Operate howitzers and other towed artillery pieces. Load, aim, and fire artillery weapons in support of ground forces.
ASVAB FA: 93
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Cannon Crewmembers operate and maintain field artillery systems as part of a tightly drilled gun crew. Days center on crew drills, ammunition handling, fire mission procedures, and maintenance of the howitzer and its prime mover. Live fire exercises require precise coordination between the fire direction center and each gun, with no room for improvisation. The work is physically demanding, involving heavy ammunition handling and rapid emplacement and displacement of the gun. Field rotations are frequent and often long, with the crew living and working together continuously.
You learn gunnery mathematics, fire mission procedures, and the safety protocols that govern indirect fire. Ammunition handling, fuze setting, and propellant management are taught to an exacting standard. The job builds heavy equipment operation and maintenance skills across the gun system and its vehicles. You also learn communications procedures and how to function inside a precise, time-critical process. Crew leadership responsibility typically comes quickly for those who master the drills.
Artillery builds discipline around procedure, because shortcuts in this field are genuinely dangerous. You develop physical strength and stamina alongside the ability to perform accurately while exhausted. It teaches teamwork in its most literal form, since a gun crew only works when every position executes together. Cannon crewmembers tend to become people who stay composed in loud, high-tempo environments. You also gain confidence handling serious responsibility at a young age.
Artillery has no direct civilian equivalent, so it is worth naming the real destinations instead. Heavy industry takes many former cannon crewmembers, including mining, quarrying, manufacturing, and oil and gas, where procedural safety culture and comfort around dangerous equipment matter more than a specific credential. Construction and heavy equipment operation are common, and the physical work and crew coordination transfer cleanly. Law enforcement, corrections, and fire service recruit from this population for the same reasons they recruit infantry. Defense contractors employ former artillerymen as instructors and observer-controllers supporting live-fire training, and some move into range operations and explosive safety roles.
Published personal accounts with source links. Each describes an individual experience, not a typical assignment or a guarantee of your own experience.
“I told my recruiter that I wanted to drive a tracked vehicle, and he showed me a picture of the Paladin [M109 self-propelled howitzer].”
“Once I saw it, I was hooked.”
“I love the power of a tracked vehicle.”
“Where else do you get to sit behind a vehicle like this? And I love range time with these cannons and the time we get with our hand held weapons.”
“My favorite part was the live-fire exercises.”
“I got to be a gunner during one of the days and was responsible for emplacing the howitzer on the azimuth of fire. Another day I was the Ammunition Team Chief, which means I called out incoming fire missions to the gunlines.”
“They said they could hear my motivation across the entire gunline and they noticed that my course-mates were catching onto my motivation. I want to bring that kind of energy and passion back home to my unit here in El Paso, Texas.”
Quotes are from U.S. government public-domain news stories (DVIDS, army.mil and other official sources). Individuals and units are named as reported at time of publication.
Reveille finds you at the gun line performing checks on the howitzer, its recoil system, and the ready ammunition before the day's fire missions. When the command comes over the net you and your section swing the tube onto the announced deflection and quadrant, ram the projectile, set the charge, and send it downrange. The rest of your day is spent humping heavy rounds and powder, cleaning the breech, and drilling the crew until laying and firing the gun is automatic.
United States Army Military Occupational Specialty Overview- MOS 13B Cannon Crewmember-Full Testimonial. As a Cannon Crewmember, you’ll play a vital role in helping the Army win during missions. You’ll work with Howitzers, some of the most technologically advanced weapons systems ever created, to support infantry and tank units. You’ll learn how to handle ammunition, operate these weapons systems, and calculate targets. Soldiers in this job will enlist as a Field Artillery Soldier (13U) and be assigned to a specific Field Artillery job (13-Series MOS) based on available Army opportunities and skills assessed at Basic Combat Training. The video contains music from a US ARMY Enterprise Multimedia Center, Fort Eustis, licensed asset.
Official publisher description and direct video page checked; playback not independently watched. Checked 2026-10-25. This assignment may not reflect every posting in this career.
