Is 13R (Field Artillery (FA) Weapons Locating Radar (WLR) Specialist) a Good MOS?

AIT / Training

9 weeks

Training Location

Fort Sill, OK

Career Field

Field Artillery

What the Recruiter Says

You'll operate the AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder radars — the counterfire systems that track incoming rounds backward to their origin and hand targeting data to friendly artillery for immediate counterbattery fire. The radar systems are sophisticated, the mission is critical, and the technical training is genuine. Defense contractors supporting radar systems maintenance and foreign military sales have consistent demand for experienced Firefinder operators. Electronic systems troubleshooting skills transfer to civilian radar and electronics technician roles.

What It's Actually Like

You operate AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-53 radar systems that track incoming rounds and back-calculate where they came from so artillery can shoot back. When it works, it is genuinely impressive technology. When it doesn't work, you're troubleshooting a system that the manual describes with the optimism of someone who has never been in the field at 0300 with a malfunctioning radar and a counterfire mission pending. The system is vehicle-mounted, which means you live and die by the maintenance cycle of whatever truck platform it's on plus the radar itself, which doubles your PM surface area. You will set up in a position that is supposed to be masked from direct observation and will not be. The data you generate feeds fire support channels and can directly enable counterfire, which is the part of the job that makes everything else worthwhile. The radar technology skills — systems operation, maintenance, data interpretation — translate to defense contractor roles and federal agency positions. Your clearance plus radar background is a combination that specific employers will notice.