Realistically how many different MOS/ratings, or specialties do you get to experience

[BillCashman]

There is still no answer of what a infantry repair persondid. He said he was in the military during the Vietnam era.

I really thought that it was some political correct name for a medic, nurse or a doctor.

[ddeemo]

In the Navy, there is a difference between NECs and rates - many have multiple NECs but most have only 1 rate. I do know one that ware forced to change rate, the Captain pulled the rate on one after messing up too many times - book smart, common sense dumb.

I can tell you that the creation of the SO (SEALS) rate was really needed - it was hard to determine who was a SEAL before then because a lot were QM, BM, etc. with a buried NEC being the only thing that said they were qualified SEALS.

For Officers, similarly you can get multiple NOBCs (Navy Officer Billet Classification) that is often related to a school or a job but most have a single designator field or type, the designator can change some with major qual or status - i.e. Sub off in training is 1170, Sub qualified is 1120, Sub reservist is 1125, all same type of job.

It is possible to change rate (E) or designator (O) but very much limited due to training requirements.

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by ddeemo

In the Navy, there is a difference between NECs and rates - many have multiple NECs but most have only 1 rate. I do know one that ware forced to change rate, the Captain pulled the rate on one after messing up too many times - book smart, common sense dumb.

I can tell you that the creation of the SO (SEALS) rate was really needed - it was hard to determine who was a SEAL before then because a lot were QM, BM, etc. with a buried NEC being the only thing that said they were qualified SEALS.

For Officers, similarly you can get multiple NOBCs (Navy Officer Billet Classification) that is often related to a school or a job but most have a single designator field or type, the designator can change some with major qual or status - i.e. Sub off in training is 1170, Sub qualified is 1120, Sub reservist is 1125, all same type of job.

It is possible to change rate (E) or designator (O) but very much limited due to training requirements.

As an aside, my community tells us to not prioritize having NOBCs reflected on our board record (OSR/PSR/ODC . . . I know they are on one of those but forget which one) due to the limited room on the record and the more difficulty there is to remove them from the detailer side. Plus, at least in my community, we are told that NOBCs aren't really helpful. Instead, we are told to prioritize Additional Qualification Designations (AQD) as those are more meaningful for selection/promotion/milestone boards. Can't say that this is true for every community, though. There are AQDs for every warfare qualification as well as for specific billets that you've held, which may be time/qualification based, to include Battle Watch Captain, Division Officer, Department Head, Electronic Warfare Officer, CO/XO ashore/afloat, etc.

[bergun]

When in the Army (Active Duty), I had three different Combat Arms MOS in 12 years. When I went into the Army Reserve , I was able to work within one of my Combat Arms MOS for a few years, but I had to re-class into a Combat Support one.

So, in my case four different MOS in a 26 year period.

[ddeemo]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

As an aside, my community tells us to not prioritize having NOBCs reflected on our board record (OSR/PSR/ODC . . . I know they are on one of those but forget which one) due to the limited room on the record and the more difficulty there is to remove them from the detailer side. Plus, at least in my community, we are told that NOBCs aren't really helpful. Instead, we are told to prioritize Additional Qualification Designations (AQD) as those are more meaningful for selection/promotion/milestone boards. Can't say that this is true for every community, though. There are AQDs for every warfare qualification as well as for specific billets that you've held, which may be time/qualification based, to include Battle Watch Captain, Division Officer, Department Head, Electronic Warfare Officer, CO/XO ashore/afloat, etc.

I would agree - for Naval officers NOBCs are not very important for promotion and selection boards, the AQD have more meaning for that, but this thread is about different jobs - that is NOBCs and designators for Os and NECs and Rates for Es.

I used to manage / fill billets for both O and E - for some jobs NECs and NOBCs are extremely important for determining if someone is qualified to fill a billet and need to ensure billet has correct coding to make sure filled by qualified person. For example, SEAL enlisted, before 2006, only have an NEC for designation as a SEAL and that can be hard to check.