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46SE4

Public Affairs Mass Communication Specialist

E-4 (Specialist/Corporal) · Army

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

Specialist is the rank where the PA shop stops giving you training wheels. You are now eligible for the promotion-point system to E-5, but the 46S career field is small — cutoff scores can swing from sub-400 to max-798 depending on the manning year. Get on the BLC roster early; STEP requires BLC for sergeant pin-on. Build the civilian portfolio now, not after you decide to ETS.

The Honest MOS Read
You made E-4 Specialist and the PA shop is now treating you as the experienced content producer. The senior 46S assigns you the harder coverage — the CTC rotation embeds, the division CG's priority events, the feature stories with 48-hour deadlines — because you have proven you can deliver usable products from difficult conditions. You are also the 46S who mentors the new privates fresh from DINFOS: camera settings, AP Style corrections, DVIDS upload procedures, the security review checklist, and the unwritten rule that you never submit a product to the PAO that you would not want published under your name. Promotion to E-5 Sergeant goes through the semi-centralized promotion system under AR 600-8-19. The math is the same as every other MOS — DA Form 3355, promotion-point worksheet, monthly cutoff scores — but the 46S field's small population means the cutoff fluctuates more dramatically than big MOS fields like 11B or 25B. Some months the cutoff is near the maximum; other months it drops below 500. Check the current HRC SELCONT message before planning your timeline. BLC (Basic Leader Course) is the STEP gate — you cannot pin SGT without completing it. The 22-academic-day course at a regional NCO Academy is unit-allocated, and the slots compress when promotion points move. Talk to the PAO NCOIC in your first month of E-4 about getting on the BLC roster. The conversation goes better when you can point to a BLC prep packet that is already mostly complete. Your job content broadens at SPC. You are now running content sections within the PA shop — photography, video, social media, print/web — with junior soldiers under your informal supervision. You plan coverage for events, coordinate with supported units, manage the equipment sign-out for your section, and produce the weekly or monthly analytics reports the PAO briefs at the BUB. You are learning the communication-plan side of PA, not just the content-production side. The civilian-market reality at E-4 is the strongest it will be during your career. You have 2-3 years of daily professional content production experience, a DINFOS credential, a portfolio of published work on DVIDS, and (if you have been smart) a personal website and competition entries that demonstrate your range. Civilian photojournalists, videographers, social media managers, and public relations specialists with equivalent experience are earning $45K-$65K in mid-tier markets and $60K-$90K in major markets. The soldiers who ETS at E-4 with a strong portfolio walk into civilian jobs. The soldiers who re-enlist without the portfolio are betting on the Army PA career track — which is a valid choice, but a narrower one. The credential conversation matters now. Adobe Certified Professional certifications, NPPA membership, university coursework through Tuition Assistance or Credentialing Assistance — these are the line items on the promotion-point worksheet that also happen to be the credentials civilian employers recognize. A 46S SPC who has Adobe Certified Professional in Premiere Pro and Photoshop is competitive for civilian jobs while simultaneously building promotion points.
Career Arc
  • 01E-4 pin-on: automatic at 24 mo TIS / 6 mo TIG (both waivable).
  • 02First independent coverage assignments — events where you plan, shoot, edit, and upload without a senior 46S looking over your shoulder.
  • 03BLC slot request to the PAO NCOIC — get on the roster early; STEP requires BLC for sergeant pin-on.
  • 04Promotion-point worksheet (DA Form 3355) packet build — civilian education credits, awards, weapons qual, Adobe/industry credentials all count.
  • 05Promotion board appearance and monthly cutoff-score tracking.
  • 06BLC graduation (22 academic days, regional NCO Academy) — the STEP gate.
  • 07E-5 pin-on once cutoff score hits + BLC complete + chain-of-command release.
Common Screwups
  • ×Waiting until promotion-eligible to start the BLC roster conversation. By then the slots are full and you watch peers pin first.
  • ×Sleeping on civilian credentials. Adobe Certified Professional, NPPA membership, university coursework — these are promotion points AND civilian resume lines. Stacking them now costs you nothing through Army Credentialing Assistance and Tuition Assistance.
  • ×Article 15 / DUI / barracks incident — promotion-point flag, separation risk under AR 635-200, and a career field small enough that every PAO in the PA community hears about it.
  • ×ACFT failures. Repeated failures trigger flagging; flagged soldiers do not get promoted, do not go to schools, do not get awards processed. The PA shop being a staff section does not exempt you.
  • ×Treating the NCOER counseling session as bureaucracy. Specialists who can write their own bullets in action-result-impact format get pinned faster than specialists who let the counseling session run on autopilot.

