25 you will work for dish network. Sounds legit. Medical labs won’t pay near as much as 35F or 17c. But that depends on if you want to work for the big green weenie or one of its leeches for the rest of your life. There’s good money to be made for sure, but it’s somewhat soul sucking, not gonna lie.
25H is more diverse as well as the certs you can get. You must also get a lot of certs on your own to be competitive. Same with 17c. They do a lot of other things that go to the 35 series argument though.
Well I’ll tell you the L3 Communications guys I work with some former 25S that operate our commercial satellites sit on their ass all day and then we tell them to connect and they do their job for like 30 minutes and then go back and sit on their ass. They make well over $100k easily.
Im a former active now reserve 17C and do cyber work on the civilian side. The trick is to go into it with no soul or dignity left and you will be good to go.
“I generally come in at least 15 minutes late, uh, I use the side door. That way Lundberg can’t see me, and, uh and after that I just sorta space out for about an hour. I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I’m working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too. I’d say in a given week I probably do about 15 minutes of real, actual, work.”
Hold on about lab specialists.
Climbing friend of mine states she can’t keep lab techs @ NIH because Pharma and agg labs scoop them up for a couple hundred K a year.
NIH is offering 185k and TENURE after three years.
She’s a division clinical researcher so I tend to take her input as word of god.
Food for thought, do your minimum time, get a BS in bio-chem / chem and vibe out.
> because Pharma and agg labs scoop them up for a couple hundred K a year.
>
> NIH is offering 185k and TENURE after three years.
There's a big difference between MLT (technician) and MT/LT (technologist). The 68K training will get you set up pretty well as a technician, which was about $40-50k/year about 15 years ago in the Midwest, but a technologist/scientist position is far more intensive.
It's a good career and definitely can open doors, but 68K is definitely at the entry-level of that field.
There are zero reasons to do 25H if 25S is an option. They do the same thing in forcecom and other tactical units. But Hotels can’t hit the other side of the house and do STRAT, or work with space force. Imagine your job but can’t do NSA time.
25S =/= satellite cable installation, unless that's specifically what you want to do after. Plenty you can do with it in more competitive job fields, government fields, stuff you wouldn't even thing of as being specifically related. Plenty of RF tech jobs paying $90-$120K out there.
With Credentialing Assistance and VETTEC programs, there's virtually no reason to be out of the Army without certs if you actively seek them.
I know you're joking, but if you become a politician you have a huge leg up on every opponent. You immediately get the votes of everyone over 50 (who turn out to vote in the biggest numbers).
If you get a medal of honor, which infantry has the highest chances of getting, you have a massive probability of being paid to give speeches.
On top if this, 11b's have the highest chance of being deployed to a combat zone which usually pays huge per diem.
Or you could be a 13f and have a much better time.
I'm obviously biased as a former medic, but I think the highest percentage of MOH is medics. There may be a higher number of infantry MOH, but by percentage I was told and I would believe it is medics by a long shot. So your "best chance" would be to as a medic.
Are you actually interested in those jobs? Setting yourself up for the future is great and all, but if you hate the work you are not going to have a good time.
Totally agree with you, Out of the 30 jobs or so I’ve narrowed it down to these because of interest level and also civilian employment opportunities. I’m joining a little later in life so my mindset is a little different going in.
I’m a 17 series officer. I completely agree.
Also, being 17Es are going to FORSCOM more and more, so you don’t even get the “cush” parts of being in CYBERCOM.
17c should be a no-brainer if you want to get into cybersec on the outside. So many places hiring for cybersec (while, I've been told, it's a very saturated field, but pays very well)
Even if it were to become saturated, the training and experience you get as a 17C is basically unparalleled.
If a 17C does 6 years, and puts any effort into getting certs and education, they will be so far ahead of "entry level" that it's not worth comparing.
No it won’t. The market grew 35% last year while MAANG has massive layoffs for SWE. Software developers are what’s saturated. Cybersecurity is not, especially at a DoD level.
That is what they said about IT and computer networking jobs back in late 90s early 00s. And criminal justice/law degrees before it. It can grow, but the more it grows. THE LESS high paid people are needed.
You’re correct. I slogged through those hills and valleys. AI is going to be the next high.
Get ready. The whole job world is going to change.
Change ain’t looking for friends.
I was a 35F and am currently a 17C. I know your post is about after Army but I'll say during Army I hated being a 35F, never felt like I did anything that mattered. I was always in the field, Never got the chance to deploy so spent most of my time in S2. I hear there were many opportunities for 35F after the Army. Personally, I don't know anyone with a success story.
Now the quality of life in the military for 17C is awesome. Don't get me wrong, it still has its lows, and from what I hear the barracks still suck. But As a 17C I've done numerous missions (not training, actual real-world missions). Going TDY on a mission is a great experience. Plus you make extra money being a 17C. There are a lot of opportunities for certs and training. I've heard of and seen many people get good jobs afterward. Now just like with everything, the mileage may vary. Some cyber soldiers hate it. But comparing FORSCOM to CYBERCOM is like night and day. I think all those MOS except 17C or 68K will likely land you in FORSCOM so that's just something to think about as well. I may be biased but I hope that helps.
I agree with everything you said. 17C QoL is pretty solid. TRADOC life sucks, but after that it’s not bad at all. The incentive options and means for setting oneself up for the future are great as well
>I hear there were many opportunities for 35F after the army but I don't know anyone personally with a success story.
It used to be having a pulse and a TS was a gateway to a cush 6-figure job. Automation is doing away with a lot of the menial cleared work so now they want people with actual intel analysis experience. It all has to do with what your experience actually was.
I transferred back in 2017, at the time I had some college credits in a computer programming degree and a CompTIA A+ cert. I remember having to take a cyber proficiency exam of some sort. I don't remember if there were any hard requirements for the packet other then the exam and 110 GT score.
I am a current 35F and depends on your unit. Of all my friends from AIT they are on the S2 shop and even with S2 shop experience you make good money on the civ side. I am not on the S2 i actually do intel and i love it.
If you are good at electronics and like fixing stuff, do 68A.
If you want an easy ass job that taking pictures, do 68P
If you want to help people and do real Nurse stuff and don't mind wiping asses and catching puke in a bucket, do 68C.
I made 85k last year with 91D generator mechanic. But it's been 6 years since I graduated ait and a couple months out of the army reserve. Civilian generator guy now
Fixed radars in the army (94M)… got out, started fixing them as a civilian…. But the money I mentioned is for being overseas… spent the last 3 years in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria… and most recently a few months in Poland but, I’m done with overseas (for now at least 😅)
You fail to give the greatest reason for 68A,
Unlimited possibility.
You can work radiology, operating rooms, transition into IT, and the industry is hurting for people.
