New Army recruits going into two of the service’s most critical fields will no longer be able to choose which specific jobs they enlist into, according to an internal service email reviewed by Military.com.
Both the field artillery and air defense fields, which each have several jobs within them that center around different weapons and maintenance, as well as surveillance and communications systems, will no longer allow soldiers to enlist directly into those specific roles.
It’s a similar move to what the service did with infantry years ago by not allowing new applicants in some situations to pick between typical ground infantry and mortarmen. It is unclear whether other job fields will be reducing choice for new applicants, and the Army did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
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The move comes as both air defense and artillery will likely play a key role in future conflicts, as those two fields have been critical on the battlefield in Ukraine — where some 12,000 artillery shells are estimated to be fired each day and air defenses have been key to stopping Russian airpower from advancing the front lines.
Air defense has been particularly affected as the Pentagon has spread its units thin in recent years, with the Army amassing troops in Europe and the Pacific while juggling combat missions in the Middle East and…