A Day in the Life

  • 0500Wake. Check the day's coverage schedule on your phone. Charge batteries, format cards, prep camera bags if there is a morning event. Pack for field conditions if the event is outdoors.
  • 0530-0630PT formation with HHC or the PA shop. You are now expected to lead warm-up drills or run events during squad PT — the PAO NCOIC is evaluating your leadership presence, not just your fitness.
  • 0700-0900Hygiene, change uniforms, breakfast. Pre-event coordination: confirm the event schedule with the supported unit's S-3 or XO, verify location and timing, identify the key moments to capture. Load gear.
  • 0900First formation. PAO NCOIC assigns the day. You may be getting your own coverage assignment or overseeing a PFC on their first solo event.
  • 0915-1130Morning production block. Cover events, shoot, record interviews. Or: edit bay time — processing photos, cutting video, writing feature stories. At SPC level, you manage your own timeline; the PAO NCOIC is not walking you through the workflow anymore.
  • 1130-1300Chow. Review morning work. Check DVIDS uploads. Update the social media scheduling queue if you manage the accounts.
  • 1300-1500Afternoon production block. Continue editing, writing, uploading. Social media analytics pull and report prep. Submit products for security and accuracy review. Coordinate tomorrow's coverage with supported units.
  • 1500-1600Administrative time. Back up files. Update coverage tracker. Brief the PAO NCOIC on completed products and pending deadlines. Review junior soldiers' work if you are informally leading the section.
  • 1600-1630Final formation. Equipment accountability. Tomorrow's schedule brief.
  • 1630Released. Evening events (retirement dinners, awards banquets, community engagements) may extend your day by 2-4 hours.
  • 1700-2000Personal time. Portfolio work — editing personal projects, competition submissions, website updates, LinkedIn Learning tutorials on After Effects or advanced color grading.
  • 2000-2200Study time. BLC prep if your slot is approaching. Credential study (Adobe Certified Professional). NCOER bullet drafting for your upcoming counseling session.
  • Field rotationAt SPC level, you are the experienced 46S on the field coverage team. You may be leading a 2-person PA team — you and a PFC. Plan the coverage, assign angles, manage the connectivity and upload timeline, and produce the daily media roundup the PAO sends to the TOC. Sleep when the TOC sleeps; shoot when the formation moves.