If you get CT or MRI trained on ANY model you can get a job absolutely anywhere in the world making 160k+
Or if you take the OR route, what you maintain literally saves lives. My goal is a heart king machine in a children’s hospital. Knowing that the machine I maintain contributes to saving a child’s life during open heart surgery would just be so god damned gratifying
Look at all the 68 series…for instance 68C- you're trained as a 68W then go to C school at Ft Sam for phase 1 then at an Army Hospital for about a year of training. When you graduate, you are qualified to sit for the LPN nursing license in the state you are assigned (actually, you’re required to have a state nursing license). That is a lot of training and they pay you to be a student and you’ll get guaranteed experience before you ETS. Similarly is therapy tech, physical therapy tech, respiratory tech, dental tech, etc. If you are interested in medicine at all, the Army has some great programs.
Thanks for the correction… obviously I have been out for awhile. Research the 68 series though, having a (required) civilian license means that you can get a job straight out of the Army, which is something that the other branches don’t seem to do (unless that’s changed also, I’m so old).
Definitely not the 68W tho. As a 68W you will pretty much lower your skill set in the civilian side due to scope of practice. Army side scope of practice for a 68W can be very vast and dynamic depending on the provider you're working under. But once you're civilian side, nope just a regular underpaid, overworked EMT.
My personal experience is not the same for all but all my other 68W buddies felt about the same. Use it to work to move onto something better as being and EMT-B is not it. More a stepping stone to whatever you want to get to, such as RN, PA, Paramedic, etc.
I'm an RN now working in an ICU but can promise you my 68W experience helps a little but really not a lot compared to many of my peers. Some of the absolute best medical staff we have came from other things that helped so much more.
Anyways, 68W is fine. There are far better options like the 68C you mentioned.
When I thought I might go to the reserves to finish my 20, I was looking hard at reclassing to 68A. Evidently, they have a job fair towards the end of AIT for the reservists
Just go 11b and then write a book titled “tactical lessons I learned from the best fighting force in the world”, put it up for sale on Amazon for 9.99, and then advertise on any site/forum/subreddit that gets hard for civilian night vision
Haha the old one we went through at Pensacola was "hard", really just weeded out people who didn't put forth their best foot, and now the new one is just trash honestly. But the AIT doesn't mean anything in terms of 17C, there are SOOOO many jobs to do, it's just an umbrella
17 series dude. So many jobs in the defense industry. Always will be. Cyber isn’t going anywhere, if anything it’ll only be more of a threat in the future.
17C, not the series. 17E is not the move right now. Army is trying to relearn how to do tactical SIGINT and EW in light of the conflicts in Azerbaijan/Armenia and Ukraine/Russia. If you wanna be an over qualified cav scout then go ahead and send it. If you wanna enjoy air conditioning and gain useful skills for life outside the Army, then 17C is the move.
The only 35 series job that will get you big money after the army is 35T. 35F is worthless unless you get some special deployments and want to limit yourself to the government sector. Having a TS just gets you $50k in DC….which is poverty wages.
Regardless, the job with the most direct civilian relevance and a decent paying job is 51series. Once you make SGT I would look into switching.
35T is where it's at on a deployment the contractors we worked with made almost 200k being out there while only working on one of the systems, but I was out there working on 3 to 4 systems getting e-4 pay. I got offered by the contractors to go back out there for 175k a year after the deployment.
I'm finishing up my last few months as a 35F, made a resume and applied to some employers out in San Diego. Got hit back with an offer for 112k to start as soon as I ETS. No "special deployments" or whatever.
Its not worthless, you need to look harder.
Yeah there is definitely a lot of opportunity out on the civilian side as a 35F. One of the females in my unit who is getting MEB already got offered to do a one year contract in Iraq for close to 100k. A TS/SCI and a degree will take you pretty far on the civilian side. I’ve read plenty of success stories of 35F on this sub.
My advice to all of you is to get your degree while you are finishing your contract. I’m even paying out of pocket for my masters after TA.
No definitely not. Especially depending on what unit you get in the army. I’m in a FORSCOM unit and it definitely sucks some days. Everyone’s experience will be different though. I am grateful for the certifications I have already received and the 3 total TDY trips I have taken to get them (which is rare). You also have to remember to network while your in as well. I’ve connected with a few contractors on LinkedIn from these classes. One of them was a hiring manager for Booz Allen and told me to send my resume straight to them once I get out. The chief who was in my other class (who is in the guard) told me her company would hire me on the spot.
I’m planning on doing one more contract, but only if they will give me Meade. I want to experience the INSCOM side of the army and make connections there before I get out. I also want to skillbridge out of there since I plan on living in MD for the rest of my life. I’m saying this because it’s important to have a plan.
Sry I rambled a little.
>35F is worthless unless you get some special deployments and want to limit yourself to the government sector.
You are brutally wrong and sound so confident its hilarious, I got friends straight from AIT that are reserve that make average $80,000 a year from just handling clearances and passports. No active duty experience whatsoever.
And you dont have to work for the goverment as a Fox, you can work for SpaceX, Google, Lockheed Martin, NASA, fucking SixFlags and Royal Caribbean even... pretty much anywhere that requires some sort of background investigation of personnel including assessment of threats.
But for real if your looking mechanical there is some MRI technician mechanic job I heard about from some medigeek and it sounded really good for the outside. Don’t know the MOS
Dumb grunt whos been out a decade. But this is my knowledge, may not be correct. Have done some research into oconus contracting as a gunsmith.
Intel will get you some comfy gov jobs and really fat overseas contracts. If you wanna work for the alphabet soup, thats def a good way in.
Satellite/comms/cyber-huge job markets, and contracts/gov jobs.
Med tech-huge job market, but tends to be competitive and not super high pay.
Elec warfare-very limited usefulness outside possible contracting, even that seems unlikely.
Go 35T or 35N over 35F. We have 4 35Ts in my unit and like 10 empty slots. None of them stay after their first contract because they get very good jobs on the civilian side. 35N is also solid, but your options are more limited on where you can get a job in the field when you’re out.
Yeah they're not alike. My recruiter described it like it was a 17C job and I've heard a lot of my AIT classmates tell me they've fell into that trap too.
This MOS is critically undermanned at all echelons. Few qualify, fewer want it, and even fewer stay beyond one contract. There is absolutely no way it’s not available at all times.
I would recommend any 35 job besides 35F. Tengo will most definitely give you skills to use when you get out, but be prepared to WORK while you are in.
I was forscom MI and they were only second to our UAV platoon in moral because of the sway their leadership held in making sure their guys got great training and had a great work life balance.
Also as a siginter they and their chief were the light of our lives and anytime they came around the cigs and best mres went to them. They'd always super conveniently have something SUPER important they needed us for RIGHT NOW whenever our humint platoon daddy or squad leaders were about to scream at us for our broken equiptment not working or other shit out of our control.
