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JT_76

Any military parachute riggers here?

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Just curious on how you like your m.o.s. and what all your duties entail. I spent 4 years as a Jarhead, got out went to college, and have considered going back in as an officer. I would love to work in this field since I like skydiving so much.

I'm not branch specific right now, just looking for info about this field. One problem as an officer I may not get a choice of my mos. At least the Marines do it that way, you go where they need you. Ok, I guess you do get a wish list, but who would count on that?

I believe the Air Force usually tries to put you in the field that your degree is in, but obviously there is no degree for skydiving or riggers...

Thought I would check with the field before I see a recruiter, any info would be appreciated. Thanks a lot

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Speaking from a Navy (and Marine) aviation perspective, the closest you can get to the paraloft is as an aviation maintenance officer (designator 1520) and even then you will only be the division officer, and would likely have one or two other divisions as well if the squadron/department is a small one. Hope this helps.
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest" ~Samuel Clemens

MB#4300
Dudeist Skydiver #68

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...I spent 4 years as a Jarhead, got out went to college, and have considered going back in as an officer. I would love to work in this field since I like skydiving so much.



I was a rigger in the Army, stationed at Ft. Bragg in the mid 80's. In a nutshell, I'd advise against becoming a military rigger just to be close to wonderful world of skydiving. Military rigging has very little to do with skydiving (99.9% of the time...).

My duties were primarily focused on heavy drop loads (LAPES, CDS containers, etc). I even did a short stint packing rounds for the ground pounders (...pun intended!:P). The best part of my experience as a rigger was that it got me a temp duty assignment with the Knights, helping to get the try-out rigs ready. ...And of course, jumping for next to nothing with the various jump clubs at Bragg. Raeford is also just down the road...

My advice would be to get into a field with more applicability towards a civilian career... tis kinda hard to parlay military rigging into a civilian job. Not that it can't be done, it's just a bitch is all.

Hope this helps...

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Just curious on how you like your m.o.s. and what all your duties entail.



I have been an Army Rigger for 22 years and have loved my entire career. I have been blessed with some very good assignments.

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I spent 4 years as a Jarhead, got out went to college, and have considered going back in as an officer.



Coming back in as an officer, you will have to choose Quartermaster as your branch to be assigned to a Rigger unit. You will NOT spend all of your career on jump status or in Rigger units as enlisted Army Riggers do. You will get VERY little hands on rigging experience while in Rigger assignments.

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I would love to work in this field since I like skydiving so much.



As Mike said, most of Army rigging has nothing to do with skydiving. There are some assignments in which you would have the opportunity to be around Military Free Fall and/or non-standard (civilian sport) equipment, but vitrually non-existent for a QM officer.

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I'm not branch specific right now, just looking for info about this field. One problem as an officer I may not get a choice of my mos. At least the Marines do it that way, you go where they need you. Ok, I guess you do get a wish list, but who would count on that?



Choose your branch preferences (wish list) based on the long term and the big picture - what are you passionate about (besides skydiving). You can continue skydiving on your own, geographical assignment permitting.

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Thought I would check with the field before I see a recruiter, any info would be appreciated. Thanks a lot



PM [url "http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?username=katiebear21;"]Katie Blue about being an Army officer. She's a Major. B|
Arrive Safely

John

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I am currently on my 4th year in the Marine Corps, as a rigger. There are two sides of the house with our MOS in the USMC. You have what everyone else is use to seeing the long tables for packing parachutes ( I level ). With that you are also intailed in packing life rafts/preservers/ and dealing with oxygen systems. Then you have the other side, which I am working right now ( O level ). It deals with more of the pilot/aircrew directly. I build up harness' just like our rigs for skydiving. So if the pilot ejects he/she is attached to something. You also deal with helemets, surivial gear, NVG's, g-suits, and a longer list of items. The difference between these two is there is " I " level and " O " level. To put it into terms, O level is the guy you take your car to see whats wrong with it. I level is the guy who is told whats wrong with it and fixes it. I myself am getting out next year, but the time I had was a blast. I enjoy the high paced tempo and deployments. But I am also going to the officer side of the military. So I dont know if this helps or not. But any questions let me know.

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Semper Fi, where are you stationed? I was at Pendleton, 3/5 up at San Mateo. What mos are the officers in charge of you? Do they do much with the rigging process or just shuffle paper? Are you staying with the Marines as a 0 or changing branches? Thanks for the info

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I am stationed here in Miramar, south of Pendelton. The officers that are in charge of me are pilots with billets as an Airframes officer/Ordanace officer....ect. So they dont do any rigging at all. As far as me an getting out. I am going to try the whole college thing for a while to see if I can deal with the B.S. they teach in colleges now days. But I am actually thinking about joining the Army to become a Warrant Officer and fly Helos. The only way I can see you as an officer in the UMSC and rigging would potentially be as a recon dude what packs whatever they jump. But I dont know for sure....Maybe if there is a recon guy on dropzone that could help you in that area.

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Slotperfect has it right. My husband is an active duty major. He is an infantryman, branch transferred to Quartermaster as a captain. He got his rigger badge and spent some time as the DPO (Division Parachute Officer) for the 82nd Airborne Division. Of course, he had to move on to branch qualifying jobs,..so you can't do that forever,...as rigging is just one tiny part in the whole operation. So, if you want to stay connected to rigging while jumping,..go Quartermaster.
Jen

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it seems so far that you are looking to stay army, or go into the marines. me personally i am in the air force. i work with a special forces unit that i am sure you could try to get into in the army or marines. they jump almost all squares..and a few rounds. we have a few rigs that are civilian rigs for training. and they also jump at my local dropzone to get saturation jumps in when needed. so its nice being there rigger. i get to go to my dropzone for the day with them and pack there chutes and jump with them. so it all depends on what you want...but if you want a skydiving related AFSC/MOS then spec. ops is the way to go
"the sky is not the limit....the ground is"

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