About This Career

Members of the infantry are ground troops that engage with the enemy in close-range combat. They operate weapons and equipment to engage and destroy enemy ground forces. Being in the infantry is considered to be one of the more physically demanding and psychologically stressful military jobs.

This career is part of the Government and Public Administration cluster National Security pathway.

A person in this career:

• Operates and maintains mounted and dismounted weapons such as rifles, machine guns, mortars, and hand grenades
• Participates in reconnaissance operations
• Employs, fires, and recovers antipersonnel and antitank mines
• Operates night vision equipment
• Locates, constructs, and camouflages infantry positions and equipment
• Evaluates terrain and records topographical information
• Operates and maintains field communications equipment
• Places explosives and performs minesweeping activities on land
• Delivers long-range, precision fire from concealed positions
• Supports security, stability, transition, and reconstruction operations

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 50 lbs., sometimes up to 100 lbs. You will need a lot of strength at this level.
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Exposed to conditions such as high voltage electricity, combustibles, explosives, and chemicals more than once a month
• Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
• Exposed to hazardous situations involving possible injury such as cuts, bites, stings, and minor burns more than once a month
• Work in this occupation involves kneeling, crouching, stooping, and/or crawling more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves use of special protective items such as a breathing apparatus, safety harness, full protection suit, or radiation protection
• Work in this occupation involves walking or running more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Maintaining a body position that prevents falling when in an unstable position
• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Moving the arms, legs and torso together when the whole body is in motion
• Judging how far away an object is, or which of several objects is closer or farther away
• Using muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring
• Short periods of running, jumping, or throwing
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Seeing clearly in low light conditions
• Seeing objects or movement to one's side when looking forward
• Being able to tell the direction from which a sound is coming
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Exerting oneself physically over long periods of time without getting out of breath

Work Hours and Travel

• Irregular hours
• Overnight travel