19D, 13J what are some pros and cons of these jobs?

Cab Scout here.... there is a reason that we are always so understrengthed. Yeah... we get to do cool shit here and there. I’ve shot damn near almost every weapon system you can other than artillery pieces and tanks. I’ve been apart of some badass training and you get some really neat schools assuming you have good leadership who doesn’t get in the way of said learning/progression. The thing is, for every good/ cool thing there is 3 or more not so good things. If you are at that age, I highly recommend doing something else. Scouting is not kid to the body. I’m in my late 20s and my body is destroyed already. There are so many other better opportunities tbh. Don’t do it to yourself. Find something that is meaningful for when you get out.

I was originally a 13p (fdc for mlrs/himars) which was pretty much the same as a 13d (fdc for howitzers without the charts and darts). From my understanding both of them combined into the 13j mos as I was randomly awarded it on my dd214 when I got out.

I disliked being a 13p because its so different than what I had in mind of being in the Army. Only our LAST exercise in AIT was in the field, and it had nothing to do directly with the job but just basic soldier skills. Our test portion was in the classroom that we never left until we had one field week at the very end where we just did mock squad vs squad training exercises. The other six weeks were just us trying to stay conscious in the classroom. Which wasn't hard, but very boring. We finally tested out the 2nd to last week and were told we would fail if we got less than a 90/100. I got a 93/100 and thought I was cutting it close. I think I missed entering some weather data. Another guy got a 70/100 and was with me on deployment....

I will throw this caveat out though. It seems that Redlegs are the pick of the combat arms litter when you have a deployment that needs somebody that combat support can't provide. At least in the NG. I only know a handful of guys who have deployed in the NG as Artillerymen, everybody else has some kind of non standard deployment as a Redleg. I went to Africa as a glorified military policeman and performed a mission that had nothing to do with Artillery. Our himars were at home. Pretty safe. On that deployment there were other guys who deployed to Iraq as convoy security early in the war and got messed up big time with serious casualties. The unit we were attached to did the same in Afghanistan. I'm fairly certain I have read about one of the airborne FA units deploying as ad-hoc infantry as well. So keep that in mind.

I think part of my problem with FDC was I was never able to get good at it. I've always liked something I was allowed to grow into, so we spent all that time training FDC, got out of AIT, spent two months drilling with my FA unit and was sent to Africa. When I got back home, our unit became a transportation company and I was allowed to reclass 12b. I never really got to do the job outside of AIT, and most of the guys that actually had been FA, especially the guys in the paladin unit we were attached to, seemed to like it much better. My guess is that in the paladin units FDC isn't usually too far away from the guns, which can direct fire, so there is an excitement of something actually happening and the other guys knew that there was a chance that they could deploy again as 13 series guys who weren't infantry, but weren't currently FA and could kind of have a deployment where they floated around doing only missions and none of the stupid shit because they would be a FA battery attached to an engineer headquarters or something crazy like that.

HOWEVER, like you I'm feeling the age, but also want back in, so I have considered going back to it for 20,000.

TLDR, I think FDC is somewhat boring, but it would better suit me now than it did when I actually held the MOS.

To me going 19d as an 11b would be like a 12b going 11b. Sappers run around with everyone and while it isn't exactly the same.............it is not dissimilar. I guess maybe you would ride more as a 19d?

I'm 13j
Cons: go to the field ALOT, depending where you're stationed depends on how long you go to field. At campbell sometimes we will go twice a month but, usually at least once especially during summer. Places like korea, or in TX you will go for longer periods, weeks at a time.
-when not in the field we have absolutely no job, therefore many layouts and busy work.
-places like campbell must be safety certified as a sgt. or will kick you out for failure to adapt.(can not operate the box, the AFATDS, without being safety certified)
-safety is very complicated, but not impossible if dedicated. It is math and conversions, you will take a 4 hour test on it, and have to every 6 months to be certified.
-very competitive for chief as E5 or E6
-alot of certs you have to complete in the field, that require digging roles, cwire, and certain amount of rounds shot. The certs are only good for couple months then you just keep redoing them.
Pros:
-the cannons are cool to watch lol
-only about 6ish people you're in a section with. (most of the time FDC's are very low manned)
-not as bad as 13B, who is also in the battery.