What are the thoughts beyond the vague information on the Army website. There are a million sites and discussions comparing SOF's, but I haven't found a good source comparing these two MOS's.
Cavalry Scout vs. Infantry
-
Glocktalk is a forum community dedicated to Glock enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about Glock pistols and rifles, optics, hunting, gunsmithing, styles, reviews, accessories, and more!
nikerret
1 - 20 of 25 Posts
Joined
·
84 Posts
Joined
·
1,789 Posts
what are your questions about the two? i was 11B so i'm partial to that MOS, 19D is a close second in my opinion. With the operating environment in Afghan and Iraq both MOS are doing pretty much the same thing. All the cav scouts I've run into say that MOS does pretty much the same thing as the Marine's "Spec Ops" Force Recon guys. With 11B you have the option to go Ranger and I would presume a lot more duty stations to be assigned to. From my understanding, Cav Scouts are much less interested in direct combat actions, the traditional role for them is to head out in small groups ahead of a cavalry or similar unit and scout or recon the path for the trailing main force. Cav scouts are much more radio and communications savvy and are much more likely to call in field artillery or close air support. Infantry does all that as well, just on a lesser scale.
both are what we consider to be tougher jobs within the Army, and if you are looking for a challenge and a job with great pride and loyalty to your comrades you can't go wrong with either. if you have any specific questions I'll try my best to answer for you.
both are what we consider to be tougher jobs within the Army, and if you are looking for a challenge and a job with great pride and loyalty to your comrades you can't go wrong with either. if you have any specific questions I'll try my best to answer for you.
The biggest difference in my opinion is do you like to walk or ride? Scouts usually ride, and Infantry usually walk. Things are changing though and Scouts are now assigned to light infantry divisions like 101st and 82nd as well so the assignments are all about the same. You will go to a Division unit in either one. Ranger school, and jump school will depend on what division you go to. Really not a whole lot of differences now and if you talk about the Officer side even less. The armour school is at Fort Benning now or on the way and they are incorporating it into the Manuever school rather than Infantry or Armour. Once you make Captain you are cross trained and can fill either position. Good luck.
Joined
·
1,570 Posts
If you want to get into firefights, go Infantry.If you want to avoid 'em, go scouts.
I was a medic assigned to an Infantry Battalion and a Cavalry Squadron…I must say that I am more partial to the Cav. Why…mission, tradition, and the Stetson of course.
http://www.uscav.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=17229
http://www.uscav.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=17229
I've done both and enjoy both. Just like Infantry, Scouts operate under a variety of configurations based of the unit and mission. Both operate light, heavy (bradley and HMMWV), and Stryker platforms. You get the same school oportunities (ranger, airborne, air assault, pathfinder, sniper school, etc). The real difference is in your primary MTOE mission.
Scouts are a Recon force that try to maneuver undetected, ID the enemy and then hand off to the Infantry or Armor forces they support. This will put you in small sections and teams miles in front of the main effort and your survival is ultimately based on how sneaky you are. You generally will avoid direct engagements, use mostly indirect fire, and do your best to maintain visual contact until you can hand off the fight. If you do get in a direct engagement you carry more weapons than anyone else. To give you an example a scout platoon in a Combined Arms Battalion has 5 HMMWV's, 3 Bradleys, 3 M2 .50's, 8 M240B's, 2 MK19's and AT4's and Javelins for every vehicle. Scouts are there as the eyes and ears for commanders and mostly either collect Intel on the battlefield and verify assumptions.
Infantry will handle most of the combat. Although capable of preforming recon, infantry is best suited for close combat. They do most of the patroling, attacks (raids, ambushes, etc) and destroy the enemy. A CAB Infantry platoon has 4 BFV's, 2 Javelins, 2 AT4's, 2 M240B's and many more dismounts than a scout platoon.
Scouts are a Recon force that try to maneuver undetected, ID the enemy and then hand off to the Infantry or Armor forces they support. This will put you in small sections and teams miles in front of the main effort and your survival is ultimately based on how sneaky you are. You generally will avoid direct engagements, use mostly indirect fire, and do your best to maintain visual contact until you can hand off the fight. If you do get in a direct engagement you carry more weapons than anyone else. To give you an example a scout platoon in a Combined Arms Battalion has 5 HMMWV's, 3 Bradleys, 3 M2 .50's, 8 M240B's, 2 MK19's and AT4's and Javelins for every vehicle. Scouts are there as the eyes and ears for commanders and mostly either collect Intel on the battlefield and verify assumptions.
Infantry will handle most of the combat. Although capable of preforming recon, infantry is best suited for close combat. They do most of the patroling, attacks (raids, ambushes, etc) and destroy the enemy. A CAB Infantry platoon has 4 BFV's, 2 Javelins, 2 AT4's, 2 M240B's and many more dismounts than a scout platoon.
I was a Light Infantry Scout, Regimental Recon, and a Cav Scout ..
Jump and Ride, or Jump and Walk .. extremely different missions.
My Scout (non cav) plattoned performed:
Intel Gathering
Recon
Seek and Destroy
Sniper
cache demo
.. etc.
