I have a nephew who just dropped out of A&M. Super smart but super lazy. He is also about 110 lbs soaking wet. He has now decided to join the Army even though he has no idea what MOS he would want.

I am not really against him joining the service because God knows he needs some direction but I keep telling him he is more of an Air Force guy not Army. No way he could be combat arms in my opinion. Would have a hard time carrying a large pack and I doubt with his genetics even the army could add more than a few pounds to him. Both his parents are small and thin.

He has a legit 130+ IQ. What would be a good MOS for him to go for if he finds himself in the Army considering the above?

Appreciate the advice.

But on the combat arms thing he is let me just say uhh a weakling who couldn't lift the pack let alone carry it.

If that's the case it will probably go two ways. One, he gets his teeth kicked in. Realizes he's being a little b***h and starts to man up and becomes a part of the team. Two, gets his teeth kicked in and becomes a whiny pouty punk making life difficult for all those around him. I hope it's the former. Obviously for his sake in that he become a good soldier and better person. And also because I feel for those he will impact if he takes the b***h route. It sucks for everyone around him. Both peers and leadership.

What does he like doing?

Army: any 35 series (intelligence) MOS translates well to civilian sector. 25B is ok if he likes networking and computer stuff and will translate well.

Air Force: equivalent of those.

15T - UH60 mechanic that leads to being a crew chief. That's assuming he likes tinkering with stuff. 15U is the Chinook equivalent that will lead to FE/CE on the big guys. Do not go 15R - Apaches. Whatever the ATC MOS is would be good on civilian side. Those dudes are making 6 figures.

Complaint Investigator said:

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What does he like doing?

Army: any 35 series (intelligence) MOS translates well to civilian sector. 25B is ok if he likes networking and computer stuff and will translate well.

Air Force: equivalent of those.

15T - UH60 mechanic that leads to being a crew chief. That's assuming he likes tinkering with stuff. 15U is the Chinook equivalent that will lead to FE/CE on the big guys. Do not go 15R - Apaches. Whatever the ATC MOS is would be good on civilian side. Those dudes are making 6 figures.

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He likes computer related activities like programming and reading and arguing politics. Very conservative but also very weird.

Good kid but his parents are nuts. So its amazing he turned out half right. Let alone smart and conservative.

Take a look at Air Force Cyber. It's the future and will be as lethal as anything else we do.

Also look at unmanned aerial system operator in the Army. Remote aircraft conducting reconnaissance among other missions. Our guys are enlisted.

13D, Fire Direction Control Specialist (or whatever the number is now). They are the nerds of the artillery world. Spend all day behind the computer. If they are good then they are the saviors of an artillery battery and he will be a hero. Will still enough cool **** like shooting guns and spending time in the field as everyone else, just his primary job is to quickly and accurately tell howitzers where to shoot. Again, and I can't stress enough, if he is good he will be a ****ing savior.

68w. Try to delay death long enough for Humpty Dumpty to gtfo. Either be attached to a medical unit for a comfortable and mind numbingly boring life, or be attached to combat arms and get to do cool ****, fix people, and often be the voice of reason to commanders and 1SG's. Also, grunts love doc, as long as doc loves doing grunt stuff. Not really any room to slack off on the knowledge side; you have to know your job way above and beyond what they teach you in school.

But it's a job where I know that I absolutely made a positive difference in someone's life.

That said, I convinced my little brother to go Air Force instead; his first duty station is in Germany, where he got married and visits other countries twice a month. Living is easy in the blue.

Quote:

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I needed that. Uncle Sam got theirs out of me and in return it gave me direction, a proud identity for life, and a chance to go to our beloved school.

Oh, and I was 5'6" and 120# going in. It wasn't the easiest but it has its perks too! Like that piece of shrapnel that furrowed a chunk from my Kevlar instead of my carving a path through my skull if I had been a few inches taller. Glass half full ya know!

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This is such an excellent post on so many levels.

Proud identity.

Go to our beloved school.

5''6" saved your noggin.

I would say "Simper Fi" , but I'm not a Marine.

Glass half full is a good way to approach life.

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This might sting a bit, but there are a metric **** ton of people in the Army with legit 150+ IQs. He isn't too smart for the Army; he's not even too smart for the infantry. Outside of pilots, there isn't anything inherently intellectual about the Air Force.

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Only meant as humor , but I remember something from a Stephen Ambrose book.

http://www.chicagonow.com/letters-world-war-2-airman/2014/01/world-war-ii-navigator-too-intelligent-to-be-a-pilot/

Back in the day, we did remind our pilots that the Navs were much more cerebral.

Anyways, in WW 2, the high scorers went to Navigator training. The high scorers at Nav School became Bombardiers. (well , some of them.) Pilots... meh.

Another edit:

I would never ever ever pass the eye exam to be a pilot. I needed waivers to pass the eye exam to be a Nav. Several waivers.

If you can go the pilot route, do that.

Such is life.

Gig em and Aim High. Go Air Force.

Hey Nav said:

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Quote:

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This might sting a bit, but there are a metric **** ton of people in the Army with legit 150+ IQs. He isn't too smart for the Army; he's not even too smart for the infantry. Outside of pilots, there isn't anything inherently intellectual about the Air Force.

