970s, Recon was the bottom of the totem pole - -

Guess things have changed some, I started out as an Ordnance tech., then Tank school, then straight into Scouts (Cav), then maintenance on many levels, back to Tanks, then into Scouts again and Combat Support.
When asked about my career path, I'd always say Armor Master Gunner. I wanted to be the answer guy when the Commander had a question about equipment and capabilities.
Somewhere around E-6, the jobs start to merge anyway. Track maintenance, fire control maintenance, Scout crewman, Tank crewman, become armored crewman and the separate maintenance disciplines become a Master Gunner path.
To tell you the truth, Tanks or Tracks, 10-12 years and you are pretty used up if you get much time in one. Few people, if any, make a career in the Scouts exclusively, except maybe in aviation.
I was a wild one and was likely to be up for some sort of discipline and an award at the same time.
I schooled like I was possessed, got into every coarse I could and took it seriously. Came out top in my class or near, every time I went to a school. Correspondence courses or whatever civilian or military school was offered. It's all promotion points, enough points and they have to promote you. I'd read TM's and FM's for fun, guess I was an Armor nerd.
A trick I learned early in my career, was to keep a school package updated and ready to go. Most schools publish an equipment list and a list of the necessary paperwork and documentation required. Much of it is the same for every school, waivers are possible on some qualifications. I was the go to guy, whenever somebody got sick or had a family emergency and had to decline a school (any school). Units get school quotas they have to fill, they get in trouble when a student shows up unprepared, without the proper documentation or kit. I usually managed a school a year, sometimes two, typically 120 or 160 hour courses. Some awarded a secondary MOS, some didn't. All promotion points and part of the resume'.

"11 Detail Platoon" ... That's funny ... but, I recall our Scout Platoon saying the same thing. Simply put, and as you say of your experiences, whenever we were at Graf for gunnery, or even Hohenfels for that matter, the Scout Platoon was the main "ammo humpers" for the Tankers, and detil this, detail that...our Battalion was the same way back then. We (HQ Tank Section) did work with them though during ORTs at Hohenfels, as part of the Agressors, while the Line Companes were being "tested". I even recall that Scout Platoon Sergeant (he was anE7 at the time), thought that the HQ Tank Section should become part of his Scout Platoon; at that point, our HQ Tank Section was part of HHC, while the Scouts were part of CSC. He even thought we needed to put/paint little Scout flags on our bore evacuators ... yeah right!! Of course, when I first arrived in Feb 1972, our Battalion did not have a CSC, they were all part of HHC; it split into 2 separate companies between 1/3 and 1/2 way through my 2 1/2 year tour. Oh well, all is gooood ....

Mark

quote:

We (HQ Tank Section) did work with them though during ORTs at Hohenfels, as part of the Agressors, while the Line Companes were being "tested". I even recall that Scout Platoon Sergeant (he was anE7 at the time), thought that the HQ Tank Section should become part of his Scout Platoon; at that point, our HQ Tank Section was part of HHC, while the Scouts were part of CSC. He even thought we needed to put/paint little Scout flags on our bore evacuators ... yeah right!!

That's really not a bad idea for regular tanks, but not the dozers. The Scouts could have moved forward to find the enemy, and if it was a small force that three tanks could handle, call them immediately forward to do the job! As for the "Aggressor" thing? Oh yeah - did way too much of that - pretend target practice for yer own tanks... It sucks!!

Note "Aggressor" symbol (for aiming point ) on side of track:



Note M-60A1 training his main gun on me while I point my 20MM at him during FTX - not a fun experience...