Skip to main content
HonestMOS
●InvestigationsCongress made VA disability claims free to file. An entire industry charges veterans anyway — and nobody can stop them.→
←Back to 1833 Assault Amphibious Vehicle / Amphibious Combat Vehicle Crewmember — overview, pay, training, civilian translation, reviews
1833E5

Assault Amphibious Vehicle / Amphibious Combat Vehicle Crewmember

E-5 (Sergeant) · Marines

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

Sergeant 1833 is the track commander rank — the most consequential E-5 billet in the assault amphibian community. You own the vehicle, the crew, the weapons, and the lives of every Marine in the troop compartment. The SSgt selection board reads your FitReps, your operational record, and your vehicle's performance during the pre-deployment evaluation. The AAV-to-ACV transition management at the crew level is your problem now.

The Honest MOS Read
Sergeant in the 1833 community is the track commander — and in a vehicle that operates in the ocean, the track commander is making life-or-death decisions that no other E-5 vehicle commander in the Marine Corps faces. You fight the vehicle. You direct the driver through the surf zone, you call fires from the turret, you manage the troop compartment and the ramp drop sequence, and you make the real-time call on whether to continue into bad surf or abort. That call — continue or abort — is the one that separates competent track commanders from the one whose name ends up in the mishap investigation. The vehicle crew of three to four Marines is yours. You own their training progression through the NAVMC 3500 (18XX T&R Manual), their PMCS discipline, their turret weapons proficiency, and their emergency egress readiness. You inspect their PMCS — not just sign the checklist but physically walk the vehicle and verify the crew's work. The hull integrity check, the bilge pump test, the engine service, the turret weapons function check — all of it has to be right before the vehicle enters the water. The platoon sergeant inspects your inspection. The company gunny inspects the platoon. The chain of accountability exists because vehicles have sunk. You coordinate directly with the infantry platoon your vehicle supports. The infantry PLT CDR's ship-to-shore plan depends on your vehicle being at the right beach, at the right time, with the ramp dropping where he needs it. You brief the infantry on the vehicle's capabilities and limitations — what the vehicle can do in the surf conditions you are facing, what it cannot do, and the emergency procedures the infantry needs to know because they are not amphibian-trained. The infantry Marines are your passengers; their safety in the water is your responsibility. The FitRep writing starts at Sgt. You write fitness reports on your Cpl vehicle operators under MCO 1610.7 — observed performance, specific maintenance and operational contributions, honest assessment that the reporting senior can defend. The FitRep system is the vehicle (no pun intended) that carries your record to the SSgt selection board. The SSgt board for 1833 reads every narrative in a mid-density MOS — inflation gets caught, and underperformance gets remembered. The AAV-to-ACV transition at the crew level is your management problem. If the battalion is fielding the ACV while still operating the AAV, you own the crew's proficiency on both systems during the overlap period. The crew has to be competent on whichever platform rolls out of the well deck for the next exercise. You are the bridge between the institutional knowledge the senior Marines built on the AAV and the new procedures the ACV requires. Sergeants Course is behind you or in progress. The Career Course is the next PME gate. The SSgt-to-platoon-sergeant pipeline is the next career target — at SSgt you run a platoon of four to six vehicles and twelve to eighteen crewmembers, and you are the senior NCO advising a lieutenant who has never been in the surf in a 30-ton vehicle.
Career Arc
  • 01Sgt promotion via cutting score under MCO 1400.32.
  • 02Track commander assumption — own the vehicle, the crew, the weapons, and the mission.
  • 03Sergeants Course completion.
  • 04FitRep writing on Cpl vehicle operators under MCO 1610.7.
  • 05MEU deployment as a track commander — the formative operational experience.
  • 06Career Course PME — preparation for SSgt competition.
  • 07SSgt centralized selection board — paper-record review for the platoon sergeant billet.
Common Screwups
  • ×Taking a vehicle into surf conditions beyond its capability or the crew's proficiency because the timeline says go. The mishap investigation names the track commander who made the call.
  • ×Phoning the track commander role. The assault amphibian crew's effectiveness is the Sgt's effectiveness — the platoon sergeant and the company gunny read it weekly.
  • ×Missing Sergeants Course or Career Course PME. The SSgt board reads the PME record; missed gates are visible in a mid-density MOS.
  • ×NJP / DUI / fraternization — separation under MARCORSEPMAN, clearance issues, and the 18XX community's institutional memory makes the read permanent.
  • ×FitRep drift. Writing inflated FitReps on Cpls that the reporting senior cannot defend damages your credibility and the crew's credibility.