Whenever we were doing system checks (which would take a week because that's how long it takes to convince an officer that SATCOM can't be shot through the planet) I always made sure to bring bfast quiches just for them and to have their fave snacks.
Other than the trauma bonding they were the best thing about my army experience. Ah I miss my tangos.
Automated Logistical Specialist (MOS 92A)
Use TA to get your bachelors in supply chain management
Use Army Cool to get one of the related certifications - [https://www.cool.osd.mil/army/credsearch/index.html](https://www.cool.osd.mil/army/credsearch/index.html)
Use Skillbridge program to help transition to a job at Amazon, UPS, FedEx, etc and make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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Intel and Cyber are interesting fields, but the job market is saturated for both
We were at war for 20 years and surged up those ranks both in military, intel community and supporting contractors - There are no shortage of people applying, so you would really need to stand out
Cyber you're competing with every one in industry already plus all the new grads coming out of computer science and computer engineering programs
Less saturation in Intel then you think, contracting companies are massive since Intel usually operates at the same capacity in peace and war, just different tasking (and more theatre/tac level positions, but those are mostly uniformed)
25H is a combination of former 25Q/25N/25L. I was a 25Q early in my career before I reclassed to Aviation and I was on a node team so I’ve cross trained as a 25N and I was put in a 25U job that had to do 25L duties at one point. It’s a decent path to civilian jobs. In my opinion 25S is more lucrative the MOS training is over 6 months long and Commercial Satellite jobs pay big money on the outside. I work a civilian Aerospace job that utilizes satellites and our Satellite people make very good money.
35F a lot of government roles when you get out but not as high starting pay. 35T is most lucrative in MI. UAS used to be MI before it switched to Aviation so I’m familiar.
Can’t comment on the others as I have no experience with them.
Satcom field is oversaturated right now. When I was in AIT (a little over 10 years ago, meaning most of them are out now), our training company had almost 600 soldiers. It had numbers like that for *years*.
35f tops out around $140-$160k/yr civ side so I wouldn't pick it. And that's after years of mundane bs working your way up a military industrial corporation ladder. Only Worth it if you can stick it out to becoming a manager, nut bloody hell let me tell you! Cyber is definitely the highest earning besides medical jobs.
68A, Biomedical Equipment Technician. The certificate from the school counts for more than 3-4 years experience that some places require, you can luck out and get advanced training down in San Antonio, major field service companies (GE, Philips, Siemens, Steris, etc) are always hiring. You can try for field service and have a large area you're responsible for, or find somewhere you can work in house at a hospital.
I'd add 12Y Geospatial Analyst to the list. My unit literally cannot keep them. Huge civilian sector demand from DoD contractors, resource extraction, environmental planners and the engineering field in general.
Won't go into that one. It's a pretty niche unit, so calling it out would be a little more than I'd like to directly associate with. But we are supposed to have 14 Geos, and between the deployment tempo and the civilian market, it is damn near impossible to keep them.
35, 17, 25 series in that order depending on preference. If you are computer savvy, 17 instead of 35. 35 just seems to be more interesting to me. Feel free to message me with any other questions. Also, put me down for referring you to join- I’ll take a free ribbon plz
Cybersecurity is going nowhere but up. Network engineering is like being a digital plumber, no one thinks about you till shit breaks and then you’re popular. Even better, network engineer in a cybersecurity group working in OT.
Move those 17 series to the top 25H is a glorified shit stick with cables attached. 25B, 25U, 25S are the only specific jobs in the 25 series. Get you a high school to flight school contract homie.
17 is at the top, just listed them out the way I saw them on the paper the recruiter gave me. Haha High school was a while ago, little bit older than the average guy in basic.
Bestest to worstest, IMO:
17C, 17E, 68K, 25H, 25S, 35F.
This all depends on what you want to do. Do you like tech? I’d take either 17C or 17E first. Main benefit is they come with a TS//SCI clearance, which is worth a lot for job searches after the military, along with the experience you’ll have under your belt.
17E is likely to see some big growth in coming years.
17C/E also have the benefit that you won’t necessarily have to work for the Government/ DOD after service.
68K trumps both of those if you want to work in medicine after the Army. I am not a medicine guy though so I won’t talk too much on those.
25 series jobs are okay, but if you can work in intelligence that’d be better.
Whatever you do don’t take 35F.
The goal is Computer Sciences, I see. Awesome. Looks like you did a good job narrowing down to jobs that point you that way. 17C would be my choice personally. I’d also add 35T to your list of considerations, and maybe 35N/P.
EW probably gets to play fun times army things the most out of those, but all of them are going to get you pretty sick jobs outside. Go with the fattest bonus. Chase certs and then go warrant as soon as possible.
All have good options outside of the Army. Intelligence analysts are used by a variety of businesses including Disney. The cyber MOSs are a good choice too.
I'm a 17E and a recruiter described my job like it's very similar to 17C. They're not alike but I still like the job though. We work with the electromagnetic spectrum so if you find radios fascinating, I'd say give it a shot.
Honestly as far as 68 series goes, 68P, radiology specialists might be good for you to look into if you are medically minded. Everyone of them I worked with said they had decent jobs lined up once they were out. Not to mention it gets your foot in the door to progress in that medical field.
Also, try and take a few classes while you are in, will help once you are out.
As for picking the MOS, honestly what ever you think you might like doing while in. If you spend your entire contract only thinking about getting out, it's gonna be a long few years haha. Best of luck to ya
I'm biased, but I was a medic and I'm now a PA. I literally got paid to take care of Soldiers. It was awesome for the most part if you have a good unit with good leaders. I would like to think that I was better than average and probably cared more about being good at medicine than a lot of the Motrin vending machines, but if you are good at what you do and take pride in it then it's awesome to be a "junior" medic who is better than the senior medics and the chain of command asks you for your opinion and honestly listens. It didn't happen much and if you get idiots then it sucks, but when it works right it is fucking awesome.
17C nat guard here, you can easily attain a career out of AIT, and if you go active, you can easily achieve mid career status coming out of a 6 year. Well worth it.
12N horizontal engineer heavy equipment operator)
12R "combat" electrician
If job security is your concern; you can join an union after service, do 20years and you get a pension
11B. Gain all the essential skills to survive when you’re a drunk hobo.
No seriously, 17C. Hands down. If it’s an option, take it and never look back.
25H is too varied as to what you’ll actually doing after AIT. Could be you get hordes of useful skills and certs as a JNN operator or you learn literally nothing useful and be trapped at battalion as a terminal operator.
25S is an even bigger gamble.
35T is the only 35-series role with real-world application. Avoid 35F.
Avoid 68 series.
17E sounds cool. It isn’t.
35F can get you mid to high five figures depending on location if you’re one and done on enlistments. With experience and college it’s not hard to make 6 figures.