$43,902–$74,948
2026 basic pay only; the same grade and service time pay the same across jobs. Promotions are assumed, not promised. Excludes allowances, bonuses and special pays.
Possibilities for serving Soldiers, including those in support roles—not guaranteed admission or awards. Individual eligibility, assignment, selection, available training or competition places and successful qualification apply.
Earned by successfully completing Ranger School's demanding leadership and field training.
Not restricted to combat MOSs. Requires selection, a school slot and current course prerequisites. The tab does not mean assignment to the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Recognizes successful airborne qualification, including the required training jumps.
Support specialties can attend too; the Army explicitly gives human resources and wheeled-vehicle mechanics as examples. Requires a school slot and medical, physical and course qualification.
Earned through Air Assault School, covering helicopter operations, sling loads and rappelling.
Available across job specialties, not just combat roles, subject to unit nomination, available seats and current school requirements.
A waiver-dependent opportunity outside engineering; earned by successfully completing the Sapper Leader Course.
Conditional opportunity: Soldiers outside engineering must submit a waiver to attend. Approval is not guaranteed; all other course requirements still apply.
Recognizes tested Soldier proficiency in specialties outside the infantry, Special Forces and medical expert-badge tracks.
A skills-based distinction for support and other eligible MOSs. Current proponent requirements and successful testing apply; holding this MOS does not award the badge.
Sources reviewed . Confirm current course and badge requirements with official school guidance and your unit.
For Army 13B Cannon Crewmember, official service-wide guidance and any exact feeder-list matches are distinguished below from unverified specialty-specific requirements. Ranks are not separate jobs, and these possibilities are not guaranteed promotions or available contracts.
Examples of higher service ranks
These are service-wide rank names, not a verified promotion ladder for this specialty. Examples are not exhaustive; appointments sharing a pay grade are not additional promotion steps.
Official military rank referenceThe Army distinguishes enlisted, warrant officer, and commissioned officer ranks. These are separate career tracks; a warrant appointment is not the next enlisted promotion. The Army rank chart does not establish a maximum rank for this specialty.
Army rank structureThe official Army feeder list explicitly names this MOS for the options below. Only the feeder-list match is confirmed—not all prerequisites, current component availability, or individual eligibility.
Published feeder conditions: 13B, 13J, 13F, 13M, 13R, 11C, 11B or 19D, 19K
Specialty-specific advancement, senior assignments, and eligibility for a different personnel category have not been verified for this listing. No feeder eligibility or automatic transition to another specialty is implied.
Advancement depends on current service rules, performance, required education, qualifications, selection, and authorized positions—not simply years served. Confirm current requirements with an official recruiter or career counselor.
Related military jobs below are for exploration, not promised progression or confirmed transfer paths.
Sources reviewed 2026-10-03. This is a partial evidence review, not verification of every advancement route for this specialty. Source retrieval dates do not replace policy effective dates.
Career-field mappings, not automatic qualifications. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024 national medians). O*NET links explain each occupation; military experience does not guarantee a job or salary.
Operate howitzers and other towed artillery pieces. Load, aim, and fire artillery weapons in support of ground forces.
Cannon Crewmembers operate and maintain field artillery systems as part of a tightly drilled gun crew. Days center on crew drills, ammunition handling, fire mission procedures, and maintenance of the howitzer and its prime mover. Live fire exercises require precise coordination between the fire direction center and each gun, with no room for improvisation. The work is physically demanding, involving heavy ammunition handling and rapid emplacement and displacement of the gun. Field rotations are frequent and often long, with the crew living and working together continuously.
You learn gunnery mathematics, fire mission procedures, and the safety protocols that govern indirect fire. Ammunition handling, fuze setting, and propellant management are taught to an exacting standard. The job builds heavy equipment operation and maintenance skills across the gun system and its vehicles. You also learn communications procedures and how to function inside a precise, time-critical process. Crew leadership responsibility typically comes quickly for those who master the drills.