A Day in the Life

  • 0500Wake. Phone check for the platoon group chat — any overnight incidents, any vehicle emergency, any recall. None? Good. PT gear on, head to the company area.
  • 0530PT formation. You take accountability for your crew (you + Cpl operator + one or two junior Marines), report to the platoon sergeant. Missing crew member = your problem first.
  • 0545-0700Unit PT. You set the pace for the crew — run at the front, carry the ruck at the front, set the MCMAP mat work standard. The platoon sergeant watches whether the track commanders can lead PT and still function on the vehicle afterward.
  • 0700-0830Hygiene, chow, change into utilities. Head to the vehicle park and walk your vehicle before the crew arrives — identify anything that changed, check the overnight condition, note what the crew needs to address during morning PMCS.
  • 0830Morning formation. Platoon sergeant gives the day's tasking and training schedule. You brief your crew on the day's priorities — PMCS focus areas, training events, maintenance requirements.
  • 0900-1130Work day. Supervise PMCS on the vehicle — inspect the crew's work, verify deficiency reports, sign the checklist honestly. If training is scheduled, you are in the vehicle fighting it — directing the driver, managing the turret, coordinating with the infantry if it is a combined exercise. If it is a maintenance day, you are troubleshooting faults and coordinating with the maintenance section.
  • 1130-1300Chow. Sit with the other Sgts and the SSgts. The track commander's chow conversation is vehicles, surf conditions, the next exercise, and who is ready for the next qualification.
  • 1300-1500Afternoon work. Continue training or maintenance. FitRep input on your Cpls if the cycle is due — write it during the rated period, not the night before. Counseling sessions with crew Marines — formal if needed, monthly at minimum. Career Course study if time allows.
  • 1500-1630Final formation. Platoon sergeant gives the next day's plan. Sensitive items — weapons, comm gear, NVGs, crypto if applicable — checked and counted. You report vehicle status to the platoon sergeant.
  • 1630Liberty call (garrison). Field problems, exercises, and ship-to-shore operations break this.
  • 1700-2000Personal time. Family time if married. Gym, Career Course coursework, Tuition Assistance courses, MCMAP belt progression if in barracks. The good track commander protects personal time and uses it for development.
  • 2000-2200If a crew member calls with a problem — financial, family, legal, medical — you are on the phone. The track commander's after-hours job starts here. The Marine who answers the phone is the track commander the crew trusts.
  • 2200Lights out. Tomorrow starts at 0500.
  • Ship-to-shore exercise / MEU deploymentThe clock breaks. You are in the vehicle from before dawn. Well-deck launch, open-ocean transit, surf-zone approach, beach assault, ramp drop, recovery to the ship. The track commander does not sleep until the vehicle is back aboard, the crew is accounted for, and the post-exercise PMCS is complete. A 3-week exercise at sea feels like 6. The platoon sergeant is grading every track commander in the platoon during every swim.

