While in the military, did you become stagnant in the same job/MOS or assignments? How did you change the situation?

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 15:26:46 -0400

Response by SSG Derrick L. Lewis MBA, C-HRM made Jun 11 at 2016 4:21 PM

SSG Derrick L. Lewis MBA, C-HRM — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 16:21:55 -0400

SFC Private RallyPoint Member ,
Great question. For me, I took on the broadening assignments such as Recruiter.

Response by CPT Joseph K Murdock made Jun 11 at 2016 6:09 PM

CPT Joseph K Murdock — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 18:09:04 -0400

I asked for a transfer and got it. I went from working at DFAS to working at a NG TSC.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 11 at 2016 7:21 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 19:21:33 -0400

Reclassified to another MOS for a couple of years.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 11 at 2016 8:46 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 20:46:19 -0400

I volunteered to retrain to a different field twice.

Response by SFC William Farrell made Jun 11 at 2016 11:53 PM

SFC William Farrell — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 23:53:37 -0400

SFC Private RallyPoint Member I was originally trained as a field wireman when i joined the army on my 17th birthday along with my twin brother and cousin. I wasnt that bright at that time, having hardly went to high school so i guess it was the best training i could get at the time. I did it in Korea and when I went to Vietnam i did everything but, drove a truck, flew door gunner, kept on putting in transfer for a door gunner position. When I left Vietnam and was assigned to Fort Hod Texas, I hated it. Took a three month early out and joined the military police reserve unit as I wanted to get on NYPD. Loved it and stayed with them until i retired.

Response by SPC James Harsh made Jun 12 at 2016 10:31 AM

SPC James Harsh — Sun, 12 Jun 2016 10:31:58 -0400

My time was brief compared to many other people on RP and I only had one MOS designation. I was thinking to myself the other day about basic training and some MOS may not train on basic tasks like in the Infantry, I'm just guessing. Training for 11b can be considered a never ending basic training, that's the funny part I was thinking about. The idea I offer though is about a simple drill. A couple of years in your unit and you will find yourself still performing simple drills. This doesn't seem great. So what is the point? After you've become proficient, you can either complain or realize that you've become able to train others. About teaching- whenever you teach someone, you yourself gain from it. They might not retain the info or maybe and will try to take your job. Civilians in the workplace are notorious for not teaching/training others because they're afraid of losing their job. The little-known caveat is that the more you explain, you retain. Back to the reality of doing the same simple tasks and consider this, with humility of course. I've had to teach with an FM as an aid because I didn't know everything.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 14 at 2016 12:03 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 12:03:52 -0400

I'm always doing job when we're in the field and at home station. I think in the past year there was one month we didn't do anything involving my job. I would say to re-class to a job you know will do their job more often

Response by SGT James Hughes made Jun 15 at 2016 2:31 PM

SGT James Hughes — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 14:31:30 -0400

you can ask for retrainiing to another mos..
I was 13 E and my job was never the same

Response by CPO Amb. Terry Earthwind Nichols made Jun 15 at 2016 7:59 PM

CPO Amb. Terry Earthwind Nichols — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 19:59:37 -0400

I always took jobs that were one or two paygrades above me and excelled in them. Results: E-7 in 7 as an admin type...

Response by SFC David Xanten made Jun 16 at 2016 7:46 AM

SFC David Xanten — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 07:46:38 -0400

No, I was an Armor Crewman, for 10 years 11E1-4H, VietNam 11B4, 11D4, 11E4 and in Germany (68-71) volunteered for Instructor Duty at the 7th Army NCO Academy 69-71. Volunteered for Recruiting Duty while still in Germany to avoid going to Ft Hood, ended up in Wilkes-Barre, PA for the next 6 years and then went to a single man station in Pittston, PA for my last two years. When I retired I got into IT Staffing/Recruiting and retired again in 2004.

Response by 1SG Doug Slusher made Jun 16 at 2016 7:59 AM

1SG Doug Slusher — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 07:59:14 -0400

Went on the trail for two years then went to jump school. Got assigned at Bragg and had a blast.

Response by SGM James Pepple made Jun 16 at 2016 8:58 AM

SGM James Pepple — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 08:58:35 -0400

Education is knowledge and knowledge is power, find ASI's that compliment your MOS get secondary MOS's that you like that also compliment your ability to win and always remember you will transition what civilian career do your aspire to transition into get every MOS and ASI that makes you a premium asset to your new civilian employer and transitioning should follow without any hiccups. As a senior NCO may jump into TRADOC as an instructor sharing your knowledge techniques to win with little to no losses or collateral damage and drive Warrior.... Thank you for your service.

Response by SGT James Hammons made Jun 16 at 2016 9:07 AM

SGT James Hammons — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 09:07:55 -0400

One thing I liked about being an NCO was my ability to train soldiers and when I felt things dragging out I focused on livelong learning 233 semester hours so far. I wrote a study guide for the board and I took vacations when I felt tired.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Jun 16 at 2016 9:09 AM

SFC Ralph E Kelley — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 09:09:43 -0400

I recognized early I wasn't going to be SMA. Around the time in my career when the Army was making MOS changes of the 11D Scouts to 19E Tankers. I was made a 19G (Sheridan Light Tanker). I wrote a letter disputing the change, reminding the army my career up to that point (I had 'seen' a Sheridan) had been LRRP, Rangers and Blues Platoons. I was told that the Army knew what was good for the Army. I pointed out that the information of the changes (which had been Branch-wide) said I could request to be made 19D (the newer Scout MOS) instead on simply accepting the 19G designation.
I was told, by an S1 Specialist, that I needed to put a statement saying to the effect that my change from 19G to 19D would be for 'the good of the Army'. I told him I figured the army had already made me a 19G because they thought that was best and I didn't want that statement in my request. That he should type the statement exactly as I had written it.
Of the 26 NCOs in my unit that wrote their requests for change from 19G, 19H and 19E to the 19D PMOS mine was the only one that was approved.
My point being, though I retired as a 19D PSG after 20 years (most of my then-peers that remained in service became 1SGs & CSMs), I feel I did not stagnant. I did what I loved.