Weekly Cadence

The Mon-Fri rhythm at SPC shifts from being assigned work to managing your own workflow. Monday: review the week's communication plan execution calendar, coordinate with supported units, plan coverage assignments. Tuesday-Thursday: production — shoot, edit, write, upload, manage social media, process analytics. The density depends on command tempo; during a CTC train-up or deployment exercise, every day is a multi-event production day. Friday: administrative — weekly analytics report, DVIDS reconciliation, equipment inventory, and the PAO NCOIC's weekly counseling/feedback session. The second rhythm is the promotion-point stack. At SPC, you are actively building the DA Form 3355 worksheet: civilian education credits through Tuition Assistance, Adobe certifications through Credentialing Assistance, weapons qualification (maintain Expert), awards (AAMs and ARCOMs for PA coverage during exercises and deployments), and the physical assessment record. The SPC who tracks promotion points weekly and can tell the PAO NCOIC exactly where they stand on the cutoff is the SPC who gets the recommendation letter for BLC. The field rhythm changes everything. During a CTC rotation (NTC or JRTC, typically 2-3 weeks), the weekly calendar collapses into a coverage cycle: shoot during the day, edit and upload at night, sleep when you can. The SPC who has built an efficient field workflow — shoot → select → edit → caption → upload — during garrison is the SPC who produces content from the field without falling behind. The SPC who waited to learn field production at the CTC produces nothing usable for the first three days while figuring out the workflow.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Produce a complete multimedia package — still photos, video, written narrative, and social media cut — from a single event, edited and uploaded to DVIDS within the command timeline.
    The multimedia package is the signature product of a 46S SPC. Plan the shoot: identify the story angle before the event, build a shot list (wide establishing, medium action, tight detail, interview, cutaway), and know the deadline. Shoot stills and video simultaneously or sequentially depending on the event's pace. Write the caption and news release in the field or immediately after returning. Edit photos in Lightroom (batch processing for speed), cut video in Premiere Pro (30-60 second social media cut first, then the longer feature if time allows), and upload everything to DVIDS with complete metadata before the PAO's deadline. The SPC who can produce a complete package from a single event without supervision is the SPC the PAO trusts with the division CG's events.
  2. 02
    Shoot in tactical environments — low light, field conditions, limited power, limited connectivity — and return with usable content.
    Field photography and videography require different gear prep than garrison work. High-ISO performance matters more than lens speed in most field scenarios. Bring a monopod, not a tripod — faster to deploy, lighter to carry. Battery management is the constraint: carry twice as many batteries as you think you need and a power bank rated for your camera and laptop. Connectivity: plan your upload strategy before you go to the field — satellite hotspot, tactical network access, or batch upload when you return to a hardwired connection. The content that sits on a card for five days is content that missed its deadline.
  3. 03
    Write a feature story that meets AP Style and passes the PAO's accuracy review on the first pass.
    Feature stories require more than event coverage writing. They need a narrative arc: a human subject, a challenge or event, a resolution or insight. Interview the subject before writing; do not reconstruct the interview from memory. Quote directly and verify the quotes with the subject before submission if the topic is sensitive. The PAO's accuracy review catches factual errors, security violations, and AP Style deviations — the SPC who submits a clean draft on first pass is the SPC who gets the next feature assignment.
  4. 04
    Run the command's social media accounts to the communication plan.
    Social media management is content scheduling, community engagement, and analytics — not personal posting. Use the command's approved scheduling tool. Follow the communication plan's themes and messaging priorities. Respond to comments per the PAO's guidance (most commands have a comment-response matrix). Track weekly analytics: reach, engagement rate, follower growth, top-performing content. Brief the analytics to the PAO monthly with recommendations for content adjustments. The SPC who treats social media as data-driven communication planning rather than posting photos gets the section-lead role.
  5. 05
    Brief the PAO on media engagement trends, audience analytics, and content performance — with numbers, not adjectives.
    Pull analytics from DVIDS (views, downloads, media pickups), social media platforms (reach, engagement, follower demographics), and any command-specific tracking tools. Build a one-page brief that shows trends over time, not just single-week snapshots. Identify what is working (which content types drive engagement, which posting times perform best) and what is not. The PAO needs data to defend the communication plan at the BUB — give them numbers they can cite.
  6. 06
    Mentor a junior 46S through their first field coverage assignment.
    Walk them through the gear prep the day before: camera settings for the expected conditions, lens selection, battery count, card formatting, caption notepad. At the event, position them where the best angle is and explain why. After the event, review their selects with them — not just which photos are good, but why they are good (composition, moment, light, expression). Review their captions word by word. The junior 46S who gets good mentoring in their first six months produces independently by month nine. The one who gets ignored produces garbage for a year.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • AR 360-1 — The Army Public Affairs Program.
    At SPC level you need to know Chapter 7 (Visual Information) cold, but now you should also be reading Chapter 5 (Media Relations) and Chapter 6 (Community Relations). These chapters govern the media engagement and community relations work you are starting to support — media escort requests, community event coordination, and the release authority chain for different types of content.
  • FM 3-61.1 — Public Affairs Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures.