Weekly Cadence

The Mon-Fri rhythm at Sgt runs on the platoon training schedule and the vehicle's maintenance status. Monday is the heaviest planning day — the platoon sergeant puts out the week's training schedule at Friday's release, but Monday morning is when you find out what got cut, what got added, and what additional duty the company gunny just remembered. You spend the morning walking the vehicle and prioritizing the week's maintenance tasks; the afternoon is the first counseling slot or FitRep input session. Tuesday through Thursday is the training-and-maintenance rhythm. Vehicle crew drills — surf-zone entry and exit, turret weapons engagement, troop compartment management, emergency egress — rehearsed with the crew running their positions and you supervising from the commander's station. Combined training with the supported infantry platoon when the schedule aligns. PMCS continues daily; the vehicle does not maintain itself. The platoon sergeant pulls the vehicle for platoon-level exercises once the crew has rehearsed cleanly; the company gunny pulls the platoon for company-level exercises once the platoon has rehearsed. The week's other rhythm is the NCO administrative load. FitRep input cycles on your Cpls run on the Marine Corps FitRep schedule under MCO 1610.7. Pro/Con marks monthly on each crew Marine. Formal counseling when discipline issues arise. Vehicle maintenance records — the maintenance officer tracks readiness rates by vehicle, and your vehicle's number is your name on the readiness slide. Career Course coursework runs alongside if you are enrolled. The rhythm collapses completely during the MEU PTP workup. When the battalion is in the pre-deployment cycle, garrison time becomes exercise preparation, the exercise, maintenance recovery, AAR, and the next exercise. The track commander's week during PTP is physically and mentally demanding because every surf-zone entry is graded, every vehicle deficiency is tracked, and every crew performance is evaluated against the pre-deployment standard. The platoon sergeant is reading every track commander in the platoon during every swim — your performance during PTP builds the FitRep narrative that the SSgt board will read.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Fight the vehicle — direct the driver through surf-zone transit and beach approach, direct the turret gunner onto targets, manage the troop compartment ramp drop sequence, and make the call on whether to continue into bad surf or abort.
    The abort call is the hardest call you will make as a track commander. The timeline says go; the surf says no. The infantry platoon commander is on the radio asking where the vehicles are. The company commander is watching the formation. And you are in the turret looking at a surf zone that is at the edge of the vehicle's capability. The good track commander makes the call based on the vehicle's condition, the crew's proficiency, and the actual surf — not on the timeline. Build the judgment through progressive training: calm-water operations first, moderate surf next, heavy surf only when you and the crew have demonstrated proficiency at each level. The platoon sergeant should have confidence in your abort judgment before he sends you into the hardest conditions.
  2. 02
    Conduct and supervise a complete vehicle PMCS cycle — inspect the crew's work and know the vehicle's real condition before reporting to the platoon sergeant.
    Do not sign the PMCS checklist from the vehicle commander's hatch. Walk the vehicle. Check the hull integrity seals yourself. Verify the bilge pump operation. Inspect the turret weapons function. Check the troop compartment securing. The crew will tell you 'all good' — your job is to verify. The platoon sergeant's first question when a vehicle fails during an exercise is 'Did the track commander inspect the PMCS?' If the answer is no, the conversation is over and the counseling starts.
  3. 03
    Write FitReps on crew Cpls — observed performance, specific contributions, honest assessment the reporting senior can defend.
    FitRep writing at the track commander level under MCO 1610.7 is about specifics. Name the exercise, name the surf conditions, name the maintenance result. 'Cpl X drove the vehicle through 4-foot surf during Exercise Iron Fist with zero operator errors and the vehicle returned to the well deck mission-capable' is a FitRep line the reporting senior can defend. 'Cpl X performed well during all training events' is a FitRep line that tells the board nothing. Write in observed behavior, verify the current FitRep format against MCO 1610.7, and draft the narrative during the rated period instead of the night before the report is due.
  4. 04
    Coordinate with the supported infantry platoon on the ship-to-shore plan — capabilities, limitations, and emergency procedures.
    The infantry PLT CDR plans the mission; you tell him what the vehicle can actually do. Brief the infantry on surf limitations, vehicle speed in the water, troop compartment capacity, ramp-drop timing, and what happens if the vehicle takes on water. The infantry Marines in the back are not amphibian-trained — they need to know where the egress hatches are, what the egress sequence is, and what the track commander's voice command means when it comes. Run a face-to-face brief with the infantry platoon before every ship-to-shore exercise. Every time.