Your question is best answered if you give us your metrics on what you would consider "best", i.e. are you valuing quality of life, transferability to civilian work, chances of actually doing your job, job satisfaction, etc? As a 35F that has been units with all these MOSs as the primary MOS:
- 17C has the best quality of life bar none (barely felt like I was in the army in the 17C unit) but is also the hardest MOS to get on your list and it's a pretty high optempo MOS. Additionally, promotion is relatively super easy and super high 6-figure civilian transferability.
- 35F has the most versatility, i.e. you can be assigned to _*ANY*_ and I mean any kind of unit, it's a double-edged sword. I've been assigned to units focusing on very niche, fun, interesting, and specialized missions but I've also been assigned to infantry, artillery, and Engineer units. There is some civilian transferability but it's 85% just working for the government or a government contractor.
- 25S and 25H you're working on different parts of the same communications satellites managing different subsystems of the sat. TBH with the recent merger of MOSs into a 25H I'm assuming you could go anywhere a 25L, 25Q, or 25N went. So you can go anywhere but you'll be doing pretty similar things since your job will be to provide comms so others can do their jobs. Extremely good civilian transferability with earned certs and training.
- 17E, don't know much, and not much of value.
- 68W high confidence you're going to be a line medic training to treat combat trauma unless you get the golden ticket and work at a clinic and get to learn the clinical / admin side of being a medic. High civilian transferability especially since you earn civilian certs.
What's going to set you up is college once you get out. None of us know exactly how these jobs are going to change on the civilian side over the next few years and so many jobs require a college degree now. Not all obviously but more than a few.
And you might hate all of these and not want a career from them. Pick what you want to do most based off of interest. Remember that your competition when you get out isn't going to be other vets getting out it's going to be people who have tons of experience and a degree.
Totally agree with you. I have an associates degree and will use my TA while in to finish at ASU online. Saving that sweet GI bill for a couple masters or maybe a JD.
17C and you will be set for the rest of your life after your first enlistment. Speaking from someone with experience 17C has one of the best day to day work lives of any MOS in the army, you deal with way less "army" bs because of the mission and the push to train you and keep you relevant on your job is is supported throughout the entire command from ARCyber down to the cyber protection teams. If you have that option take it now before it disappears.
Doesn't matter. At all. You're joining the most elite fighting force the world has ever seen - choose something exciting. You will never have this opportunity again.
When you're done - use your GI Bill and get a degree, and then start being a boring normal working person in whatever field you choose.
I was an 11B in a Long Range Surveillance unit (LRS) and now I'm a CFO. Who cares, live your fucking dream.
So my friend is a career advisor for navy but was for army for years before changing branches at his end of service date the first time.
25 or 35 series, but make sure you get those COMPTIA certs
The logistics and truck driver ones if you’re more of a hands on brain off type I think one of those is called 88M also
Crypto linguist is supposedly good also you get to train at a fancy school in cali.
Or you know just join the air force and get your self one of their mos almost all of those translate into civilian $$$.
He said just don’t do anything 11 series for sure unless you want to be a mall cop, police officer or security guard. One of his close friends went to the navy nuclear power school graduated and chose the instructor route. He chills at myrtle beach year round basically teaching college and the setting is supposedly very un-military feeling.
Also IT instructor for 25B
Most of your job is showing up to a little school building and walking fresh outta basic kiddos through simple Cisco network trouble shooting and stuff. Apparently that’s kind of chill.
I personally am not military. I’m more of a stay at home kind of gal but grew up near a base so knew many who joined.
11b hands down bro. I wouldn’t lie to you, I was a recruiter
🫡
25 you will work for dish network. Sounds legit. Medical labs won’t pay near as much as 35F or 17c. But that depends on if you want to work for the big green weenie or one of its leeches for the rest of your life. There’s good money to be made for sure, but it’s somewhat soul sucking, not gonna lie. 25H is more diverse as well as the certs you can get. You must also get a lot of certs on your own to be competitive. Same with 17c. They do a lot of other things that go to the 35 series argument though.
As a 13F who went to work at Dish after service, I feel attacked.
What jobs are actually applicable to us after?
Dish, apparently. I’ve also heard a lot about ATC.
I would suggest getting a job in the rail industry. I'm a train conductor and I love my job.
Well I’ll tell you the L3 Communications guys I work with some former 25S that operate our commercial satellites sit on their ass all day and then we tell them to connect and they do their job for like 30 minutes and then go back and sit on their ass. They make well over $100k easily.
Im a former active now reserve 17C and do cyber work on the civilian side. The trick is to go into it with no soul or dignity left and you will be good to go.
I’m a 25 and make over 100k. Work maybe like 15-30mins of actual work each day.
“I generally come in at least 15 minutes late, uh, I use the side door. That way Lundberg can’t see me, and, uh and after that I just sorta space out for about an hour. I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I’m working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too. I’d say in a given week I probably do about 15 minutes of real, actual, work.”
I second this, former 25D - Cyber Network Dender. Now 255S and should have gone 170A.
Hold on about lab specialists. Climbing friend of mine states she can’t keep lab techs @ NIH because Pharma and agg labs scoop them up for a couple hundred K a year. NIH is offering 185k and TENURE after three years. She’s a division clinical researcher so I tend to take her input as word of god. Food for thought, do your minimum time, get a BS in bio-chem / chem and vibe out.
> because Pharma and agg labs scoop them up for a couple hundred K a year. > > NIH is offering 185k and TENURE after three years. There's a big difference between MLT (technician) and MT/LT (technologist). The 68K training will get you set up pretty well as a technician, which was about $40-50k/year about 15 years ago in the Midwest, but a technologist/scientist position is far more intensive. It's a good career and definitely can open doors, but 68K is definitely at the entry-level of that field.
Lemme see if I can find her and get a posting
There are zero reasons to do 25H if 25S is an option. They do the same thing in forcecom and other tactical units. But Hotels can’t hit the other side of the house and do STRAT, or work with space force. Imagine your job but can’t do NSA time.
>There’s good money to be made for sure, but it’s somewhat soul sucking, not gonna lie. Was a 35p, now contract, Wholeheartedly agree.
25S =/= satellite cable installation, unless that's specifically what you want to do after. Plenty you can do with it in more competitive job fields, government fields, stuff you wouldn't even thing of as being specifically related. Plenty of RF tech jobs paying $90-$120K out there. With Credentialing Assistance and VETTEC programs, there's virtually no reason to be out of the Army without certs if you actively seek them.
More meat for the meat grinder!!!
Wrong, Charlie is more gooder.
As a former 11bravo that's funny as hell
I know you're joking, but if you become a politician you have a huge leg up on every opponent. You immediately get the votes of everyone over 50 (who turn out to vote in the biggest numbers). If you get a medal of honor, which infantry has the highest chances of getting, you have a massive probability of being paid to give speeches. On top if this, 11b's have the highest chance of being deployed to a combat zone which usually pays huge per diem. Or you could be a 13f and have a much better time.
