Ontos Crewman
0353 was the historical Marine Corps specialty for an Ontos Crewman. The M50A1 Ontos carried six M40 106 mm recoilless rifles. Designed as an antitank vehicle, it was also used for direct fire support of ground units in Vietnam. The Marine Corps Personnel Manual explicitly names MOS 0353 in an example of a Mortar Man (0341) qualifying as an Ontos crewman. After qualification, the Marine could hold either 0353/0341/none or 0341/0353/none as the primary and additional MOS sequence. This is a qualification example, not evidence that 0341 replaced 0353. The cited sources do not establish the MOS creation date, retirement date, or a direct successor, so those remain unknown.
Source documents (2)
- Marine Corps Personnel Manual, Chapter 3, Classification of Military Personnel
1. Paragraph 3102.4, printed p. 3-12 (PDF p. 10), qualification example naming Ontos Crewman, MOS 0353
- National Museum of the Marine Corps, Marine Corps Vietnam Gallery Weapons
2. PDF p. 1, M50A1 Ontos entry