  5. 05
    Train the crew through emergency scenarios — flooding, fire, roll-over, CBRN — until every member can execute without prompting and under stress.
    The emergency drills are not training events to check the box. They are rehearsals for the day the vehicle floods in the surf zone with thirteen infantry Marines in the back. Drill the flooding sequence: identify the source, activate the bilge pump, call the emergency on the intercom, prepare for egress if the bilge cannot keep up. Drill the egress sequence: hatch locations, sequence, buddy checks, assembly point in the water. Run the drills in the vehicle, in the dark, with water in the troop compartment simulator if the battalion has one. The crew that has done 50 egress drills executes; the crew that has done 5 panics.
  6. 06
    Manage the AAV-to-ACV transition at the crew level — proficiency on both platforms during the overlap period.
    If the battalion is running both platforms, your crew has to be competent on whichever one rolls out of the well deck for the next exercise. Build a transition training plan: identify the differences in waterborne procedures between the AAV and ACV, run the crew through the ACV-specific PMCS and driving procedures, and validate crew proficiency on the new platform before taking it into the surf. The institutional knowledge from the AAV does not automatically transfer — different hull, different propulsion, different stability characteristics. Bridge the gap deliberately.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • Applicable TMs for AAV-7A1 (TM 2510-15 series) and/or ACV.
    Own the operator and crew-maintenance chapters for your platform. At the track commander level you are responsible for the vehicle's mission-capable status — the TM is the authority on what constitutes a mission-capable vehicle and what constitutes a deadline deficiency. Know the difference between a fault you can work around and a fault that keeps the vehicle out of the water.
  • NAVMC 3500 (18XX T&R Manual) — Sgt-level and crew-collective tasks.
    At Sgt you are evaluated on 2000-level crew-collective tasks and you sign off on 1000-level individual tasks for your crew Marines. The T&R Manual is the training plan — print the Sgt-level collective tasks and work through them with the platoon sergeant during your first 30 days as a track commander.
  • MCWP 3-33 — Ship-to-Shore Movement.
    You are executing ship-to-shore doctrine now, not just riding in it. The doctrine covers the phases of amphibious operations, the role of the assault amphibian platoon, and the coordination between the vehicles, the infantry, and the Navy amphibious ships. Read the vehicle-commander responsibilities chapter and the surf-zone operations chapter before your first ship-to-shore exercise as a track commander.
  • MCO 1610.7 — Performance Evaluation System.
    You write FitReps on your Cpls now — not just receive them. Understand the Section A narrative input, the attribute marks, the relative value mechanics, and the reporting chain. The SSgt board reads FitRep narratives in a mid-density MOS like 1833 — what you write on your Cpls and what is written about you both matter.
  • MCO 1400.32 — Marine Corps Promotion Manual.
    The SSgt selection runs through the centralized SNCO board — paper-record review, not cutting scores. Understand the board mechanics, the relative-value framework, and what the board reads. The Sgt who understands the SNCO board process builds a competitive FitRep profile deliberately instead of hoping the record speaks for itself.
  • MCRP 3-10A.4 — Marine Rifle Platoon.
    Understand the infantry platoon you support. Their plan is your plan. The infantry platoon's offensive and defensive doctrine, the platoon commander's responsibilities, and the integration of supporting arms — including your vehicle — are in this manual. The track commander who understands infantry doctrine coordinates better with the infantry PLT CDR.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • Sergeants Course graduate — required before competing for SSgt.
    Sergeants Course at the regional NCO academy — Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, Camp Foster Okinawa for in-residence, or CDET for non-resident. In-residence is materially better for the rigor and the network. Complete it as soon as the slot drops. Career Course is the next PME gate; the Sgt who has both Sergeants Course and Career Course before the SSgt board is the Sgt who is competitive.
  • Track commander qualification current on the platform the battalion operates.
    Track commander qualification means you have demonstrated proficiency in all vehicle-commander tasks — fighting the vehicle in the surf zone, supervising the crew, coordinating with the infantry, managing emergency procedures, and maintaining the vehicle's mission-capable status. The qualification is signed by the platoon sergeant and reviewed by the company gunny. Dual qualification (AAV and ACV) during the transition period is the visible differentiator.
  • 1st-Class PFT and CFT — the crew watches the track commander, and the infantry Marines in the back watch harder.
    The track commander sets the physical standard for the crew. Below 1st-Class as a track commander tells the crew and the infantry that the vehicle commander cannot perform outside the vehicle. Run with the platoon, hump with the company, and hit 1st-Class minimum on every PFT/CFT cycle.