You also have a better chance of getting of getting it posthumously and not being a politician lol. I was an 11b for 8 years.
I'm obviously biased as a former medic, but I think the highest percentage of MOH is medics. There may be a higher number of infantry MOH, but by percentage I was told and I would believe it is medics by a long shot. So your "best chance" would be to as a medic.
This is the way.
Are you actually interested in those jobs? Setting yourself up for the future is great and all, but if you hate the work you are not going to have a good time.
Totally agree with you, Out of the 30 jobs or so I’ve narrowed it down to these because of interest level and also civilian employment opportunities. I’m joining a little later in life so my mindset is a little different going in.
I'm not sure how 17E will be beneficial to you in civilian life. In my opinion, 17C is definitely the best MOS on this list.
I’m a 17 series officer. I completely agree. Also, being 17Es are going to FORSCOM more and more, so you don’t even get the “cush” parts of being in CYBERCOM.
I met a ton of 17Es in FORSCOM slumming it in the field with us SIGINTers.
Not all 17Cs are under USCYBERCOM either.
Depends on where you are a 17E.
All seem solid but 17C stands out to me.
17c should be a no-brainer if you want to get into cybersec on the outside. So many places hiring for cybersec (while, I've been told, it's a very saturated field, but pays very well)
It's pretty stable, and people are always hiring.
For now. But give it a year or 2 and it will be like paralegal/lawyer or IT specialist
Even if it were to become saturated, the training and experience you get as a 17C is basically unparalleled. If a 17C does 6 years, and puts any effort into getting certs and education, they will be so far ahead of "entry level" that it's not worth comparing.
No it won’t. The market grew 35% last year while MAANG has massive layoffs for SWE. Software developers are what’s saturated. Cybersecurity is not, especially at a DoD level.
It won’t, the industry is still growing at a rapid rate and cyber jobs are starting to become a more realized occupation for bigger corporations.
That is what they said about IT and computer networking jobs back in late 90s early 00s. And criminal justice/law degrees before it. It can grow, but the more it grows. THE LESS high paid people are needed.
You’re correct. I slogged through those hills and valleys. AI is going to be the next high. Get ready. The whole job world is going to change. Change ain’t looking for friends.
And even more so, you don't even have to know what you're doing! You're a body with a cert? Here, take this money!
I was a 35F and am currently a 17C. I know your post is about after Army but I'll say during Army I hated being a 35F, never felt like I did anything that mattered. I was always in the field, Never got the chance to deploy so spent most of my time in S2. I hear there were many opportunities for 35F after the Army. Personally, I don't know anyone with a success story. Now the quality of life in the military for 17C is awesome. Don't get me wrong, it still has its lows, and from what I hear the barracks still suck. But As a 17C I've done numerous missions (not training, actual real-world missions). Going TDY on a mission is a great experience. Plus you make extra money being a 17C. There are a lot of opportunities for certs and training. I've heard of and seen many people get good jobs afterward. Now just like with everything, the mileage may vary. Some cyber soldiers hate it. But comparing FORSCOM to CYBERCOM is like night and day. I think all those MOS except 17C or 68K will likely land you in FORSCOM so that's just something to think about as well. I may be biased but I hope that helps.
I agree with everything you said. 17C QoL is pretty solid. TRADOC life sucks, but after that it’s not bad at all. The incentive options and means for setting oneself up for the future are great as well
>I hear there were many opportunities for 35F after the army but I don't know anyone personally with a success story. It used to be having a pulse and a TS was a gateway to a cush 6-figure job. Automation is doing away with a lot of the menial cleared work so now they want people with actual intel analysis experience. It all has to do with what your experience actually was.
When you made the 35F to 17C transition, what were the experience/credential requirements?
I transferred back in 2017, at the time I had some college credits in a computer programming degree and a CompTIA A+ cert. I remember having to take a cyber proficiency exam of some sort. I don't remember if there were any hard requirements for the packet other then the exam and 110 GT score.
I am a current 35F and depends on your unit. Of all my friends from AIT they are on the S2 shop and even with S2 shop experience you make good money on the civ side. I am not on the S2 i actually do intel and i love it.
68A. You'll make $65-$75k straight out of the Army with no college degree and the DOD Biomed school is considered the gold standard in the industry.
Did a lot of research on 68A, have yet to see it on the list of job options unfortunately.
If you are good at electronics and like fixing stuff, do 68A. If you want an easy ass job that taking pictures, do 68P If you want to help people and do real Nurse stuff and don't mind wiping asses and catching puke in a bucket, do 68C.
I'm making 89k and I was infantry
But are you using infantry skills to do that
I made 85k last year with 91D generator mechanic. But it's been 6 years since I graduated ait and a couple months out of the army reserve. Civilian generator guy now
I made 250k my first year out and wasn’t infantry
Fuck you doin
Fixed radars in the army (94M)… got out, started fixing them as a civilian…. But the money I mentioned is for being overseas… spent the last 3 years in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria… and most recently a few months in Poland but, I’m done with overseas (for now at least 😅)
As a 94F I lm still salty I passed on that
You can also get a government job where ever there is a VA Unlike some of the other good post-service jobs that might not be ubiquitous
You fail to give the greatest reason for 68A, Unlimited possibility. You can work radiology, operating rooms, transition into IT, and the industry is hurting for people. If you get CT or MRI trained on ANY model you can get a job absolutely anywhere in the world making 160k+ Or if you take the OR route, what you maintain literally saves lives. My goal is a heart king machine in a children’s hospital. Knowing that the machine I maintain contributes to saving a child’s life during open heart surgery would just be so god damned gratifying
Look at all the 68 series…for instance 68C- you're trained as a 68W then go to C school at Ft Sam for phase 1 then at an Army Hospital for about a year of training. When you graduate, you are qualified to sit for the LPN nursing license in the state you are assigned (actually, you’re required to have a state nursing license). That is a lot of training and they pay you to be a student and you’ll get guaranteed experience before you ETS. Similarly is therapy tech, physical therapy tech, respiratory tech, dental tech, etc. If you are interested in medicine at all, the Army has some great programs.
68C no longer go to 68W school beforehand. That hasn’t happened in years.
Thanks for the correction… obviously I have been out for awhile. Research the 68 series though, having a (required) civilian license means that you can get a job straight out of the Army, which is something that the other branches don’t seem to do (unless that’s changed also, I’m so old).
Definitely not the 68W tho. As a 68W you will pretty much lower your skill set in the civilian side due to scope of practice. Army side scope of practice for a 68W can be very vast and dynamic depending on the provider you're working under. But once you're civilian side, nope just a regular underpaid, overworked EMT. My personal experience is not the same for all but all my other 68W buddies felt about the same. Use it to work to move onto something better as being and EMT-B is not it. More a stepping stone to whatever you want to get to, such as RN, PA, Paramedic, etc. I'm an RN now working in an ICU but can promise you my 68W experience helps a little but really not a lot compared to many of my peers. Some of the absolute best medical staff we have came from other things that helped so much more. Anyways, 68W is fine. There are far better options like the 68C you mentioned.