    At SPC level, read the chapters on communication planning and media operations. You are now contributing to the communication plan, not just executing it. Understanding how the PAO builds the plan — commander's intent, key themes and messages, target audiences, product types — makes you a better content producer because you know why the product exists, not just what it looks like.
  • DA PAM 360-1 — Handbook for Public Affairs.
    The practical how-to companion to AR 360-1. At SPC level, the sections on media engagement, community relations, and crisis communication start to matter because you may be the 46S who answers the phone when a reporter calls.
  • AP Stylebook — the editorial standard for all Army PA products.
    You should own this by now, not reference it. The military modifications (rank abbreviations, unit designations, weapons nomenclature) should be memorized. The SPC who submits a news release with incorrect AP Style is the SPC who gets the draft kicked back — and the PAO remembers.
  • AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System.
    You are now contributing NCOER bullet inputs for your own evaluation. Read DA PAM 623-3 to understand the bullet format (action-result-impact) and the rating scale. Write your own bullet drafts before the counseling session — the PAO NCOIC who receives a SPC's self-authored bullets is a PAO NCOIC who fights for that SPC's promotion board appearance.
  • DoD Instruction 5040.02 — Visual Information.
    At SPC level, start reading the archival and distribution sections. You may be managing the section's visual information archive — file naming conventions, metadata standards, backup procedures, and the annual VI inspection checklist. The VI inspection is a real thing that the division PAO runs; knowing the standard before the inspection arrives is the difference between a clean pass and a weekend of remediation.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • BLC graduate or in-slot before the SGT board.
    BLC is 22 academic days at a regional NCO Academy. Get on the roster 6-12 months before your TIS hits the SGT window. The PAO NCOIC controls the recommendation; the brigade S-1 controls the allocation. Bring a complete packet (awards, training certificates, physical assessment record) to the PAO NCOIC and ask directly. The SPC who asks early gets the slot. The SPC who waits gets the waitlist.
  • DVIDS publication rate at or above the command average — products uploaded on time, captioned correctly, metadata complete.
    Track your publication rate monthly. Compare it to the shop average and the division average (your PAO NCOIC has these numbers). If you are below average, the problem is either production speed (work on your edit workflow) or coverage frequency (volunteer for more events). The DVIDS publication rate is a measurable metric that goes directly into your NCOER bullet — own the number.
  • Social media engagement metrics tracked weekly and briefed monthly to the PAO.
    Build a template: date range, total reach, engagement rate (likes + comments + shares / reach), top 3 posts by engagement, follower growth, posting frequency vs plan. The template should be a single slide or one-page document. Present trends, not just numbers — 'engagement rate up 12% over the last 4 weeks driven by video content' is actionable. 'We got 500 likes this week' is not.
  • Adobe Creative Suite advanced proficiency — Premiere Pro multicam editing, Photoshop compositing, After Effects motion graphics if the shop needs it.
    DINFOS teaches the basics. The SPC who becomes advanced does it on their own time — YouTube tutorials, LinkedIn Learning (free through Army MWR libraries), and practice projects. Multicam editing in Premiere Pro is the skill that separates the SPC from the private. After Effects motion graphics (lower thirds, title cards, transitions) separate the SPC from the civilian competitor. Build these skills before you need them for a deadline.
  • Counseling on the 14th of every month for soldiers you supervise informally.
    Even as a SPC, you may be informally supervising PV2/PFC soldiers in your section. Document the counseling even if it is informal — use DA Form 4856 and keep copies. The counseling habit you build at SPC is the habit that makes you effective at SGT. The PAO NCOIC is watching whether you mentor the juniors or ignore them.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Letting a junior 46S publish content without running the security and accuracy review.
    Their mistake becomes your mistake because you were the experienced 46S in the section. The PAO will not distinguish between 'I did not check their work' and 'I approved bad work.' Both end the same way: you lose the section-lead role and the PAO stops trusting you with independent operations.
  • Producing social media content that contradicts the command's communication plan.
    The communication plan exists because the commander approved specific messages for specific audiences at specific times. A social media post that contradicts the plan — wrong message, wrong timing, wrong audience — forces the PAO to explain to the commander why the PA shop freelanced. The PAO's explanation will include your name.
  • Shooting video without clean audio.
    The best b-roll in the world is unusable if the interview audio sounds like it was recorded inside a motor pool. The PAO can reshoot a photo; the PAO cannot reshoot an interview with a general officer who has already left the installation. Invest in audio: lavalier mics, shotgun mics, windscreens, and the 30-second audio check before the interview starts.
  • Treating DVIDS metadata as an afterthought.
    Wrong release authority, wrong unit designation, wrong date, missing photographer credit — these trigger correction requests from DVIDS HQ. Correction requests are tracked. A 46S with multiple correction requests is a 46S the PAO puts on the easy assignments. The DVIDS profile you build at SPC follows you for the rest of your career.
  • Overpromising turnaround to a battalion or brigade commander.
    'I will have it by 1700' means you will have it by 1700. The commander who does not get the product by the promised time does not call you — the commander calls the PAO, and the PAO calls you. Broken promises from the PA shop are remembered longer than broken promises from any other staff section because the PA shop's entire value proposition is delivering what it promised.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • Re-enlist as 46S vs. ETS with the civilian portfolio.