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Only meant as humor , but I remember something from a Stephen Ambrose book.

http://www.chicagonow.com/letters-world-war-2-airman/2014/01/world-war-ii-navigator-too-intelligent-to-be-a-pilot/

Back in the day, we did remind our pilots that the Navs were much more cerebral.

Anyways, in WW 2, the high scorers went to Navigator training. The high scorers at Nav School became Bombardiers. (well , some of them.) Pilots... meh.

Another edit:

I would never ever ever pass the eye exam to be a pilot. I needed waivers to pass the eye exam to be a Nav. Several waivers.

If you can go the pilot route, do that.

Such is life.

Gig em and Aim High. Go Air Force.

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Full disclosure, I don't know much about piloting. I meant all "rated" AF positions though

Thanks for the advice everyone.

My last talk with him went nowhere. He is taking his enlistment as half assed as he took his time at School.

He vomited recently from five minutes of biking with my wife.

He is a basket case for

Well biking in a spin class but still. She had to help write an incident report for the club.

I thought I was out of shape when I left for Armor OSUT at 18, but this guy sounds a lot worse. It might be smart to work out and build up strength and endurance before looking at a contract IMO.

Is there a minimum PT test to start basic?

Might be interesting to run him through it.

Most recruiters, at least in the Army, will run a mock PT test to let the recruit know where they stand. It is, or was, purely for them to understand their physical fitness level. It has no actual bearing on the recruitment process. Now, if someone is grossly overweight that's a showstopper.

PanzerAggie06 said:

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After five minutes of biking? Wow.

I was thinking he'd have a tough time going through one of the combat arms basic training regimens. It sounds like he's in for a world of hurt regardless of which branch or MOS he chooses. I'd suggest that he might want to delay joining, just by a few months, and focus on his fitness but from the sounds of it, he seems like the type that knows everything and won't listen to those who might know better. So I'd suggest Marines, Navy, or AF. Not because they are sub-par rather because as a former Army officer I'm just trying to protect my branch. Haha.

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we'll still take him. tell him to go talk to a Marine recruiter and say he wants to get to MCRD or Parris Island as soon as possible.

he might be the type that knows everything, but he wont have the option of not listening.

Madman said:

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Well biking in a spin class but still. She had to help write an incident report for the club.

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this is hilarious and sad at the same time, and pretty much on par with what I expect from the current generation of late teen / early twenty-somethings.

Any new developments?

Madman said:

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I have a nephew who just dropped out of A&M. Super smart but super lazy. He is also about 110 lbs soaking wet. He has now decided to join the Army even though he has no idea what MOS he would want.

I am not really against him joining the service because God knows he needs some direction but I keep telling him he is more of an Air Force guy not Army. No way he could be combat arms in my opinion. Would have a hard time carrying a large pack and I doubt with his genetics even the army could add more than a few pounds to him. Both his parents are small and thin.

He has a legit 130+ IQ. What would be a good MOS for him to go for if he finds himself in the Army considering the above?

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I'm sorry I'm just now seeing this thread.
I'm an Army veteran, (1970-1973) and I realize it's been a long time since I was in, but some things about the Army has not changed I'm sure. The first of course is being self-reliant. Being self-reliant means you have self-confidence. We can talk all day long about whether your nephew is too small, etc., but the bottom line is the Army is the very best at training everyday individuals to become self-reliant. Is it easy? Of course it isn't easy, if it were, everyone would quit school and join up. You have to understand your nephew has put himself in the perfect position to become an Army soldier. Look how much pressure you are putting on him already and he hasn't even taken the oath yet. Let him decide what he wants to do. If you do, that will motivate him even further to succeed because when he is doing 100 push-ups in 100 degree heat, he will remember this was HIS decision.
Finally, please thank him for his service, no matter which branch of service he joins. I will sleep better tonight knowing he is there.

I'll be kind of a contrarian here, but in his current state I hope he doesn't join the military. He doesn't sound fit to fight and he doesn't seem motivated. Now these are things that the military "can fix" but unfortunately those fixes are usually just band-aids on more serious issues. I have been in the technical training environment for the past 5 years as an instructor and I can tell you that we have the biggest issues with the ones who dropped out of college because they were too lazy. That kind of issue isn't one that just goes away after two months of basic training.

If the kid is really interested in joining the military, he needs to do his research find out what he wants to do and get himself physically fit before he ever steps foot in a recruiting office. Military life can be demanding and it's non-stop for the term of contract you sign.

Also as was kind of alluded to, don't push him into this decision (or in this case let his parents push him). I worked in a recruiting office for about a month and watched parents/guardians march their sons and daughters into the office so that the military could make a man of their little boy. That's crap and tells me a lot about the maturity level and commitment of the young man if he had to be escorted by his parents.

And P.S. the military isn't a social program to make men out of boys, the profession of arms is a place for men and women to defend their country. As a side effect a lot of us grow up and mature in many unexpected ways, but that's not the primary goal of the military.

Just have him watch this.

NSFW by the way


All kidding aside, hope it works out for him.