We never handed off a fight, we avoided them unless it was a contact mission. If contact was made, we carried 2X the normal Infantrymans ammo. (420 rounds) .. heavy as crap, .. all ammo and water.
1/509th Infantry Airborne
Scout Platoon
ps. we did work with Marine force recon, and Marine Anglico Recon. None of what I did with them resembled the 19D's(cav scout) job, .. but none of those Marines were mechanized. The Anglico recon were hella cool, .. they were tough Marines.
Jump and Ride, or Jump and Walk .. extremely different missions.
My Scout (non cav) plattoned performed:
Intel Gathering
Recon
Seek and Destroy
Sniper
cache demo
.. etc.
We never handed off a fight, we avoided them unless it was a contact mission. If contact was made, we carried 2X the normal Infantrymans ammo. (420 rounds) .. heavy as crap, .. all ammo and water.
1/509th Infantry Airborne
Scout Platoon
ps. we did work with Marine force recon, and Marine Anglico Recon. None of what I did with them resembled the 19D's(cav scout) job, .. but none of those Marines were mechanized. The Anglico recon were hella cool, .. they were tough Marines.
Joined
·
1,619 Posts
+1
Unless you are pulling security on that POS piece of armor :supergrin:
Either way, I went 19D, sometimes I wish I could go back as an 11B?
Joined
·
441 Posts
False. I'd agree if we were only talking about "light scouts." Mechanized is an entirely different animal. A Cav Squadron has more firepower than ANY similarly sized unit, and it's not just for looks. Don't talk about things you don't understand.
OP: You can't go wrong with either in my opinion. Nice job on picking a COMBAT ARMS MOS too. Everyone else is just there to support them.
Joined
·
1,454 Posts
I retired as a 19D40 but was an 11B for much of my career. The base skills are the same but a Scout must perfect the skills of Arty calls, being in situations that are very isolated, and be able to maintain everything you have with little or no support.
In either one you will see combat but you have to have balls of steel to be a 19D for any length of time.
In either one you will see combat but you have to have balls of steel to be a 19D for any length of time.
Joined
·
167 Posts
Well, what was your choice? I'm curious. I was both as well, (still am one of them) and I must say, that there's NO comparison WHATsoever. The infantry gave me a LOT more training than the cav EVER did. I'd put an airborne infantryman spec 4, against any cav E5 all day long. I did everything in the infantry that I did in the cav, plus a WHOLE lot more added on. All the cav guys that say "we're all the same" were NEVER in the infantry. They're TOTALLY different worlds. My infantry guys are harder, faster, and stronger. While in my infantry units, I was embarrassed to admit I was cav at one time, since there was such a huge disparity between the two. I never got what I was looking for, while in the cav. I got all the really cool hard core training after I left, and joined the infantry.
You got it wrong. There is infantry, and then there is everyone else who supports THEM. :supergrin:
A lot of people here saying what the textbook difference is, but I'm wondering if anyone here has deployed as a cav scout and has done the textbook job (ie recon, etc.)? And I'm not talking about an infantry scout, they are two different things.
With the fact that we own the battlefield right now and now that we have UAVs and such, I don't see cav scouts actually performing recon work. In my experiences deployed as a 11B, cav scouts ended up doing much of the same work as infantry, but tended to have a smaller AO for whatever reason.
Joined
·
990 Posts
I happen to be a cav scout writing this from Iraq. As it stands, our mission is gayer than aids. Most we do is key leader engagements and train the FPs how to read maps. It's more or less the same in Afghanistan. Unless we go to war with a country that has an army, being a scout means you're glorified infantry.
Tradition within a unit is awesome, there's potential to do alot of high speed stuff. But for our current posture, scouting is dead.
Tradition within a unit is awesome, there's potential to do alot of high speed stuff. But for our current posture, scouting is dead.
Joined
·
441 Posts
I see what you're saying. I think the reason Inf/Cav missions are so similar now, is due to our enemy's current disposition. In the early phases of the Iraq war, I could see distinct differences between the Cav/Inf missions. Without the possibility of large decisive battles, the missions of both jobs seem to overlap. At any rate, the Cav is not built to sneak around the battlefield, unseen, like a ghost. Cav recon is not subtle, but it's still recon.
***post applies only to Cav, not light scout units.
Joined
·
583 Posts
Combat MPs carry an pretty impressive weapons loadout.M4,claymores,AT4,M9,M240B,M249 SAW,Frags,M2,MK19.
Joined
·
167 Posts
CARRYING weapons, and being thoroughly trained on them is totally different. NOONE trains on those weapon systems like LIGHT infantry. Not mech/indirect artillery/tow, but LIGHT infantry. It's their bread and butter, and that's ALL they do. Period.
And for the record, I've NEVER seen an MP ANYwhere in the battle space, that had frags or claymores... EVER.
And for the record, I've NEVER seen an MP ANYwhere in the battle space, that had frags or claymores... EVER.
Joined
·
441 Posts
What's a combat MP? Is that a seperate MOS?
1 - 20 of 25 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