Response by MAJ L. Nicholas Smith made Jun 16 at 2016 10:02 AM

MAJ L. Nicholas Smith — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 10:02:15 -0400

You can become stagnant if you choose to remain at the same location (i.e. installation and unit). Maybe I have OCD because I went through three MOSs while enlisted (11B, 12B, 51B) and two commissioned (70B and 67J). It is easy to "homestead" without hurting your career if the installation can support it by moving from unit to unit on the same base/fort.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2016 10:52 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 10:52:11 -0400

My first MOS was super heavy in promotable Specialists. Our branch SGM advised us for career progression to seek reclassification out of branch if we wanted to get promoted. I did just that.
To avoid stagnation I learned as many additional duties as possible and could plug and play if required.
When that no longer became an option, I retired.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2016 11:59 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 11:59:42 -0400

Not too many MOS changes, but many diverse assignments.

I started as 37F (PSYOP) enlisted and did that from 1985 through 1998. It was a great MOS and I really enjoyed the work, mostly propaganda development rather than tactical PSYOP.

I was commissioned as a chemical officer in 2003, but have spent less than one year since then in a chemical slot and have yet to do anything in my actual MOS other than military schools for promotion. As a chemical officer I have been a detachment and company commander (never a chemical unit) four times and am currently a staff officer.

I am looking seriously at moving back to PSYOP or Civil Affairs which would take my career full-circle, and is where I would like to eventually retire after BN command.

We shall see.

Response by SPC James Mast made Jun 16 at 2016 12:50 PM

SPC James Mast — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 12:50:46 -0400

I was a 72Echo, among all of the other issues i dealt with. The fact that at the time it was damn near impossible for me to move up any more in rank due to the points required for advancement.. That and I had my head stuck up my ass LOL.. So what I did was get out of the service, a mistake I've regretted since 1986.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2016 1:48 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 13:48:22 -0400

I was extremely lucky the 12 years I was in the Army. Every few years I went to a different unit or duty station. I either just called my branch manager or reenlisted. You start to plateau after a period of time. So every 2-3 years I went to a new duty station to make it more interesting. It sucked because I had such great rapport with the people I worked with. However I got to hear new ideas and develop myself more.

Response by MAJ David Vermillion made Jun 16 at 2016 6:19 PM

MAJ David Vermillion — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 18:19:04 -0400

If you are stagnant go to the many schools the military has to offer. I remember back in 60s and 70s going to Airborne , Ranger, Special Forces, Instructor School, Chemical School, Aviation School, Jumpmaster, Personnel, Officer Candidate School, Recondo School and so on it goes. Never stayed anywhere long.

Response by MSG Rogelio Watson made Jun 16 at 2016 6:28 PM

MSG Rogelio Watson — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 18:28:00 -0400

Changing MOS is good, especially when you want to pursue something different and exiciting. I have done it throughout my career and it was rewarding!

Response by SPC Mike Held made Jun 16 at 2016 11:04 PM

SPC Mike Held — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 23:04:55 -0400

The E5-E7 points were at 998 for all but 1 month in my 4 years, and a total of 9 years at those points, and could NOT cross train into another MOS. Then the Army came up with the rule that if you were NOT E-5 within 8 years you were automatically chaptered out so the only choice I had was to ETS.

Response by CPL James Zielinski made Jun 17 at 2016 9:34 AM

CPL James Zielinski — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 09:34:29 -0400

I found myself in an MOS that did not engage or excite me at all after a short time. As a 63S parts changer, in units that spent the majority of their time in the field, precluding further education, I was bored out of my skull. Being a mechanic is more supply chain politics than it is engineering challenge. After accumulating secondary MOS's, but not being able to practice them really, and with really high cut-off scores, I decided that the only way out of my shortage MOS was to go into Special Forces, which I did, but I ended up being accepted into Chiropractic School and becoming a Doctor before I finished SF training, so now I am a Doctor in the civilian world.

Response by SPC Elizabeth DeCamp made Jun 23 at 2016 10:58 AM

SPC Elizabeth DeCamp — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 10:58:08 -0400

I ETS'd. Being married and separated almost constantly made it easy.

Response by SPC Dee Bartlett made Jul 5 at 2016 1:28 AM

SPC Dee Bartlett — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 01:28:12 -0400

Y'know off the top of my head, yes, my job got stagnant, but I also didn't explore. I was lower enlisted and had some guidance, but I had no clue how the system worked and no idea what my options were. So much of my stagnancy was due to my ignorance. The other part of the stagnancy was due to a short "chain of command." My soldier skills were always taken care of, but the garrison/administrative side never moved forward for me because I had little supervision or guidance. Administratively, it was myself, an E-7, E-8 and then an O-5.

Unfortunately, I never changed the situation. I had no idea there was anything wrong with my situation. It just was what it was, and I didn't know any different. When I honorably discharged from the military, I was so disillusioned, I had no idea what the condition of my discharge was. It was nuts.