Army expands MOS program that allows soldiers to skip certain training

The Army recently announced a slew of military occupational specialties, or MOSs, that are being added as eligible jobs within the service’s Civilian Acquired Skills Program, or ACASP, an initiative that allows soldiers with particular sets of skills to skip certain portions of training early in their Army careers.

With the latest addition of 17 job specialties, which officially were added on Oct. 1, the number of jobs that qualify for the ACASP has climbed to 60.

Under the program’s guidelines, qualified recruits, meaning those who acquired job-specific certifications or training as civilians, are eligible to go into the service with modified training and at a higher rank than their peers, according to the service’s announcement.

Jobs added to the program during its latest modification continue the service’s push to align civilian skills with in-demand fields such as health care, technical maintenance and electronic trades, among others.

“ACASP offers a two-pronged benefit,” Brig. Gen. Gregory Johnson, the director of Military Personnel Management, said in a service release. “The Army gets skilled specialists into the force faster and at a lower cost, while the soldier receives a significant head start in their military career.”

Any civilian training criteria that qualifies an applicant for the program, meanwhile, must be verified through an official certificate, licensing or transcript documentation, the release noted.

Those who provide the aforementioned evidence are also required to fall within certain service age requirements, meet physical fitness expectations and pass a background check, according to the release.

The 17 occupational specialties being added to the ACASP are as follows:

• 68V – Respiratory Specialist
• 91A – M1 Abrams Tank System Maintainer
• 91J – Quartermaster and Chemical Equipment Repairer
• 91M – Bradley Fighting Vehicle System Maintainer
• 91P – Self-Propelled Artillery Systems Mechanic
• 91S – Stryker Systems Maintainer
• 92A – Automated Logistical Specialist
• 92F – Petroleum Supply Specialist
• 92W – Water Treatment Specialist
• 92Y – Unit Supply Specialist
• 94E – Radio Equipment Repairer
• 94F – Computer/Detection Systems Repairer
• 94P – Multiple Launch Rocket System Repairer
• 94R – Avionic and Survivability Equipment Repairer
• 94S – Patriot System Repairer
• 94T – Short Range Air Defense System Repairer
• 94Y – Automated Test Systems Operator/Maintainer

Previous service announcements regarding the program note that in addition to the enlistment benefits mentioned above, soldiers joining under ACASP are able to select their ideal duty station, pending availability, and are often eligible for sign-on bonuses.

The latest addition of occupational specialties, meanwhile, comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has placed a rejuvenated emphasis on training and warfighting efficiency among combat jobs.

In a Sept. 30 address to hundreds of top military leaders at Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth took aim at combat-specific standards, saying that every associated MOS will return “to the highest male standard, only because this job is life or death.”