Working as a Combat Engineer

The United States Army has a plethora of jobs for enlisted personnel looking to advance his career following his term of service. By working as a combat engineer, interested men can assist the rest of their team by performing combat, mobility, and survivability tasks. These responsibilities include constructing fighting positions, making fixed and floating bridges, erecting obstacles, planting demolition charges, conduct operations dealing with obstacle breaching, and detecting mines. Furthermore, combat engineers are known to conduct reconnaissance operations, direct construction of offensive positions and wire entanglements, and assist in the operation of engineered wheeled or tracked modes of transport; all of these specializations, and more, make the combat engineer an integral part of any team. With a work environment that changes everyday and boundless opportunities for rewarding careers, a combat engineer is the perfect way to make the most of one’s service in the United States Army.

The training to become a combat engineer takes fourteen weeks of One Station Unit Training; this includes nine weeks of basic training, where the skills of soldiering are taught, and five more of Advanced Individual Training, which occurs both on site and in the classroom environment. Candidates are educated in fields such as basic explosive hazards, basic demolitions, wire obstacles and their construction, building fixed bridges, urban operations, and the operation of heavy machinery, including JAB, ABV, and HEMMIT.

Though working as a combat engineer is certainly exciting, it is not a path that should be chosen lightly. Candidates must have superior agility and balance, as well as the capacity to perform excruciating amounts of strenuous activities with few to no periods of rest in between. Interested parties should be able to remain calm in periods of extreme stress, work with hand and power tools, be interested in engineering, and express a desire to work outdoors.

Once the candidate finishes his term of service, there is an array of opportunities waiting in the construction, building engineering, and building inspection fields. A vast knowledge of structural integrity and design equips combat engineers to fill the civilian roles of construction and building inspectors and supervisors, who are daily tasked with ensuring that current edifices and ongoing construction projects coincide with building codes and ordinances. With an exciting training environment and endless career opportunities, a combat engineer is the perfect starting point for the design-minded individual looking to serve his country.