  • Vehicle MCCRE / pre-deployment evaluation passed at the unit standard.
    The MCCRE or pre-deployment evaluation is the external grade on your vehicle and your crew. The evaluator is watching the track commander's decisions in the surf zone, the crew's execution of the ship-to-shore tasks, and the vehicle's condition after the exercise. Build toward the evaluation with progressive training — calm water, moderate surf, heavy surf — and rehearse the crew drills until the evaluation is execution, not learning.
  • FitRep relative value above battalion average — the SSgt board reads every narrative in a mid-density MOS.
    The 1833 community is small enough that the SSgt board reads FitRep narratives carefully. Build the narrative during the rated period — specific exercises, specific surf conditions, specific maintenance results, specific crew-development outcomes. The Sgt whose FitRep narrative reads like a list of specific accomplishments is the Sgt the board selects. The Sgt whose narrative reads like a generic template is the Sgt who sits in zone for an extra cycle.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Taking a vehicle into surf conditions beyond its capability or your crew's proficiency because the timeline says go.
    The ocean kills Marines who do not respect it. The mishap investigation names the track commander who made the call to enter the surf zone. The abort decision is yours — the platoon sergeant will support a well-reasoned abort. The timeline is the operations officer's problem; the vehicle and the crew are your problem. The 2020 AAV sinking that killed nine Marines and a Sailor is the institutional reminder that the surf zone is not forgiving.
  • Signing the PMCS as complete when you did not personally inspect the crew's work.
    The hydraulic failure at sea, the weapons malfunction in the turret, the bilge pump failure during a swim — the track commander owns every deficiency that was missed during PMCS. The maintenance chief will find the deficiency after the exercise; the platoon sergeant will find it in the investigation; and the FitRep narrative will reflect a track commander who signed off without verifying.
  • Failing to brief the infantry on emergency egress procedures before waterborne operations.
    The infantry Marines in the troop compartment are not amphibian crewmembers. They do not know the hatch locations, the egress sequence, or the buddy-check procedure unless you brief them. Every time. If the vehicle floods and the infantry does not know the egress drill, Marines drown. The brief takes five minutes and it saves lives.
  • Running the crew into the ground during pre-deployment training because 'we need to be ready.'
    The crew that is exhausted and resentful performs worse in the evaluation than the crew that was trained hard and treated right. The Sgt who grinds 18-hour maintenance days for six weeks straight has a crew that makes mistakes from fatigue — and mistakes in the surf zone kill Marines. Train hard, rest deliberately, and build the crew's proficiency through progressive training instead of through exhaustion.
  • Ignoring the ACV's different waterborne characteristics because 'I know how to drive in the water.'
    The ACV is not an AAV. The hull shape, propulsion, stability envelope, and surf limitations are different. The track commander who assumes AAV experience translates directly to ACV employment is the track commander who discovers the differences in the worst possible conditions. Learn the ACV-specific procedures from the TM, train the crew on the new platform progressively, and do not take the ACV into surf until the crew has demonstrated proficiency in calm water.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • Stay 1833 and compete for SSgt / platoon sergeant, or lateral move to a different MOS.
    SSgt in the 1833 community is the platoon sergeant billet — four to six vehicles, twelve to eighteen crewmembers, and the responsibility of advising a lieutenant who may never have been in the surf in a 30-ton vehicle. If you love the amphibious mission and the vehicle-crew leadership, this is the career path. The platoon sergeant billet in the 18XX community is one of the most consequential SSgt billets in the Marine Corps. If you want broader career options — infantry, maintenance, intelligence — the lateral-move window at Sgt is still open but narrowing. The honest math: the 1833 community is small with limited senior billets; staying means committing to a niche career path with a tight community and unique operational experience.
  • B-billet at Sgt — DI duty, MSG, recruiter, AA School instructor.
    B-billet at Sgt is a career-broadening decision. Drill Instructor duty at MCRD Parris Island or San Diego is ~3 years and the DI tour identifier is a known check at the SSgt and GySgt boards. Marine Security Guard (MSG) at Quantico opens embassy postings. Recruiter School opens a recruiting tour. Assault Amphibian School instructor billet at Camp Pendleton keeps you in the community while building the instructor credential. Each B-billet ages you fast, is visible at the SSgt board, and is career-broadening — but the cost is time away from the operational community, and in a small MOS like 1833, time away means losing currency on the platform.
