Heavy Construction Equipment Operator (21E)
- Enlisted
- Active Duty
- Army Reserve
The Army is always completing hundreds of construction projects and Heavy Construction Equipment Operators are integral to that process. Airfields, roads, dams and buildings can’t be created without moving tons of earth and building materials or producing concrete and asphalt. Construction equipment operators use bulldozers, cranes, graders and other heavy equipment to complete these kinds of projects.
Heavy Construction Equipment Operators are responsible for operating crawler and wheeled tractors with dozer attachments, scoop loader, motorized grader and towed or self-propelled scraper. Some of your duties as a Heavy Construction Equipment Operator may include:
- Interpreting information on grade stakes
- Driving bulldozers, roadgraders, and other heavy equipment to cut and level earth for runways and roadbeds
- Clearing, grubbing, stripping, excavating, backfilling, stockpiling and pushing scraper with tractor crawler
- Cutting and spreading fills material with scraper
- Transporting heavy construction equipment with tractor-trailer
- Assisting in performance of combat engineer missions
- Lifting and moving steel and other heavy building materials using winches, cranes, and hoists
- Digging holes and trenches using power shovels
Training:
Job training for a Heavy Construction Equipment Operator consists of nine weeks of Basic Training, where you’ll learn basic Soldiering skills, and four to 12 weeks of Advanced Individual Training. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field. You’ll learn:
- Operation of different types of construction equipment
- Operation of specific construction vehicles
- Maintenance and repair of equipment
Helpful Skills:
Helpful atrributes include:
- An interest in operating heavy construction equipment
- A preference for working outdoors
- An interest in working with your hands
Advanced Responsibilities:
Advanced level Heavy Construction Equipment Operators supervise and train other Soldiers within the same discipline. As an advanced level Heavy Construction Equipment Operator, you may be involved in:
- Constructing embankments
- Excavating hills and slopes with crawler tractor
- Finishing slopes
- Mixing soil stabilization materials
- Constructing embankments
- Performing surface and drainage maintenance
