Active Army IT/Cyber

Mrock4

I just got out of the Army after about 7 years. My take is, if you take advantage of the benefits/training/TIME available in the military..and make the most of it, getting out makes a lot of sense.

If you slack or have a MOS which doesn't easily transfer to the civilian world, stay in.

I worked my butt off while in, and it's payed off greatly. A clearance and military experience is definitely not (in most cases I've seen) a guarantee of a great job post-military..hard work certainly helps though.

I enjoyed my time in, but civilian life appealed more. To each his own!

Just my $.02..

WafflesAndRootbeer

I can see this backfiring horribly on the military. It is definitely not a good idea nor will they be able to get to the kind of talent or training they need to make something like this work. It will be another instance of having an under-staffed and under-performing technical MOS whose role is largely carried by overpaid civilian contractors with little or no scrutiny or those in other government agencies.

colemic

WafflesAndRootbeer wrote: »

I can see this backfiring horribly on the military. It is definitely not a good idea nor will they be able to get to the kind of talent or training they need to make something like this work. It will be another instance of having an under-staffed and under-performing technical MOS whose role is largely carried by overpaid civilian contractors with little or no scrutiny or those in other government agencies.

Disagree.

Those 'overpaid civilian contractors' aren't overpaid compared to the cost of training, equipping, healthcare, retirement, and dependent care for that one soldier. It made more fiscal sense for the Army in the long run to look to contractors for a task, than the (guessing) potential hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) to invest in one soldier, in the areas I mentioned above.

Most Army networks now are civilian-run, and I would rather have a 75K contractor sys admin who has years of experience and certs running a network than someone who just crosstrained into the field as an NCO solely for the re-enlistment bonus with no experience, who is now in charge. (That happened to the Air Force and was a spectacular disaster.)

Mrock4

colemic wrote: »

Disagree.

I would rather have a 75K contractor sys admin who has years of experience and certs running a network than someone who just crosstrained into the field as an NCO solely for the re-enlistment bonus with no experience, who is now in charge. (That happened to the Air Force and was a spectacular disaster.)

Not only that..but on average, in the army, you change assignments every 3 years. How are you supposed to have the SME leave every 3 years? Then train a new one. Continuity is a huge bonus with contractors..

..and no, I'm not one!

colemic

BTW I''m not either (anymore.)

instant000

If the military wants continuity, it's simple: pay the more-needed positions MORE than the more common positions.

As previously alluded to, the allowances to a servicemember are substantial: clothing, food, and housing. Beyond that, there is free healthcare, which, while common in most other countries, I don't know any companies besides Microsoft that offer it. So, now that the servicemember has all of their base needs taken care of, they can then bank a majority of their moolah, excepting needing to take care of their transportation. If you can hang in there for 20 years, you have lifetime retirement and healthcare benefits. Then, you can go ahead and try to pick up a GS position or other government job, then double-dip with double retirement in a few years:D

Hey, if you get any flyers about being AIT instructors for 25B, I would LOVE to teach the young up and comers the REAL DEAL, from a prior service 25B. Where's the next flight to Fort Gordon?

Also, I don't know what's up with these short AIT's, either. Did a poster say six weeks for a signal MOS? My AIT was four months, but since I'd already attended some college in Information Systems, my potential to learn there really wasn't that much, but it was a great introduction for people without prior exposure. I thought some AIT's were like 9 months or something for stuff like Satellite or whatever?

I thought 25B was one of the most comfortable MOS's you could have chosen, except for the warrant above it, and that's the honest reason why I chose it . And, yes, all servicemembers do the soldier things, like ruck marches, PT, deployments, etc., but when deployed, the work environment inside an air conditioned room is better than the work environment inside a Humvee in Egypt, Iraq, the NTC Dust Bowl, etc. No one is going to assign their sole IT tech to gate guard, when they have a battalion full of computers to maintain. And in garrison, you usally have the role of being the unit level administrator, or if you get better jobs, you support post-wide applications, such as the personnel system or you get to work in DOIM (which apparently, they've renamed in the past few years to something called IMD -- not that it's increased the level of service or responsiveness you get from them.)

Also, I can speak for contractors taking all the jobs. It was actually a bit disconcerting to me, as I remember way back when I was in (this is as far back as 2003) I'd go up to DOIM for something the unit needed (was often better to roll right up on them, rather than submit tickets through Remedy sometimes, or even if you did submit the ticket, it was often a quicker response if you could go in person with your ticket number) ... and I'd wonder where the servicemembers were ... you'd have one or two servicemembers, and the rest would all be contractors or BS GS ... it was pretty weird, when usually, the ratio of GS to military was usually very, very low.

I work in a building right now, and I think their are two servicemembers regularly in it, a major, and the commander. The rest of the building is filled with a few hundred people, mostly contractor, and a few civilians. For a large portion of these people, I honestly feel they are fluff.