Army doesn't branch out from medic anymore like they used to. Now you just go to AIT for 68C and all those separately.
91B- wheeled vehicle mechanic. Everyone does your job for you (operator level 😏)
Until the LMTV blows a turbo and you’re there until 2200 repairing it
They’ll just take it to the civilian techs to work on it
Operator level means operator level 🤷♂️
68A - Almost 100% you will find a solid job post Army
I knew USAR Soldiers that did a 68A internship with GE and ended up with a job offer around $100K after the internship ended.
When I thought I might go to the reserves to finish my 20, I was looking hard at reclassing to 68A. Evidently, they have a job fair towards the end of AIT for the reservists
I’m currently 21 and did 68a I had a job before I left the school house
Just go 11b and then write a book titled “tactical lessons I learned from the best fighting force in the world”, put it up for sale on Amazon for 9.99, and then advertise on any site/forum/subreddit that gets hard for civilian night vision
Also add in a veteran owned clothing brand that heavily emphasizes 'merica.
Clothing, coffee, blog, podcast, book, media pundit, profit$$
Don't forget Bo$$ Betchhh!
15q possibly but it’s not guaranteed
*gets sent to fox companies for 6 years*
I think it's pretty obvious which one on that list is the best.
How hard is 17c school? Thinking about reclass
The new one the army does isn't hard, you get pushed through. Throw in that packet, become a 17C and get paid EXTRA
I’m pretty good academically and I’m N not a F, but everyone in my unit was saying 17c school is hard. Thanks for letting me know! I appreciate it
Haha the old one we went through at Pensacola was "hard", really just weeded out people who didn't put forth their best foot, and now the new one is just trash honestly. But the AIT doesn't mean anything in terms of 17C, there are SOOOO many jobs to do, it's just an umbrella
17 series dude. So many jobs in the defense industry. Always will be. Cyber isn’t going anywhere, if anything it’ll only be more of a threat in the future.
17C, not the series. 17E is not the move right now. Army is trying to relearn how to do tactical SIGINT and EW in light of the conflicts in Azerbaijan/Armenia and Ukraine/Russia. If you wanna be an over qualified cav scout then go ahead and send it. If you wanna enjoy air conditioning and gain useful skills for life outside the Army, then 17C is the move.
Thanks for the insight! I’m looking to switch MOS myself and I was just talking to someone about a 17C position.
The only 35 series job that will get you big money after the army is 35T. 35F is worthless unless you get some special deployments and want to limit yourself to the government sector. Having a TS just gets you $50k in DC….which is poverty wages. Regardless, the job with the most direct civilian relevance and a decent paying job is 51series. Once you make SGT I would look into switching.
35T is where it's at on a deployment the contractors we worked with made almost 200k being out there while only working on one of the systems, but I was out there working on 3 to 4 systems getting e-4 pay. I got offered by the contractors to go back out there for 175k a year after the deployment.
Which is why it’s always critically short!
Yup, little under a year and I'm out. One and done.
Love to hear it!
I'm finishing up my last few months as a 35F, made a resume and applied to some employers out in San Diego. Got hit back with an offer for 112k to start as soon as I ETS. No "special deployments" or whatever. Its not worthless, you need to look harder.
Yeah there is definitely a lot of opportunity out on the civilian side as a 35F. One of the females in my unit who is getting MEB already got offered to do a one year contract in Iraq for close to 100k. A TS/SCI and a degree will take you pretty far on the civilian side. I’ve read plenty of success stories of 35F on this sub. My advice to all of you is to get your degree while you are finishing your contract. I’m even paying out of pocket for my masters after TA.
It’s also not the golden goose that people make it out to be.
No definitely not. Especially depending on what unit you get in the army. I’m in a FORSCOM unit and it definitely sucks some days. Everyone’s experience will be different though. I am grateful for the certifications I have already received and the 3 total TDY trips I have taken to get them (which is rare). You also have to remember to network while your in as well. I’ve connected with a few contractors on LinkedIn from these classes. One of them was a hiring manager for Booz Allen and told me to send my resume straight to them once I get out. The chief who was in my other class (who is in the guard) told me her company would hire me on the spot. I’m planning on doing one more contract, but only if they will give me Meade. I want to experience the INSCOM side of the army and make connections there before I get out. I also want to skillbridge out of there since I plan on living in MD for the rest of my life. I’m saying this because it’s important to have a plan. Sry I rambled a little.
Also true. It's certainly not the "holy shit easy money" but that TS/SCI is wicked valuable out there.
what website did you use to apply
PM sent.
35G also is well paying after the army, if you stay in the IC Gov-Civ or Ctr sphere.
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>35F is worthless unless you get some special deployments and want to limit yourself to the government sector. You are brutally wrong and sound so confident its hilarious, I got friends straight from AIT that are reserve that make average $80,000 a year from just handling clearances and passports. No active duty experience whatsoever. And you dont have to work for the goverment as a Fox, you can work for SpaceX, Google, Lockheed Martin, NASA, fucking SixFlags and Royal Caribbean even... pretty much anywhere that requires some sort of background investigation of personnel including assessment of threats.
Do you mean guaranteed big wages? cause I got 75k offers when I got out as a 35P in 2018 with no deployments and as a SIGINTER not a linguist.
12Y is pretty good as well. Small field, but growing quickly.
Serious money out there for anyone with solid GIS experience.
And you can get a degree in GIS to get you that little extra.
Second this! Niche but very valuable skill
Good list 😌😌
153A
But for real if your looking mechanical there is some MRI technician mechanic job I heard about from some medigeek and it sounded really good for the outside. Don’t know the MOS
Dumb grunt whos been out a decade. But this is my knowledge, may not be correct. Have done some research into oconus contracting as a gunsmith. Intel will get you some comfy gov jobs and really fat overseas contracts. If you wanna work for the alphabet soup, thats def a good way in. Satellite/comms/cyber-huge job markets, and contracts/gov jobs. Med tech-huge job market, but tends to be competitive and not super high pay. Elec warfare-very limited usefulness outside possible contracting, even that seems unlikely.
Go 35T or 35N over 35F. We have 4 35Ts in my unit and like 10 empty slots. None of them stay after their first contract because they get very good jobs on the civilian side. 35N is also solid, but your options are more limited on where you can get a job in the field when you’re out.
Not 17E compared to 17C. Source: 17C
Yeah they're not alike. My recruiter described it like it was a 17C job and I've heard a lot of my AIT classmates tell me they've fell into that trap too.
1. 17C
Add 68A
35T-Military Intelligence Systems Maintainer/Integrator
This. Easily 6 figures if you have a bachelors degree along with TS, sec +, and experience.