Artillery has no direct civilian equivalent, so it is worth naming the real destinations instead. Heavy industry takes many former cannon crewmembers, including mining, quarrying, manufacturing, and oil and gas, where procedural safety culture and comfort around dangerous equipment matter more than a specific credential. Construction and heavy equipment operation are common, and the physical work and crew coordination transfer cleanly. Law enforcement, corrections, and fire service recruit from this population for the same reasons they recruit infantry. Defense contractors employ former artillerymen as instructors and observer-controllers supporting live-fire training, and some move into range operations and explosive safety roles.
ASVAB FA: 93. This is the catalog's listed requirement, not an individual eligibility decision. Confirm the current standard and any exceptions with the service.
This specialty can be pursued through an initial enlistment, subject to eligibility and available contracts. Confirm the current status of this specific classification with an official recruiter.
Catalog sources consulted: 2026-09-26. This is not an entry-by-entry verification date. No record-specific verification date is recorded. Occupation audit evidence reviewed: 2026-09-26; this does not re-verify every requirement.
Confirmed in DA PAM 611-21 Smartbook, November 2025, historical end-of-FY2025 snapshot (https://api.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/2025/12/04/7573670f/chapter-10-enlisted-base-chapter.pdf). The Army maintains a newer restricted version; it was not sought or accessed. Checked 2026-09-27. Confirmation means documented appearance, not present-day accession availability.
Official branch occupation evidence
Occupation identified. This occupation was identified in the cited source. This does not verify requirements, benefits, or a current opening.
Army G-1 DA Pam 611-21, chapter 10C: enlisted MOS specifications (historical public consolidation, December 2025) · reviewed 2026-09-26
Confirmed. Catalog evidence is not an inventory of open contracts.
No dated public inventory confirmed a currently open recruiting contract for this role. This does not mean there are no openings. Confirm current eligibility and offers with an official recruiter.
Bonus-listed — Army, as of 2026-09-28. Max bonus $45,000Max bonus $45,000 is a display ceiling, including unconfirmed figures and illustrative estimates, not a confirmed offer. Separate programs are not added together. Where no individual amount is listed, the displayed ceiling uses: Army job-signing program ceiling; no individual MOS amount established. This enlisted-program ceiling does not establish an officer accession bonus. Ceiling source
Latest source review — 2026-10-25
GoArmy still publishes job signing up to $45,000, combined enlistment up to $50,000, quick ship $10,000, college credits $6,000, civilian skills $45,000, Ranger $20,000, Airborne $10,000 and Army Reserve $13,000. These are conditional program ceilings, not MOS rates or additive totals. HRC separately advertises critical-skills levels $1,750–$50,000; its linked August chart could not be retrieved as a usable rate table. The two descriptions do not establish a new individual job amount. Earlier MOS flags and the 35P language-specific fact sheet remain historical evidence, not newly verified contract availability.
Historical amounts are retained. A displayed maximum is not a guaranteed payment. Confirm current written contract terms.
Bonus range review — 2026-10-10
No defensible numeric range established for this entry. Ask recruiter for the current written contract. Army publishes a job-signing ceiling of $45,000 and combined ceiling of $50,000, but neither establishes an amount for this MOS.
Range evidencePublished enlistment program.
A listed program does not guarantee a bonus, job assignment or an available slot. Confirm your exact contract, component, ship date and eligibility with a recruiter.
GoArmy careers browserDeployment likelihood: Moderate*
* Estimated. Rank progression and specialty-pay eligibility are illustrative assumptions. Deployment likelihood, when shown, is inferred from similar specialties in the branch and career field, not a published specialty deployment rate.
Descriptions may change. No military role is free from risk of injury or death, including non-combat work. Catalog review dates do not establish current openings or re-verification of every requirement.
Recruiting signals reflect what each branch published on the dates shown. They are not offers, and they do not mean a contract is open for you. Eligibility depends on your ASVAB scores, medical qualification, security clearance eligibility, and ship date. Confirm everything with an official recruiter. See our Disclaimer and Terms.