The Complete Guide to Becoming An Armored Assault Vehicle Crew Member
The real pay, the real path, and the real day-to-day of driving, gunning, and commanding armored vehicles—so you can decide if this is your future or not.
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
What's it really like inside an armored vehicle? Here's the pay, the training, the day-to-day grind, and the path to earning a spot in the crew.
About this book
Choosing a career as an Armored Assault Vehicle (AAV) Crew Member means signing up for a job that is loud, cramped, and physically punishing—but also one with intense camaraderie and no two days alike. This guide is for people who want the truth before they commit. You'll get a detailed walkthrough of the driver, gunner, and crew commander roles, including the maintenance, gunnery drills, and field operations that fill a typical day. We include concrete salary tables, a realistic breakdown of the enlistment or commissioning paths, and honest advice on which personality traits are a recipe for success—or a quick exit from the turret.
With chapters on education, breaking in without prior experience, and what a 20-year career looks like, this book is your career counselor, honesty filter, and job handbook in one. If you're happy with the reality of the grind, you'll find checklists for applying and questions to ask your recruiter. If the reality doesn't fit you, you'll know before you sign on the dotted line. Either way, you'll have the answers you need today to decide if you have what it takes to be part of a tank crew.
Reader Reviews
Brenda Sanchez
★★★★★I'm a high school junior thinking about the Army, and this book answered things my recruiter danced around. I had no idea the training timeline was that long, or that I could choose my job contract. The breakdown of what a driver actually does versus the commander was super helpful. It definitely feels like a career counselor wrote it, not someone trying to sell me on the infantry.
Matthew Lee
★★★★★Solid, honest work. I appreciated the no-BS look at the day to day, especially the chapters on maintenance and what the field exercises are like. The salary tables are realistic if you look at them with the understanding that they're for base pay only. I'm a bit squeamish, so I was considering this for the reserves, and the chapter on advancement sealed the deal for me regarding active duty. Well worth the read.
Melissa White
★★★★★It's an okay book, and it has some useful details about going through OSUT and what it's like being a driver. But I felt like it over-emphasized the 'hell and high water' parts to make it sound tough. My cousin is a Bradley commander, and he says it's a lot more boring than this book makes it out to be. I also wish they had talked more about what it's like in a combat zone versus peacetime training. Still, decent for the basics.