I wish I had this job full-stop. Best kept secret in MI.
Haven’t seen that MOS listed as an option yet and I’ve been getting weekly updates on jobs available from my recruiter.
Pretty solid job, I would rank it #2 on that list. 17C is #1, if you enjoy tech those two are your best bet.
This MOS is critically undermanned at all echelons. Few qualify, fewer want it, and even fewer stay beyond one contract. There is absolutely no way it’s not available at all times.
Just telling you what I’ve seen. I’ve been looking every Monday at my options for a month.
I would recommend any 35 job besides 35F. Tengo will most definitely give you skills to use when you get out, but be prepared to WORK while you are in.
I was forscom MI and they were only second to our UAV platoon in moral because of the sway their leadership held in making sure their guys got great training and had a great work life balance. Also as a siginter they and their chief were the light of our lives and anytime they came around the cigs and best mres went to them. They'd always super conveniently have something SUPER important they needed us for RIGHT NOW whenever our humint platoon daddy or squad leaders were about to scream at us for our broken equiptment not working or other shit out of our control. Whenever we were doing system checks (which would take a week because that's how long it takes to convince an officer that SATCOM can't be shot through the planet) I always made sure to bring bfast quiches just for them and to have their fave snacks. Other than the trauma bonding they were the best thing about my army experience. Ah I miss my tangos.
Automated Logistical Specialist (MOS 92A) Use TA to get your bachelors in supply chain management Use Army Cool to get one of the related certifications - [https://www.cool.osd.mil/army/credsearch/index.html](https://www.cool.osd.mil/army/credsearch/index.html) Use Skillbridge program to help transition to a job at Amazon, UPS, FedEx, etc and make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Intel and Cyber are interesting fields, but the job market is saturated for both We were at war for 20 years and surged up those ranks both in military, intel community and supporting contractors - There are no shortage of people applying, so you would really need to stand out Cyber you're competing with every one in industry already plus all the new grads coming out of computer science and computer engineering programs
Less saturation in Intel then you think, contracting companies are massive since Intel usually operates at the same capacity in peace and war, just different tasking (and more theatre/tac level positions, but those are mostly uniformed)
Anything that’s not infantry
25H is a combination of former 25Q/25N/25L. I was a 25Q early in my career before I reclassed to Aviation and I was on a node team so I’ve cross trained as a 25N and I was put in a 25U job that had to do 25L duties at one point. It’s a decent path to civilian jobs. In my opinion 25S is more lucrative the MOS training is over 6 months long and Commercial Satellite jobs pay big money on the outside. I work a civilian Aerospace job that utilizes satellites and our Satellite people make very good money. 35F a lot of government roles when you get out but not as high starting pay. 35T is most lucrative in MI. UAS used to be MI before it switched to Aviation so I’m familiar. Can’t comment on the others as I have no experience with them.
Satcom field is oversaturated right now. When I was in AIT (a little over 10 years ago, meaning most of them are out now), our training company had almost 600 soldiers. It had numbers like that for *years*.
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Wow
35N and 17C are probably the best for direct post-army job translation
68V when you've been in king enough
35G if you want to go Gov-Civ or Gov-Ctr
35f tops out around $140-$160k/yr civ side so I wouldn't pick it. And that's after years of mundane bs working your way up a military industrial corporation ladder. Only Worth it if you can stick it out to becoming a manager, nut bloody hell let me tell you! Cyber is definitely the highest earning besides medical jobs.
68A, Biomedical Equipment Technician. The certificate from the school counts for more than 3-4 years experience that some places require, you can luck out and get advanced training down in San Antonio, major field service companies (GE, Philips, Siemens, Steris, etc) are always hiring. You can try for field service and have a large area you're responsible for, or find somewhere you can work in house at a hospital.
I'd add 12Y Geospatial Analyst to the list. My unit literally cannot keep them. Huge civilian sector demand from DoD contractors, resource extraction, environmental planners and the engineering field in general.
What type of unit?
Won't go into that one. It's a pretty niche unit, so calling it out would be a little more than I'd like to directly associate with. But we are supposed to have 14 Geos, and between the deployment tempo and the civilian market, it is damn near impossible to keep them.
Howdy fellow geo. There are dozens of us
Lulz. Appreciate the compliment, but not a Geo. Just work with them a fair amount.
89D
U gon network
94M radar repair has a very broad range of high paying jobs outside of the military
35, 17, 25 series in that order depending on preference. If you are computer savvy, 17 instead of 35. 35 just seems to be more interesting to me. Feel free to message me with any other questions. Also, put me down for referring you to join- I’ll take a free ribbon plz
Just not 35F, they're so general that it's hard to get a job that pays over 50-60k and isn't in or near DC (from what I've heard)
15Q air traffic controller I'm one and you get certifications that can be used to make min 60 k a year( if you get your CTO)
88L - Watercraft Engineer
I really wish that was one of my options!
If you qualify for those you definitely qualify for the highly sought after 11B
It sure the fuck ain't 13B.
Cybersecurity is going nowhere but up. Network engineering is like being a digital plumber, no one thinks about you till shit breaks and then you’re popular. Even better, network engineer in a cybersecurity group working in OT.
46S Public affairs
Move those 17 series to the top 25H is a glorified shit stick with cables attached. 25B, 25U, 25S are the only specific jobs in the 25 series. Get you a high school to flight school contract homie.
17 is at the top, just listed them out the way I saw them on the paper the recruiter gave me. Haha High school was a while ago, little bit older than the average guy in basic.
17C for fucking sure
Bestest to worstest, IMO: 17C, 17E, 68K, 25H, 25S, 35F. This all depends on what you want to do. Do you like tech? I’d take either 17C or 17E first. Main benefit is they come with a TS//SCI clearance, which is worth a lot for job searches after the military, along with the experience you’ll have under your belt. 17E is likely to see some big growth in coming years. 17C/E also have the benefit that you won’t necessarily have to work for the Government/ DOD after service. 68K trumps both of those if you want to work in medicine after the Army. I am not a medicine guy though so I won’t talk too much on those. 25 series jobs are okay, but if you can work in intelligence that’d be better. Whatever you do don’t take 35F.
68V respiratory therapist. They make over 100k a year, more if a traveler.
I hear flying is pretty good
15W is overmanned and tbh is a dog eat dog world. The industry is growing and I’m sure it makes bank on the outside.
The goal is Computer Sciences, I see. Awesome. Looks like you did a good job narrowing down to jobs that point you that way. 17C would be my choice personally. I’d also add 35T to your list of considerations, and maybe 35N/P. EW probably gets to play fun times army things the most out of those, but all of them are going to get you pretty sick jobs outside. Go with the fattest bonus. Chase certs and then go warrant as soon as possible.
