Posted on Oct 24, 2016
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Cavalry Scouts seem to share a lot of related skills aside from specializing in reconnaissance. Back in time before Korean War I believe 19D MOS used to be part of 11 series, until someone decided that it better fits with Armor.

Nevertheless, we have 11Cs, who tend to do much less related work of actual infantry and more akin to artillery field, and then we have 19Ds, who do a lot of 11B work.
Edited >1 y ago
42%
Yes. They are in similar field of operations.
58%
No. Cavalry belongs with Armor.
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SPC David Willis
God no, if you think you have heard "were pretty much infantry" already, just wait until they are pretty much infantry.
CW3 Counterintelligence Technician
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>1 y
A lot has changed in terms of Infantry MOS's since WWII and especially Vietnam. See my post here.
CW3 Counterintelligence Technician
Edited >1 y ago
Ok I don't agree with either one of these responses. I have both armor and infantry MOS's. I will simply say this: The diversion of 19D from 11D was not done lightly. At one time there were *a lot* of infantry MOS's. In fact, infantry was the primary combat arms force and everything else was mostly considered support. Even armor was considered infantry at one time (11E-Armored Infantry). They even had 11F-Infantry Intelligence Specialist. However, as time passed there was a lot of discussion regarding expanding certain fields (such as intelligence) as technology changed and the Army grew. This led to the creation of new corps (such as the military intelligence corps). One could argue that separate corps/MOS's like this allow for more specialization and greater esprit de corps. If you were merge MOS's back under the infantry regiments you would lose that I believe. Just my two cents...
CW3 Counterintelligence Technician
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Special Forces also used to be infantry branch (although not a separate 11 series MOS), prior to the 18 series MOS's being created. Before that, Special Forces was simply a Special Qualification Identifier (SQI) for Infantrymen.
SPC Franklin McKown
NO they should reactivated the branch and attach A-10s as well as heavy lift,WHY not I'm a scout and I safety wired a BlackHawk with our crew chiefs in Korea.The AIR FORCE needs to focus on SPACE not the COIN/CAS mission, anymore.
SGM Retired
I hate to break it to you, but 11D translated to 11E back in 1974 (or perhaps 1975 - I've slept pretty often since then.)

Still, I think you miss the use to which they are put. There are no scouts for an Infantry battalion. There are only scouts for Armor. And why? Because you can't set up an LP/OP in an M-1A.

Even so roles are changing. True scouts are a vanishing breed. Pathfinders? Gone. Long Range Surveillance Units? Going fast. Rangers? Who knows? Those reconnaissance missions are taken over by drones and satellites.

Even task organization removes the need for scouts. And Infantry/Armor task force has Infantry (duh) to handle scouting details. You might be arguing that 19D be absorbed into 19K even as 11D was absorbed into 11E. Perhaps one of the very few reasons 19D continues to exist is that the 19Ks need to have some idea what scouts do and that they can be depended on.
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Both of our mechanized (1-6 and 2-6) Battalions of Infantry had scout platoons attached to them. Here is the thing. My question pertains to the fact shouldn't be scouts of today be trained as standard infantry and then have Recon training added on the top, perhaps akin to USMC infantry? So far that I had seen, 19Ds had been used more in infantry based roles than any actual scouting, at least from what I've seen in my short time as 19D.
SGM Retired
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CPL Ilya Arkadiev Sure, but Mech Infantry is 11M, not 11B (or at least it was when I was in.) Let's consider ... 19K, 11M, and 19D ride around in a vehicle which carries all their equipment. 11B carries everything on their backs.

