What are the most underrated Army jobs? If ever asked directly, most soldiers will tell you that every specialty in the Army is important and plays a direct role in the Army’s success. Or something like that. Whatever. In practice, however, some Military Occupational Specialties don’t get the respect that answer implies. For anyone thinking of joining the Army, this might be something to consider.
In truth, every MOS does contribute to the Army’s success in a very meaningful way, even if other soldiers don’t act like it all the time. A soldier will likely never fully appreciate anyone else’s job until that soldier is in need of those services, so if your MOS is one of these five, and you don’t get the respect you deserve, just wait. Your day will come.
These are the 5 most underrated Army jobs
92G – Cook and Culinary Specialist
Whenever anyone talks about thankless jobs, the first thing they likely think of is a cook. Cooks have to wake up before anyone else to get food ready, do all the work it takes to feed hundreds, maybe thousands of people and then get dumped on by those people for how lousy they think the food is. And they have to do it on evenings, weekends and holidays because everyone has to eat.
To make matters worse, this is the job new soldiers get threatened with when they have trouble passing in AIT (for the unfamiliar, this is Advanced Individual Training, the Army’s post-basic training trade school program). So new soldiers are basically being trained to think of cooks as the lowest rung of soldiers from the moment they get into the Army.
But as anyone who’s lived on MREs for any significant amount of time knows, sometimes a cook is the most welcome sight in the world. And making friends with a cook while deployed can make your deployment so much better.
92S – Shower, Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist
It’s the little things that make life worth living, and the 92S is here for that, but a lot of soldiers don’t realize it until they’re gone. Some civilians may not know this, but U.S. troops have to do their own laundry while deployed. No one ever puts that part in the war movie, but those uniforms aren’t going to wash themselves. Sure, we can have the laundry done by an off-base contractor for a price, but in the most remote locations, we have washing machines.
Some of those washing machines break down and need to be repaired or replaced and that’s when you call a 92S. Politely. Being impolite can lead to having your washing machine privileges revoked, and doing your laundry by hand.
And at the end of a long, hot workday, isn’t it great to come home to a nice shower? One that works? That’s what the 92S is here for, too. Sure, it may not always be a hot shower, but at least you can wash that grime off yourself and go to sleep feeling better, instead of smelling like baby wipes.
88M – Motor Transport Operators
Essayist E. B. White once said, “Everywhere in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.” Essayist E. B. White also never served in the Army on active duty. Soldiers who have to be somewhere else, no matter how far away that place is, will often be bussed or trucked there, sure. But if there’s no transportation available, those soldiers will pick up their gear and walk there.
Still, the 88M has to deal with nicknames like “88 Mistake.” Or the perception that they sit around all day. Yet, anyone who’s taken a five-hour road trip in a military vehicle (or any vehicle, really) will tell you it ain’t great. It’s hard to do and no one will appreciate it… until the supplies start to run out on base.
56M – Religious Affairs Specialists
These are the people most often seen walking with a chaplain or setting up before religious services. But that’s not all they do, even if it seems like it’s all they do. There’s an admin aspect to the job but it actually gets much, much worse.
Aside from basically being the chaplain’s bodyguard, they set up the services for religious services. These services include funerals, and while deployed, the mental scars from those deaths can be pretty fresh. They also are some of the first people who see soldiers in mental health crises. Soldiers who won’t see a therapist are likely coming to a 56M, and that is not something to be taken lightly.
31B – Military Police
There are a lot of thin blue line flags flying about these days, but as any cop will tell you, most people – no matter how patriotic – instinctively hate cops. Even other cops. They hate dealing with cops (usually because they just made a huge mistake). They hate talking to cops (usually because they’re about to lie about a huge mistake). And even when people know they messed up, they’re still angry about getting caught. And we wonder why cops are the way they are.
There is also a lot of politics around how cops handle their own job. But let’s put that aside for a second and assume that most cops are just trying to do their jobs and go home without being hassled. Aside from the fact that they might get shot at any given traffic stop, military police are also low-ranking soldiers who may have to start giving lawful orders to an angry 0-6 or above.