My nephew is coming to visit in a couple of weeks. He is a senior in HS and is interested in joining the Army because he is in Army JROTC. He is interested in small boats. So I looked into the watercraft engineer and operator and I think he would be very interested in that. Does anyone know anything about those job fields? If he does that and gets the job classification (I'm retired Navy, I don't know Army term), do they get pulled for infantry or other combat roles? The family does not want to even entertain the Army because they feel he will be on the front lines of Afghanistan regardless of what he is trained in. As we said in the Navy "needs of the Navy come first". If he goes engineer does that mean he is only going to work on the engines and HVAC or does he get to be involved in the operation out side of the engine room? He scored a 79 on the asvab 3 years ago, is that high enough? He could probably retake it since he took so long ago as a freshman and could possibly get a higher score.
A long, long time ago.... I went through basic training in 1982 at Fort Sill. One of my buddies there was in the National Guard and had spent the summer doing OJT in an engineer boat unit. His MOS, as I recall it, was tugboat operator, although it may have been changed to watercraft, or maybe I mis-remember what he called it. Anyway, I remember thinking it was really cool and totally unexpected for the Army to have boats and operators. A few years later, I was at the Presidio of Monterey, California. Fort Ord was close by. Their firing ranges fired out over the beach and into Monterey Bay. On the marine maps, there was an off-limits area in the bay. To patrol and keep people out of the danger zone during firing, there were some old, World War II era Army boats, also manned by soldiers. They were kept (the boats, not the soldiers) at the Coast Guard pier. None of which answers your question. But it made me nostalgic for the old days. Now back to your thread, already in progress.
How well did he do on the mechanical portion of the test? I'm guessing the 79 is his AFQT (sorta like an overall score), and it exceeds the minimum requirements for entry. The ASVAB is comprised of several subtests, and the scores in those tests tell them where he would be best suited. Does he like working on engines? Do ok in math? Easily understand how to use electronic gadgets? There are a few sites out there that have practice ASVAB tests, and there are study guides you can get. Do some research and see if you can find out which subtests are important for these MOS's. I'd take a few practice tests, see how well I performed in the "important" areas, then concentrate my studying in those I found I was week in. And once I was hitting the minimums in those areas, re-take the ASVAB.
Why not consider the Coast Guard? They have lots of small boats. With the very limited number of rating they have MKs (machinery technicians), as all ratings find themselves doing all kind of collateral duties- law enforcement as a boarding team member is just on example.
Having recently seperated from the Army I would tell your nephew this: do not settle on a job that the recruiter suggests. Get the job specialty he wants or do not sign the papers at all. As far as your question about getting pulled to pull infranty duty, I would say that is unlikely for a watercraft engineer. There are no navigable rivers in Afghanistan, so there really aren't any watercraft there. In Iraq however you have the Euphrates and Tigris, along with a small coastline, all navigable. However, with the war winding down in Iraq, by the time he is deployable he would have nothing to worry about. Overall your nephew has a good idea about what he wants, if he likes boats then that is what he should go for, it important for people entering the military to pick a job they wouldn't mind doing as a civilian, that way when it is time to think about reenlisting, they have the option of getting out and finding a job. Too many people go in as infantry and when their time is up they find out the only job they are qualified to get is a local LEO. Also make sure to tell your nephew to take advantage of all the programs the Army offers, such as money for college. The army gives up to $4000 a year I believe to take courses, I finished about half my bachelor's degree while on active duty, leaving plenty of GI Bill money when I got out. So don't just sign up do your time and get out, get something out of it.
I thought the cg would be a better fit, but I heard that it was very hard to get into the coast guard. His preference for the army based solely on being in army jrotc. It is where his comfort level is.
The CG is very competitive to get into especially with their retention levels at record highs. Still I would certainly encourage him to go and speak to a recruiter. One thing that is different in the CG from the other services is that the vast majority of enlistees enter as non-rates and choose their job after spending some time at their first unit. This gives them a chance to look at the different jobs and what they really entail rather than picking something with only an idea of what the job will be like.