  • Reenlistment at Sgt — sign for the bonus and the career, or EAS at 8-10 years.
    Reenlistment at Sgt is the career-commitment decision. SRB tier and bonus amounts for 1833 are published in current MARADMIN messages. The honest math: Sgts who re-enlist and stay are competing for a small number of SSgt platoon sergeant billets in three active battalions. Sgts who EAS at 8-10 years enter the civilian market with vehicle maintenance, maritime operations, and small-unit leadership experience — valued in defense contracting, commercial maritime, heavy equipment, and federal LE. Talk to the career planner with a plan.
  • Career Course timing — in-residence vs. CDET, and when to complete it before the SSgt board.
    Career Course is the PME tier that the SSgt selection board reads. In-residence at a regional SNCO academy is more rigorous and more visible than CDET non-resident. The Sgt who has Career Course complete 12-18 months before the SSgt board is competitive; the Sgt who is still enrolled during the board cycle is behind. Coordinate the timing with the platoon sergeant and the company gunny — the slot drops based on availability and the training schedule.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • 1st AABn (Camp Pendleton) — West Coast track commander
    West Coast surf conditions, Pacific deployment cycle (11th/13th/15th MEU). The AAV schoolhouse is on Pendleton, which means experienced instructors are accessible for questions and additional training. Twentynine Palms ITX for pre-deployment evaluation. The 1st MarDiv SgtMaj community has its own dynamics for the SSgt slate.
  • 2nd AABn (Camp Lejeune) — East Coast track commander
    Atlantic surf conditions, East Coast deployment cycle (22nd/24th/26th MEU). Onslow Beach at Camp Lejeune is the primary training beach. The 2nd MarDiv SgtMaj community has different slate dynamics. The Atlantic surf patterns, water temperature, and weather windows are different from the Pacific — the track commander who transfers from West Coast to East Coast learns a different ocean.
  • 3rd AABn (Camp Schwab, Okinawa) — Pacific forward-deployed track commander
    Forward-deployed under III MEF. Unaccompanied for most Marines. Training across the Indo-Pacific — Okinawa, Philippines, Korea, Australia. The surf and beach conditions vary dramatically across Pacific theater venues. The operational tempo is different because you are closer to the contingency mission. The track commander who serves a tour with 3rd AABn gains different operational experience than the CONUS-assigned Sgt.
  • MEU BLT afloat — track commander on deployment
    6-7 months aboard Navy amphibious shipping with the ARG. You are the track commander the BLT relies on to move infantry from ship to shore during contingency response, exercises, and training events. The MEU deployment is the formative operational experience for the 1833 Sgt — track commanders who deploy on a MEU come back with the operational reputation that defines the SSgt board read. Port visits, contingency posture, and daily vehicle maintenance in the well deck fill out the deployment rhythm.
  • Mixed-fleet battalion (AAV and ACV) — transition track commander
    If the battalion is transitioning, you may be managing a crew that operates one platform while learning the other. The transition track commander is the bridge between the institutional knowledge of the AAV and the new procedures of the ACV. The crew has to be competent on whichever platform rolls for the next exercise. This is the hardest version of the track commander seat because you are teaching a platform you may still be learning.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good Sgt 1833 is the track commander the platoon sergeant puts on the lead vehicle during the hardest ship-to-shore exercise of the deployment cycle. The vehicle comes through the surf clean — the driver timed the entry on the lull between sets, maintained power through the wave break, and held heading through the surf zone because the track commander read the conditions, briefed the driver, and managed the approach. The crew is disciplined. The infantry Marines get to the beach dry and oriented. The ramp drops where the platoon commander said it would. The crew re-enlists because this track commander taught them the job and treated them like Marines. The Cpl vehicle operator this Sgt trained is the next track commander the platoon sergeant will put forward. The junior crewmember who arrived six months ago can execute the egress drill in the dark. The vehicle's maintenance status is honest — the PMCS reflects the actual condition, not the condition the track commander wishes it were in. The platoon sergeant's read on this Sgt is set by month nine. The Career Course packet is built before the slot drops. The SSgt board will read a FitRep profile that reflects specific operational accomplishments — named exercises, named surf conditions, specific maintenance results, specific crew-development outcomes. The company gunny knows the track commander by name and by vehicle number, and when the hardest ship-to-shore exercise comes up on the training schedule, this is the Sgt the company gunny puts in the lead position. That trust — earned in the water, verified in the maintenance bay, documented in the FitRep — is the differentiator between the Sgt who picks up SSgt on the first eligible board and the Sgt who sits in zone for an extra cycle.