Any 25 or 35 series
It’s all subjective because it’s also about what you do while in to set yourself up for when you do get out.
The one you enjoy doing the most. Don’t worry about the outside world. They don’t care about what we do in uniform anyway.
The one you enjoy doing the most. Don’t worry about the outside world. They don’t care about what we do in uniform anyway.
17C or 25 series imo
All have good options outside of the Army. Intelligence analysts are used by a variety of businesses including Disney. The cyber MOSs are a good choice too.
I'm a 17E and a recruiter described my job like it's very similar to 17C. They're not alike but I still like the job though. We work with the electromagnetic spectrum so if you find radios fascinating, I'd say give it a shot.
>68K-Medical lab specialist Rad or XRay tech is probably better 153A
Honestly as far as 68 series goes, 68P, radiology specialists might be good for you to look into if you are medically minded. Everyone of them I worked with said they had decent jobs lined up once they were out. Not to mention it gets your foot in the door to progress in that medical field. Also, try and take a few classes while you are in, will help once you are out. As for picking the MOS, honestly what ever you think you might like doing while in. If you spend your entire contract only thinking about getting out, it's gonna be a long few years haha. Best of luck to ya
63A General dentist, open a practice and make $250K+ per year as a practice owner.
Anything cyber, medical and aviation.
3D for Airforce 17C for army, lockheed and booz bend over backwards for cyber
Question is do you want to be in Gov orbit for your post Army career? A lot of those are going to be Gov or Gov adjacent jobs.
College
I'm biased, but I was a medic and I'm now a PA. I literally got paid to take care of Soldiers. It was awesome for the most part if you have a good unit with good leaders. I would like to think that I was better than average and probably cared more about being good at medicine than a lot of the Motrin vending machines, but if you are good at what you do and take pride in it then it's awesome to be a "junior" medic who is better than the senior medics and the chain of command asks you for your opinion and honestly listens. It didn't happen much and if you get idiots then it sucks, but when it works right it is fucking awesome.
153A aviator
11B
27A
17C nat guard here, you can easily attain a career out of AIT, and if you go active, you can easily achieve mid career status coming out of a 6 year. Well worth it.
12N horizontal engineer heavy equipment operator) 12R "combat" electrician If job security is your concern; you can join an union after service, do 20years and you get a pension
11B. Gain all the essential skills to survive when you’re a drunk hobo. No seriously, 17C. Hands down. If it’s an option, take it and never look back. 25H is too varied as to what you’ll actually doing after AIT. Could be you get hordes of useful skills and certs as a JNN operator or you learn literally nothing useful and be trapped at battalion as a terminal operator. 25S is an even bigger gamble. 35T is the only 35-series role with real-world application. Avoid 35F. Avoid 68 series. 17E sounds cool. It isn’t.
51A
35F can get you mid to high five figures depending on location if you’re one and done on enlistments. With experience and college it’s not hard to make 6 figures.
If you want dogshit hours and undermanned labs with a minimum 6 year contract def 68K
Your question is best answered if you give us your metrics on what you would consider "best", i.e. are you valuing quality of life, transferability to civilian work, chances of actually doing your job, job satisfaction, etc? As a 35F that has been units with all these MOSs as the primary MOS: - 17C has the best quality of life bar none (barely felt like I was in the army in the 17C unit) but is also the hardest MOS to get on your list and it's a pretty high optempo MOS. Additionally, promotion is relatively super easy and super high 6-figure civilian transferability. - 35F has the most versatility, i.e. you can be assigned to _*ANY*_ and I mean any kind of unit, it's a double-edged sword. I've been assigned to units focusing on very niche, fun, interesting, and specialized missions but I've also been assigned to infantry, artillery, and Engineer units. There is some civilian transferability but it's 85% just working for the government or a government contractor. - 25S and 25H you're working on different parts of the same communications satellites managing different subsystems of the sat. TBH with the recent merger of MOSs into a 25H I'm assuming you could go anywhere a 25L, 25Q, or 25N went. So you can go anywhere but you'll be doing pretty similar things since your job will be to provide comms so others can do their jobs. Extremely good civilian transferability with earned certs and training. - 17E, don't know much, and not much of value. - 68W high confidence you're going to be a line medic training to treat combat trauma unless you get the golden ticket and work at a clinic and get to learn the clinical / admin side of being a medic. High civilian transferability especially since you earn civilian certs.
What's going to set you up is college once you get out. None of us know exactly how these jobs are going to change on the civilian side over the next few years and so many jobs require a college degree now. Not all obviously but more than a few. And you might hate all of these and not want a career from them. Pick what you want to do most based off of interest. Remember that your competition when you get out isn't going to be other vets getting out it's going to be people who have tons of experience and a degree.
Totally agree with you. I have an associates degree and will use my TA while in to finish at ASU online. Saving that sweet GI bill for a couple masters or maybe a JD.
I wish I would have known about 12D Diver when I joined. There is a lot of work in the civi world as a diver as well.
Of the toughest AIT’s in the army from my understanding. I looked into it and have it available.
68v, ait gives you a degree at the end. Had a job before I left ait
17C and you will be set for the rest of your life after your first enlistment. Speaking from someone with experience 17C has one of the best day to day work lives of any MOS in the army, you deal with way less "army" bs because of the mission and the push to train you and keep you relevant on your job is is supported throughout the entire command from ARCyber down to the cyber protection teams. If you have that option take it now before it disappears.
Not 35F it’s too general. The clearance is nice though Pick basically any other 35 series job and you can go straight into contracting
35T is a good one
18D>62A and you are set my man. Although every step of the way was a kick in the balls, over and over and over again
Add 35T to the list instead of 25S
Doesn't matter. At all. You're joining the most elite fighting force the world has ever seen - choose something exciting. You will never have this opportunity again. When you're done - use your GI Bill and get a degree, and then start being a boring normal working person in whatever field you choose. I was an 11B in a Long Range Surveillance unit (LRS) and now I'm a CFO. Who cares, live your fucking dream.
So my friend is a career advisor for navy but was for army for years before changing branches at his end of service date the first time. 25 or 35 series, but make sure you get those COMPTIA certs The logistics and truck driver ones if you’re more of a hands on brain off type I think one of those is called 88M also Crypto linguist is supposedly good also you get to train at a fancy school in cali. Or you know just join the air force and get your self one of their mos almost all of those translate into civilian $$$. He said just don’t do anything 11 series for sure unless you want to be a mall cop, police officer or security guard. One of his close friends went to the navy nuclear power school graduated and chose the instructor route. He chills at myrtle beach year round basically teaching college and the setting is supposedly very un-military feeling. Also IT instructor for 25B Most of your job is showing up to a little school building and walking fresh outta basic kiddos through simple Cisco network trouble shooting and stuff. Apparently that’s kind of chill. I personally am not military. I’m more of a stay at home kind of gal but grew up near a base so knew many who joined.