Operates and maintains M1 Abrams tanks for combat operations and training exercises.
ASVAB CO: 87
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Tank crews load, drive, gun and command seventy tons of machinery, and keeping it running takes most of a drill weekend. Armory time means maintenance on hull and turret, simulator gunnery, crew drills and the checks a tank needs before it moves. Live gunnery and maneuver wait for annual training, when the company takes the tanks to a range complex for two solid weeks. State activations send the crew out without the tank, doing traffic control, sandbagging, shelter support and debris clearance after a storm. Crewmen tend to be diesel technicians, heavy equipment operators, students or deputies during the week.
You learn to operate and maintain a tracked combat vehicle, including engine, track, turret, hydraulic and electrical systems. Gunnery teaches fire control, ballistics, range estimation and the precise crew sequences that put a round where it was aimed. Driving and recovery build heavy equipment handling, towing and rigging skills with a genuinely unforgiving margin for error. Crew communication is trained to a standard where four people work as one under noise and stress. Maintenance records, ammunition accountability and equipment inventories teach the administrative side of owning expensive machinery.
Living inside a crew of four teaches cooperation in the most literal way available, since there is nowhere else to be. You develop toughness about heat, noise, grease and long hours without complaint becoming a habit. The job builds absolute reliability, because a crew position left unattended stops the whole vehicle. Gunnery grows composure and precision under time pressure that carries into anything mechanical. Tankers usually finish with confidence around large machinery and a low tolerance for people who do not do their part.
Nobody in the civilian economy is hiring tank crewmen, so the honest pitch is the machinery hours and the accountability behind them. Heavy equipment operation, crane and rigging work, mining, rail and pipeline jobs value documented time on large tracked machines. Union apprenticeships in the operating engineers and related trades often credit military service time toward the hours you need. Defense contractors hire former crewmen as simulator instructors, range staff and maintenance trainers, consulting back to the Army on what they already know. Serving part time means your civilian seniority kept building the whole time, and state tuition benefits can finance a degree on top.
Your morning begins with PT and a thorough check of your M1 Abrams tank's systems, tracks, and main gun. You spend the day maneuvering the tank on gunnery ranges, drilling crew fire commands, and hammering through preventive maintenance in the motor pool. Between live-fire runs you rehearse loading and target engagements until the crew moves as one.
No suitable exact-MOS or related career-field video has been verified for this page yet. No unrelated video or search-results page is substituted.
$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.
These annual examples assume full-time active duty, not part-time drill pay.
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.
National Guard participation also requires component/unit school-seat approval; confirm availability and requirements with your unit.
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 National Guard 19K M1 Armor 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 National Guard describes technical warrant specialties and a separate helicopter-pilot route. Technical options depend on the Soldier's MOS. This branch-level information does not establish eligibility, a state vacancy, or a promotion ceiling for this listing.
Army National Guard warrant career guidanceService-level application reference—not a verified next step for this listing
Guard applicants work with their State, Territory, or DC Warrant Officer Strength Manager on qualifications and a predetermination packet. Approval and required training are separate from promotion; an Army feeder match alone does not establish Guard eligibility or a state vacancy.
USAREC National Guard applicant processSpecialty-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.
Operates and maintains M1 Abrams tanks for combat operations and training exercises.
Tank crews load, drive, gun and command seventy tons of machinery, and keeping it running takes most of a drill weekend. Armory time means maintenance on hull and turret, simulator gunnery, crew drills and the checks a tank needs before it moves. Live gunnery and maneuver wait for annual training, when the company takes the tanks to a range complex for two solid weeks. State activations send the crew out without the tank, doing traffic control, sandbagging, shelter support and debris clearance after a storm. Crewmen tend to be diesel technicians, heavy equipment operators, students or deputies during the week.
You learn to operate and maintain a tracked combat vehicle, including engine, track, turret, hydraulic and electrical systems. Gunnery teaches fire control, ballistics, range estimation and the precise crew sequences that put a round where it was aimed. Driving and recovery build heavy equipment handling, towing and rigging skills with a genuinely unforgiving margin for error. Crew communication is trained to a standard where four people work as one under noise and stress. Maintenance records, ammunition accountability and equipment inventories teach the administrative side of owning expensive machinery.
Nobody in the civilian economy is hiring tank crewmen, so the honest pitch is the machinery hours and the accountability behind them. Heavy equipment operation, crane and rigging work, mining, rail and pipeline jobs value documented time on large tracked machines. Union apprenticeships in the operating engineers and related trades often credit military service time toward the hours you need. Defense contractors hire former crewmen as simulator instructors, range staff and maintenance trainers, consulting back to the Army on what they already know. Serving part time means your civilian seniority kept building the whole time, and state tuition benefits can finance a degree on top.
ASVAB CO: 87. 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.
Official branch occupation evidence
Occupation identified. This occupation was identified in the cited source. This does not verify requirements, benefits, or a current opening.
Official occupation evidence · 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 — National Guard, as of 2026-09-28. Max bonus $20,000Max bonus $20,000 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 National Guard six-year non-prior-service ceiling from official-site search results reviewed October 10, 2026. Retrieved page text does not reproduce this amount; state/MOS eligibility unverified. Not the separate $50,000 loan-repayment benefit. Ceiling source
Latest source review — 2026-10-25
The Army National Guard page confirms non-prior-service, prior-service, reenlistment and conversion programs, but retrieved text still does not substantiate the retained $20,000 accession or $10,000 conversion search leads. State, MOS, unit, term and shipping conditions need confirmation. The visible $50,000 figure is student-loan repayment for a six-year contract and non-duty-MOS-qualified status, NOT a cash signing bonus. Army Reserve and Air National Guard are separate components.
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. An unpublished amount is not a $0 offer; ask for the current written contract. Existing source dates and eligibility conditions remain controlling. Additional program amounts, when available, are explained in their own comments.
Published 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 browser (federal Army listing)Deployment 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.
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