    This is the single most consequential decision at E-4. The civilian creative market values your DINFOS training, your portfolio, and your 2-3 years of daily professional production work. Photojournalists, videographers, social media managers, and PR specialists with your experience level are earning $50K-$70K in mid-tier markets. Re-enlisting as 46S means committing to a small career field with limited senior billets (the entire 46S population is roughly 800-1,000 soldiers). The question is not whether you can get a civilian job — you can, if the portfolio is strong. The question is whether the Army PA career offers something the civilian market does not: the field experience, the mission, the benefits, and the retirement math. Both answers are valid.
  • Stack civilian credentials now — Adobe Certified Professional, NPPA, university coursework.
    Army Credentialing Assistance covers Adobe Certified Professional exams. Tuition Assistance covers university coursework in journalism, communications, graphic design, or media production. NPPA membership is out-of-pocket but inexpensive and signals professional seriousness to civilian employers. Every credential you stack at SPC is simultaneously a promotion point and a civilian resume line. The SPC who ETSes with two Adobe certifications, 30 university credits, and NPPA membership is competitive for jobs the SPC without them is not.
  • Volunteer for DINFOS instructor duty.
    DINFOS instructor billets are available to E-5 and above, but the conversation starts at E-4. A DINFOS instructor assignment (2-3 years at Fort Meade) builds your professional reputation in the PA community, gives you teaching experience (valuable for civilian academia or corporate training), and puts you in the building where the PA curriculum is developed. The downside: you are out of the operational force for 2-3 years, which can slow your operational credibility at the next unit.
  • BLC timing — early slot vs. waiting for the 'right time.'
    There is no right time. Get the BLC slot as early as the PAO NCOIC will recommend you. The soldiers who wait for a quieter training cycle or a better personal-life window discover that the window never opens and the waitlist gets longer. BLC is 22 academic days. Plan for it; execute it; move on. The STEP gate is the STEP gate — it does not care about your schedule preferences.
  • Apply for Green-to-Gold or Officer Candidate School (OCS) for the 46A (Public Affairs Officer) track.
    The 46A officer path is available through Green-to-Gold (BA/BS completion + commission) or OCS. A 46S SPC with strong DINFOS performance, a developing civilian education record, and operational PA experience is a competitive 46A candidate. The question is whether you want to lead PA operations (as an officer) or produce content (as an NCO). The 46A leads the shop; the 46S runs the shop. Both are valuable. The officer path pays more and has more career breadth; the NCO path keeps you closer to the cameras and the content.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • BCT PA Shop — at SPC level
    At SPC in a BCT PA shop, you are the go-to content producer. The PAO sends you to the field with maneuver units because you can shoot, edit, and upload without supervision. Your week is event-heavy — ranges, gunneries, FTXs, community events — and your edit bay time is squeezed between coverage assignments. The upside: your portfolio fills fast and the content is portfolio-grade. The downside: burnout is real if the command tempo is high and the PA section is understaffed.
  • Division PA Section — at SPC level
    At SPC in a division PA section, you have more edit bay time and more production resources. You may specialize — one SPC handles video, another handles photography, a third handles social media. The products are higher-profile (division-level events, strategic communication campaigns) and the quality bar is higher. The trade-off: less field time, which means fewer opportunities to build the operational credibility that the SGT board values.
  • Garrison PA (IMCOM) — at SPC level
    Garrison PA at SPC level is community relations work — installation social media, community events, tenant-unit coordination. The hours are more predictable. The content is less operationally interesting. Some SPCs love the work-life balance; others feel unchallenged. The risk: spending your entire first enlistment in garrison PA and arriving at the SGT board with no field or deployment coverage experience.
  • USAREC / TRADOC / Institutional Army PA — at SPC level
    Institutional PA (recruiting command, training command, installation management) at SPC level is brand marketing work. The content supports recruiting campaigns, training-pipeline storytelling, and institutional communication. The production quality can be very high — some USAREC PA shops produce content that rivals civilian advertising agencies. The civilian-market translation is direct: USAREC PA work maps to marketing and brand management roles.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good SPC 46S is the one the PAO puts on the division CG's events because the product always comes back clean — sharp photos, tight video, clean captions, and DVIDS uploads done before the deadline. They run their section of the PA shop without the PAO NCOIC having to check every product. Their DVIDS contributor profile has 150+ uploads with near-zero correction requests. They know the brigade's commanders by face and name because they have covered enough events to recognize everyone in the formation. The good SPC has BLC done or in-slot. They have Adobe Certified Professional in at least Premiere Pro and Photoshop through Credentialing Assistance. They have a personal website with their best military work organized by category (photo, video, writing, design). They have entered at least one DINFOS Military Photographer or Videographer of the Year competition and used the feedback to improve. Their civilian portfolio could get them hired at a mid-market news station or a corporate communications team tomorrow. The good SPC is also the one who mentors the juniors without being told. They walk the new PFC through camera settings before an event. They review the PFC's captions at the desk, not after the upload. They share editing techniques they learned on their own time. The PAO NCOIC sees this and writes the NCOER bullet accordingly — and that bullet is the one the SGT board reads when deciding whether this SPC is ready to lead a section.