Preview — The Next Rank

Staff Sergeant (E-6) in the 1833 community is the platoon sergeant rank. You run a platoon of four to six vehicles, twelve to eighteen crewmembers, and the coordination between your vehicles and the infantry platoon you support. You write FitReps on three to four Sgt track commanders. You advise the platoon leader — usually a young lieutenant — on what the vehicles can actually do in the conditions you are facing, and you cover his blind spots without publicly correcting him. The SSgt-to-GySgt board and the Career Course define the next decade. If the ACV transition is underway, you are managing parallel training timelines — some crews on AAV, some on ACV — without losing readiness on either. The platoon sergeant in the 18XX community carries a weight that the equivalent rank in other vehicle MOS fields does not match, because the vehicles operate in the ocean and the consequences of leadership failure are measured in drowning incidents, not just deadline vehicles. The company commander and the company gunny are the next people in the chain; the GySgt company-gunny billet is the next career target.
FAQ

1833 E5 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E5 1833 (Assault Amphibious Vehicle / Amphibious Combat Vehicle Crewmember) actually do?
You are the track commander on an AAV-7A1 or ACV — responsible for the vehicle, the two or three crew members, the turret weapons, and the embarked infantry squad during ship-to-shore movement.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E5 1833?
Sergeant 1833 is the track commander rank — the most consequential E-5 billet in the assault amphibian community.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E5 1833?
Time-blocked day at the E5 1833 rank tier: 0500 Wake. Phone check for the platoon group chat — any overnight incidents, any vehicle emergency, any recall. None? Good. PT gear on, head to the company area, 0530 PT formation. You take accountability for your crew (you + Cpl operator + one or two junior Marines), report to the platoon sergeant. Missing crew member = your problem first, 0545-0700 Unit PT. You set the pace for the crew — run at the front, carry the ruck at the front, set the MCMAP mat work standard.…
Q04What mistakes get E5 1833 soldiers fired or relieved?
Taking a vehicle into surf conditions beyond its capability or the crew's proficiency because the timeline says go. The mishap investigation names the track commander who made the call; Phoning the track commander role. The assault amphibian crew's effectiveness is the Sgt's effectiveness — the platoon sergeant and the company gunny read it weekly; Missing Sergeants Course or Career Course PME. The SSgt board reads the PME record; missed gates are visible in a mid-density MOS
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E5 1833 rank tier?
Stay 1833 and compete for SSgt / platoon sergeant, or lateral move to a different MOS — SSgt in the 1833 community is the platoon sergeant billet — four to six vehicles, twelve to eighteen crewmembers, and the responsibility of advising a lieutenant who may never have been in the surf in a 30-ton vehicle. If you love the amphibious mission and the vehicle-crew leadership, this is the career path. The platoon sergeant billet in the 18XX community is one of the most consequential SSgt billets in the Marine Corps. If you want broader career options — infantry, maintenance,…
Q06What's next after E5 for a 1833 (Assault Amphibious Vehicle / Amphibious Combat Vehicle Crewmember) in the Marines?
Staff Sergeant (E-6) in the 1833 community is the platoon sergeant rank.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E5 1833 need to know cold?
Applicable TMs for AAV-7A1 and/or ACV.; NAVMC 3500 (18XX T&R Manual) — Sgt-level and squad-level collective tasks.; MCWP 3-33 — Ship-to-Shore Movement.

This playbook has no tips yet. Be the first to share what you know.

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