Death Watch

Field Artillery Officer decision-support role being augmented by AI-assisted targeting through Project Convergence integration. Operation Epic Fury (Feb-Mar 2026) demonstrated 13,000 targets processed in 38 days using AI-augmented targeting; the human officer remains in the loop but the tempo and span of control have shifted.

Field Artillery Officer (Army). Augmented, not displaced. The targeting cycle has compressed; the FA officer's job shifts toward higher-level decision authority and AI-tool oversight rather than manual fire mission processing.

FARA cancellation (Feb 2024) ended the planned Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program. Aviation MOS workforce trajectory affected — Kiowa Warrior already retired (2017); FARA was to be the manned-recon replacement. Drones absorb the role instead.

Army aviation MOS family (15-series). The OH-58 Kiowa replacement-by-cancellation. FARA cancellation reshapes the aviation career field; specific MOS-level billet impacts not yet published but the manned-recon-helicopter community is shrinking.

Partial-displacement case. Cavalry Scout reconnaissance role is increasingly drone-augmented through Group 1/2/3 UAS at the brigade and squadron level. MOS still exists; task allocation has shifted from human-led ground reconnaissance to UAS-mediated sensing.

Cavalry Scout (Army). The role persists but the work is increasingly drone-mediated. Approximately 3,000 19Ds were directed to reclass under MILPER 24-090/24-099 (separate from drone displacement but compounds the workforce pressure). If formation reductions continue, 19D could consolidate with 19C — flagged for Vol. 2 watchlist.

Partial-displacement case. Forward Observer role is increasingly served by drone spotting + precision-guided munitions (Excalibur, M982A1). Traditional FO ground-eye-call-for-fire task migrating to drone-fed targeting.

Forward Observer (Army). Precision-guided artillery + drone spot integration changing FO work allocation. Loitering munitions (Switchblade family) further compress the FO role by combining sensor + shooter.

NEW MOS — AI/ML Officer. Stands up 2026-10-01 (same effective date as 40D). VTIP window January 5 - February 6, 2026. First Army officer career path explicitly dedicated to AI/ML operations.

Army FA 49B AI/ML Officer. The first US military officer MOS with AI/ML in the title. Resolves the Section 3 honest-gap finding that "no service has yet created an MOS with AI or machine learning in the title" — that gap closes 2026-10-01.

NEW MOS — Tactical Space Operations Specialist. Stands up 2026-10-01 with approximately 1,000 billets, growing to 1,500 by 2032. Application window January 1 - April 30, 2026. Training pipeline at the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, Peterson SFB.

Army's new tactical space MOS. The Army has had FA 40 space operations officers since 1998; 40D is the new enlisted/warrant counterpart for tactical-echelon space support. Five-source confirmation: Army.mil articles 285210 and 290190, Army Times, Breaking Defense, Stars and Stripes.

COUNTER-DISPLACEMENT case. AI tooling expands the 35T role rather than compressing it. The Army's TITAN deep-sensing ground station — a $178.4M Palantir-led Prototype Maturation Phase award (10 prototypes; Anduril and other firms as technology partners, not prime) — increases demand for operators who can integrate AI/ML stacks into operational ISR pipelines.

Military Intelligence Systems Maintainer/Integrator. 35T is the canonical example of an AI-augmented (not AI-displaced) MOS. TITAN's Prototype Maturation Phase (10 prototypes, 5 Advanced/5 Basic, Palantir USG prime, Anduril and others as partners, 24-month period) grows demand for integrator skills as the AI stack proliferates. Recommended for current 35Gs facing displacement: 35T is the most natural pivot inside the MI branch.

Air Force imagery analyst (1N1X1) faces the same Maven displacement as Army 35G. Same Tier A evidence base; AF-specific deployment paths through CDAO and Air Force ISR enterprise integration.

Geospatial Intelligence (Air Force). Mirrors Army 35G analysis. Maven was operationally deployed across the combatant command structure; the AF watch-floor task allocation has compressed faster than headcount has shrunk.

NOT-DISPLACED anchor. Marine CI/HUMINT remains a human-judgment task; Marine Corps is actively recruiting into 0211 as of November 2025 with no AI-tool deployment in field-level CI work.

Counterintelligence / HUMINT Specialist (USMC). Useful as the reference case for "AI is not replacing every cognitive task." Field-level human source operation, debriefing, and counterintelligence investigations remain analog. Section 6 needs an anchor like this to keep the displacement story honest.

Full-deletion case. Marine Scout Sniper MOS eliminated 2023-12-15 (final class graduation). Force-design replacement explicitly cites organic UAS at every echelon: Black Hornet at fire team, Skydio-class at squad, Stalker Block 30 at company.

Scout Sniper (USMC). The single cleanest documented full-deletion case in the U.S. force tied to drone displacement. Successor 0322 Reconnaissance Sniper restricted to Recon Bns/MARSOC; infantry battalion gets a 26-Marine Scout Platoon with organic UAS at every echelon. Cross-references the §2 mortality entry for the same MOS.

Project Maven has compressed the imagery-analyst cognitive task. Maven is operational across every combatant command except SOCOM, has 20,000+ active users, was named operationally in CENTCOM Red Sea/Yemen strikes (2024) and Operation Epic Fury (Feb-Mar 2026), and transitions to a CDAO program of record September 2026.

Imagery Analyst (Army). Maven was specifically built for this cognitive task in 2017. The 2026 deployment scope means entry-level watch-floor work is the displacement target — not senior interpretation roles. Compressed, not eliminated. Recommended pivot for current 35Gs: lean toward GEOINT analytic-tradecraft roles or pivot toward 35T (which is counter-displaced; see below).