Preview — The Next Rank

SGT (E-5) is where you stop being a content producer and start being a content leader. You will own a section inside the PA shop — photography, video, print/web, or social media — with 2-4 soldiers under you. You write counseling statements, sign DA 4856s, and are responsible for your section's output quality and timeline compliance. You are the senior 46S the PAO sends to run a field PA team at a CTC rotation or deployment exercise. The NCO shift is real. At SGT, the PAO stops evaluating you on whether your individual products are good — that is assumed. The PAO evaluates you on whether your section produces consistently, whether your soldiers are developing, and whether you can run a PA operation in the field without adult supervision. The camera becomes a tool you teach with, not a tool you produce with exclusively. NCOERs are now your responsibility. You write them for your soldiers, and the bullets you write determine their promotion boards. The SGT who writes weak bullets for good soldiers is the SGT whose section loses talent. The SGT who writes strong bullets backed by real metrics (DVIDS publication rate, social media engagement numbers, competition placements) is the SGT whose section gets the best new soldiers from DINFOS.
FAQ

46S E4 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E4 46S (Public Affairs Mass Communication Specialist) actually do?
You run a content lane inside the PA shop — photography, video production, print/web, broadcast, or social media management.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E4 46S?
Specialist is the rank where the PA shop stops giving you training wheels.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E4 46S?
Time-blocked day at the E4 46S rank tier: 0500 Wake. Check the day's coverage schedule on your phone. Charge batteries, format cards, prep camera bags if there is a morning event. Pack for field conditions if the event is outdoors, 0530-0630 PT formation with HHC or the PA shop. You are now expected to lead warm-up drills or run events during squad PT — the PAO NCOIC is evaluating your leadership presence, not just your fitness, 0700-0900 Hygiene, change uniforms, breakfast. Pre-event coordination: confirm the event schedule with the supported unit's S-3 or XO, verify location and timing,…
Q04What mistakes get E4 46S soldiers fired or relieved?
Waiting until promotion-eligible to start the BLC roster conversation. By then the slots are full and you watch peers pin first; Sleeping on civilian credentials. Adobe Certified Professional, NPPA membership, university coursework — these are promotion points AND civilian resume lines. Stacking them now costs you nothing through Army Credentialing Assistance and Tuition Assistance; Article 15 / DUI / barracks incident — promotion-point flag, separation risk under AR 635-200,…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E4 46S rank tier?
Re-enlist as 46S vs. ETS with the civilian portfolio — This is the single most consequential decision at E-4. The civilian creative market values your DINFOS training, your portfolio, and your 2-3 years of daily professional production work. Photojournalists, videographers, social media managers, and PR specialists with your experience level are earning $50K-$70K in mid-tier markets. Re-enlisting as 46S means committing to a small career field with limited senior billets (the entire 46S population is roughly 800-1,000 soldiers).…
Q06What's next after E4 for a 46S (Public Affairs Mass Communication Specialist) in the Army?
SGT (E-5) is where you stop being a content producer and start being a content leader.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E4 46S need to know cold?
AR 360-1 — The Army Public Affairs Program.; FM 3-61.1 — Public Affairs Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures.; DA PAM 360-1 — Handbook for Public Affairs.

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Published by the Honest MOS Editorial DeskVerified against DoD/.gov sourcesUpdated May 2026Editorial standards