I couldn't believe the other day, when a coworker was talking about he'd just gained his CCENT, as if it was a major accomplishment ... and this person was a Tier II engineer! (And before you start, no, he wasn't very experienced or educated to make up for the lack of certifications, this is the same guy who didn't know what a loopback was.) I feel that he could maybe be Tier 0.5, to not waste our taxpayer money.

Mrock4

instant000 wrote: »

No one is going to assign their sole IT tech to gate guard, when they have a battalion full of computers to maintain. And in garrison, you usally have the role of being the unit level administrator

I pulled gate guard while deployed as a 25B...and was on QRF. When back in garrison, I worked on humvee's...

It really depends on where you go.

instant000

Mrock4 wrote: »

I pulled gate guard while deployed as a 25B...and was on QRF. When back in garrison, I worked on humvee's...

It really depends on where you go.

When I went to Iraq, we had two 25B (including me), and we supported a 24x7 TOC, 24 x7 MWR computer lab, plus any other networked computers at the FOB. We had full time work to do already, excluding any new apps or networks they wanted to set up.

I volunteered to go on a couple convoys, just to get outside the wire a couple times (I know, kinda foolish, LOL.)

Back in garrison, I still did regular vehicular maintenance like everyone else, wasn't it called Motor Pool Mondays?

exanimo

So here I am, a 68W (Medic) with delusions of becoming an IT professional. How did this happen? I could say I didn't press my recruiter enough for the position I really wanted, and accepted simply getting and switching later (as if it was the easiest thing in the world). Re-enlisting is more difficult than ever, even for the same MOS. It appears my only option is to submit a packet for one of the 35 series MOS's and hope for the best. I'd love to have a chance at the new Cyber MOS but, as stated above, it won't be open to anyone outside intel for quite a while. Besides getting what certs I can in my spare time, is there anything else I could or should be doing to have a better chance at getting the job I really want?

coax31

I used to be a 31C and then became a 14R back in the 90s. Camp Hovey Korea and Ft. Carson Colorado were my duty stations they didn't have these cool IT jobs back then, I learned all my IT skills as a civilian.

instant000

exanimo wrote: »

So here I am, a 68W (Medic) with delusions of becoming an IT professional. How did this happen? I could say I didn't press my recruiter enough for the position I really wanted, and accepted simply getting and switching later (as if it was the easiest thing in the world). Re-enlisting is more difficult than ever, even for the same MOS. It appears my only option is to submit a packet for one of the 35 series MOS's and hope for the best. I'd love to have a chance at the new Cyber MOS but, as stated above, it won't be open to anyone outside intel for quite a while. Besides getting what certs I can in my spare time, is there anything else I could or should be doing to have a better chance at getting the job I really want?

I always think it's smart to leverage what you have already.

Since you have the healthcare skills, you might be good to look for IT jobs with healthcare organizations.

If your concern is with regards to reclassification, I don't know what to say. I never considered re-classing, as I liked the work environment I had. Everyone will have to undergo some level of hardship in the military. I just tried to choose an MOS that would minimize mine. It would seem the medics would be treated well, as everyone wants to stay healthy.

If you really want to re-class, you could speak to recruiters about it. If you haven't re-enlisted yet, there may be some incentive for them, if they are having numbers issues for an MOS.

Based on your post, you've already consulted with recruiters.

Not sure what else to tell you. But, I do know you can leverage what you do know, so you're not starting from the bottom. I'm sure some healthcare provider somewhere would like to have an IT person who "understood" their business.

Turgon

instant000 wrote: »

I always think it's smart to leverage what you have already.

Since you have the healthcare skills, you might be good to look for IT jobs with healthcare organizations.

If your concern is with regards to reclassification, I don't know what to say. I never considered re-classing, as I liked the work environment I had. Everyone will have to undergo some level of hardship in the military. I just tried to choose an MOS that would minimize mine. It would seem the medics would be treated well, as everyone wants to stay healthy.

If you really want to re-class, you could speak to recruiters about it. If you haven't re-enlisted yet, there may be some incentive for them, if they are having numbers issues for an MOS.

Based on your post, you've already consulted with recruiters.

Not sure what else to tell you. But, I do know you can leverage what you do know, so you're not starting from the bottom. I'm sure some healthcare provider somewhere would like to have an IT person who "understood" their business.

Im not US based so ignore me, but I think this whole thing is a half baked money making racket that will make vested interests a lot of money at the expense of US tax payers i.e everyone, with no tangible benefit to security what so ever.

SteveLord

Turgon wrote: »

Im not US based so ignore me, but I think this whole thing is a half baked money making racket that will make vested interests a lot of money at the expense of US tax payers i.e everyone, with no tangible benefit to security what so ever.

Thank you for your unwanted opinion that provides no "tangible benefit" to the thread what so ever.

the_Grinch

Has anyone looked into the Army Reserve? They have several Reserve units set with the mission of preventing and waging cyber warfare....

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SteveLord

the_Grinch wrote: »

Has anyone looked into the Army Reserve? They have several Reserve units set with the mission of preventing and waging cyber warfare....

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The Guard has more job opportunities available as well as more benefits (offered by their state.)