US Army Announces Job Specialty Changes Affecting Air Defense
Read the full story here: Army Creates New Air and Missile Defense MOS – AUSA
The Association of the United States Army, speaking with Army spokesman Maj. Travis Shaw, reports that the Army will combine the Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) for Soldiers who operate and maintain the Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile systems. The new MOS – 14W – combines the 14E (Patriot Fire Control Operator/Maintainer) and 14T (Patrol Launching Station Operator/Maintainer). The Army is seeking to recruit 300 more Soldiers before the new MOS comes into effect on October 1. The move comes alongside the Army taking full control of the THAAD system, previously under the Missile Defense Agency, as well as a broader consolidation of the two platforms. This change comes at a time when Army air defense is running constant combat operations in the Middle East. Due to the pressing demand for missile defense, air defense crews have been deployed to the Middle East from as far away as South Korea.
Though broader national security discourse is more focused on depleting stockpiles of air defense munitions, the training level and proficiency of the Soldiers who operate these key air defense systems is often the difference between success and failure. The training level of even the newest private may be the difference between interception of an incoming missile or impact.
There are potential short-term risks and long-term benefits associated with this move. In the short term, air defense crews in the Middle East may not have the bandwidth to complete the necessary cross-training for this consolidation without compromising their posture. Though broader national security discourse is more focused on depleting stockpiles of air defense munitions, the training level and proficiency of the Soldiers that operate these key air defense systems is often the difference between success and failure. The training level of even the newest private may be the difference between interception of an incoming missile or impact. As such, this change has the potential to have significant impacts by either improving or degrading crew proficiency. As newly cross-trained crews begin to replace crews currently deployed to the Middle East, the Army should receive feedback on the effects of this change.
Each soldier now has double the cognitive workload, expected to maintain proficiency in two complex and previously specialized systems.
The biggest challenge associated with this kind of merger is the difference in levels of specialization required for each piece of equipment. Though there is likely significant overlap between the two specialties, the skillsets required for success employing a fire control station (more software and computer-oriented) may not overlap with the skills for employing a launching station (more mechanically oriented). This could amount to the civilian equivalent of expecting a trained software engineer to learn a mechanical engineer’s job, or vice versa. Each soldier now has double the cognitive workload, expected to maintain proficiency in two complex and previously specialized systems. In this case, however, the consequences of failure are far more dire: burnout is already a serious concern in the air defense community without these additional expectations.
Leaders in government should ensure these challenges are under consideration as they exercise oversight over the Army. Though popular discourse focuses on interceptor stockpiles, the overall health of Army air defense ultimately rests on the soldiers operating key systems like Patriot and THAAD. As the Army executes this MOS consolidation, it should ensure it is mitigating the risk of burnout and offering appropriate recruitment and retention incentives that reflect the critical nature of the job.
For an ongoing case-study of the effects of merging two previously specialized MOSs, the Army can look to the Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (TUAS) community. TUAS operators (MOS 15W) and repairers (MOS 15E) are in the process of receiving cross-training on each other’s jobs, reclassifying all 15W and 15E to MOS 15X. For the TUAS community, this move is a response to the changing nature of the UAS platforms employed by TUAS operators; larger systems like the now retired RQ-7B Shadow required specialization whereas one soldier can both operate and maintain most of the small UAS platforms more commonly seen on the battlefield today. This move both capitalizes on the existing skills and competencies of Soldiers already in the Army and modernizes the specialty in a way that attracts new talent. Soldiers who want to join the Army to fly small drones now have a viable career path to do so.
