The Complete Guide to Becoming An Artillery and Missile Crew Member

Chapter 1: What Does a Artillery and Missile Crew Member Actually Do?

Let's start with the most important thing you need to know: artillery and missile crew members are the people who operate the big guns and missile launchers that provide fire support from a distance. You are not on the front line kicking in doors. Your job is to make sure that when a commander needs something destroyed - a bunker, a tank formation, a supply depot - it gets destroyed, fast, and with enough firepower to end the argument. That's it. Everything else is supporting that single mission.

Now let's get into the actual day-to-day, because the reality is much less cinematic than the movies suggest. On a routine training day, you'll wake up early. We're talking 0500 or 0530 - before sunrise, in most cases. You'll do physical training for an hour, because this job is physically demanding in ways that might surprise you. You're not just pulling a trigger. You're manually lifting projectiles that weigh anywhere from 50 to over 100 pounds, you're cranking elevation mechanisms by hand when the power fails, you're digging fighting positions with an entrenching tool, and you're doing it all in full gear in whatever weather the universe throws at you. The Army physical fitness test standard for your age and gender is the baseline - you need to be well above that to function effectively in this role.

After PT, you'll head to the motor pool or the gun line.