How to become an Army door gunner
Door gunner is an aircrew qualification you earn once you are already in an aviation unit, not a job you sign for at enlistment. There is no door gunner MOS and no recruiting contract for it. The route in is an aviation maintenance and aircrew MOS, then qualification on your unit's gunnery tables.
The real route
Enlist into an aviation maintenance and aircrew MOS — 15T, UH-60 Helicopter Repairer/Aircrew Member, or 15U, CH-47 Helicopter Repairer/Aircrew Member. Complete Basic Combat Training and MOS Advanced Individual Training. Get assigned to a flight company as a crew chief or non-rated crewmember. Then qualify on your unit's aerial gunnery tables. As an Army NCO put it in the service's own coverage, a prospective crewmember "first learns how to work on a helicopter." The gunnery comes after the maintenance trade, not instead of it.
Units also train ground-MOS soldiers into the role when operationally required, which is the other way people get there — but it is a tasking, not a career plan.
What catches people out
Qualification is a live-fire standard, not a course certificate. To complete the aircrew qualification table you fire 300 rounds by day and 200 rounds at night under night vision goggles, working through Table IV familiarisation and Table V practice first.
Door gunner salary in the US Army
There is no door gunner pay. You are paid as a 15T or 15U at your grade, and the qualification changes your duties rather than your rate. Flight crew members do draw Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay on top of basic pay, which is the one component the aircrew role adds.
| Grade | ≤2 yrs | Over 4 | Over 8 | Over 12 | Over 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-1 | $2,407.20 | flat | flat | flat | flat |
| E-4 | $3,142.20 | $3,658.50 | $3,815.40 | — | — |
| E-5 | $3,342.90 | $3,946.80 | $4,299.90 | $4,421.70 | — |
| E-6 | $3,401.10 | $4,068.90 | $4,612.80 | $5,043.30 | $5,267.70 |
| E-7 | $3,932.10 | $4,673.10 | $5,135.70 | $5,591.70 | $6,245.70 |
These are basic pay only. They exclude the Basic Allowance for Housing, which varies by duty station and dependants, the Basic Allowance for Subsistence, and any special or incentive pays. Both allowances are untaxed, so total compensation is meaningfully higher than the table shows — comparing a military figure against a civilian salary is not comparing like with like.
Source: DFAS 2026 Basic Pay tables, effective 1 January 2026. $2,407.20 is the E-1 rate after four months of service.
Is this the right role for you?
This guide covers how to get in. Whether you should is a different question. Gyfted's career quiz works from how you actually operate — how you handle pressure, structure and other people — rather than from a job title you have already picked.
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