It seems to me that you are making the case the Scouts should be 11M, because they sure aren't 11B.
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all infantry MOS identifiers seemed to have been consolidated under 11B. However it is true that mechanized infantry (on Bradleys) basically have almost the same training (aside from sitting in the bushes for days, observing something non chalantly until falling asleep), especially when it pertains to Scouts on Bradleys.
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Good info SGM, read my post above regarding 11D, 11E, 11F, etc. At one point infantry was the primary combat arms force with multiple sub-classes of job. As you probably know, even Special Forces were once all infantry, just with a Special Qualification Identifier (prior to 18 series MOS's). I also agree with you on the changing roles... For instance, Rangers seem to be used primarily for direct action missions these days more than recon.
MAJ James Woods
Cav Scouts and Infantry are not the same. There is uniqueness between what they do. Also Armor has Scouts cause heaven forbid you tell an Infantryman that he's going to be told by a tanker what to do. Hahaha!
SPC Delbert DeTray
ok Pissing matches aside until you serve in a light infantry unit dont judge your counterparts yeah mortars are attached to HQ but they get all the shit details working for the 1stsgt and CO. I saw this as a 11B secondly 90% of cav scout units in the army dont really do there jobs because they are misused the active word is scout our unit used them as intended as scouts and recon especially with 5 out of 10 scouts being long range and sniper qualified but to answer your question no they are intended to scout the forward areas for the tanks and heavy mechanized units so they should stay with the armor and be used as intended.
SSG Cavalry Scout
It's always fun to poke my head into any conversation about us Scouts, just to see all the hate we get.
Already responded to one enlightening individual who had a case of diarrhea of the mouth.
SGT Paul Casteel
SGT Paul Casteel
>1 y
I served as an 11C and an 11B in a PIR. But first I was an 11C in a Cav unit while waiting for aN airborne school opening. Scouts were my brothers in the Cav, we all took crap from the tankers, and we always out performed them. My hats off to 19D's, although my hat's a little maroon beanie, and not a fancy cowboy hat.
SSG Cavalry Scout
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SGT Paul Casteel - Each hat has pros and cons. Mine blocks the sun and makes a sound when I move, yours fits in your pocket and keeps your head, and one ear warm in winter.
MSG Dan Castaneda
MSG Dan Castaneda
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SSG (Join to see) - There are no cons to my hat.
SGT Carl Doerr
As we all know. Yea the Cav. Ride into battle. But without dismounting they're sitting ducks. Upon contact they dismounting they're no different the straight leg Infantry with fire support from their vehicles. And those dam hats need to go. They belong with the air cav pilots.
SSG Al Palmieri
SSG Al Palmieri
>1 y
The Stetson is just as important to 19 series as the blue cord is to 11 series. It's tradition.
SPC Infantryman
You are. POG and will remain one
SSG Cavalry Scout
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Hey there fart sniffer, how about you pull your head out of your ass and try to actually contribute to the conversation instead of stealing oxygen from the rest of us with with your holier than thou diahrreahea coming out of your cake hole. Here's a fun fact Hero. That color blue you like to drool over like an infant memorized by some shiny keys, was originally the color of the cavalry. So instead of perpetuating the cancer of I'm better than you because I have a fancy shoestring on my shoulder. How about you try to do something productive, Like go find me a box of grid squares.
SFC (Other / Not listed)
Absolutely not. Cav Scouts are a specialized MOS that primarily conducts mounted reconnaissance for Armored divisions. Yes there are many skills that they share with the Infantry, but that can be said of a lot of different MOSs. However, there are enough differences to justify keeping Cav Scouts in the Armor branch. Bear in mind that the only reason Cav Scouts are attached to some Light Infantry divisions right now is because they were an a quick solution to fill a capabilities gap due to their MTOE equipment (HMMWVs, vehicle mounted long range sensors etc).
PVT Robert Cameron
As to your comment about 11C. Back when I went through Fort Benning the mos was listed as 11B-C2. They had the same training as I did, but the had to learn how to hump the mortar along with us. There's not much use for the mortar toting 11C's anymore. Our brothers and sisters have better weapons. And if I'm not mistaken I believe that the mortar was replaced by the tow missile system. And that too can be humped by a grunt. Especially in places where vehicles can't get to. So when it pertains to the 11series, your still a grunt.
SGT(P) Jordon Dodder
SGT(P) Jordon Dodder
>1 y
I do not believe the 60mm and 120mm mortars where replaced by the TOW missile.

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