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I know this response is coming a little late...but I hope it helps. I am an enlisted man (68W, Combat Medic) with a tour in Afghanistan 2006-2007 and now currently in Baghdad, Iraq. I am preparing to finish my Bachelors Degree (Computer Science) soon and will commissioning via OCS, and have researched and discussed with officers the options I have at this point. It is from these experiences and research I am giving these answers.
First off, officers do not have an "MOS". I am not trying to split hairs but the Army can be like religious groups - they've got their own vernacular, and knowing a little bit goes a long way in helping your own understanding. It works like this: the Army is divided into "branches" - Infantry, Aviation, Transportation, Field Artillery, Signal, etc. An MOS (military occupation specialty) is a specific skill within a branch for an enlisted person (people who join right out of HS, etc). So, for example, the Signal branch might have an MOS for radio repair, one for computer specialists, one for network specialist, one for satellite technicians, etc (basically, each is a vocational skill). Officers are NOT given an MOS - rather, they are "branched" to an entire branch, like Signal or Field Artillery. They do not have a specific vocational skill, but rather provide overall leadership and responsibility for all those enlisted MOS's guys. That's why officers are "commissioned" (by presidential order) and do not "enlist". So, your son in the Field Artillery (FA) would be in charge of a platoon (30-50 soldiers) of enlisted men, some of whom call for fire (13F MOS), some who plot it on computers (13D MOS), and he rest who actually cock the cannon and pull the string (13B MOS). Notice all of those have "13" in the identifier - that's because 13 is the branch for Field Artillery, and the letter signifies the specific MOS in that job. Your son will not have a letter identifier per se, but rather just be "Field Artillery".
Officers are accessed into a branch when they first enter they Army and are almost always expected to stay within that branch throughout their Army career, because of all the training the Army pays to progress them in that branch. So, if you join as an Infantry Officer, in 95% of cases the Army expects you to stay Infantry for the next twenty years (now realize, even an officer in one branch may have a myriad of jobs - you might lead men in the field, run a training unit, develop new doctrine for your branch, work liaison, etc).
With branch detail, you basically have the opportunity to have "real" leadership duties in a Combat Arms branch (Infantry, Field Artillery, Armor, etc) during your first few years as a Lieutenant. When you get ready to go to your branch specific Captain's Career Course, you get to go to a "softer" Combat Support branch (like Signal, Transportation, etc). So, you get to experience a wider slice of the Army. Furthermore, the leadership skills developed leading men in Combat Arms is MUCH more respected in the Army, and the training opportunities (Airborne, Ranger, Air Assault, etc) are generally more accessible. Virtually every officer with more than one star on his shoulder has been Combat Arms at some point - it's an unwritten rule, to be the coach you had to be a quarterback at some point (I hate American football, but the analogy works ;).
So, the Army accesses your son into the Signal Corp - this is his corp (branch), and will be on his paperwork and will be worn on his uniform. If he stays in the Army, this will be his career field and will be waiting for him as he approaches Captain (3-4 years) and will be his branch until retirement. However, he will be "detailed" (loaned out) to the Field Artillery for his time a Lieutenant. This means his Officer Basic Course (branch training for new officers) will be the Field Artillery OBC, not the Signal OBC, and he will be assigned and perform the duties of a FA officer.
Let me touch on being a FA officer. Most Combat Arms today are performing the EXACT same missions, often even with the same vehicles and equipment. Here in Iraq I am with Cavalry Scouts (part of the Armor branch). Sure, our officers and and enlisted trained on tanks, armored fighting vehicles, etc, just like your son will train on artillery. However, over here, we are all doing nearly the same jobs - our day to day is no different than the Infantries, the Field Artillery, or the Combat Engineers. We get in humvees, MRAPs, or Strykers and do presence patrols, route clearance, key leader engagement, embed with local security forces, act as a quick reaction force, perform raids, escort explosive ordnance specialists, etc. There is a small minority of Combat Arms who perform their actual specialty - for example, we have a handful of tanks here that the tankers very seldom run outside the wire, or field artillery guys who run a few artillery pieces at the FOBs, COBs, JSS's, firebases, etc. Realize this is a fraction of the Combat Arms who are doing general "ground pounding" like us. Back home in training, they're more likely to be training in branch specific stuff. To sum up: Yes, your son will most likely end up doing Infantry work in country rather than FA.
Also realize that as an officer, even a junior one, your son could end up flying a desk job, even in a combat zone. Most LT's will be put in charge of a platoon (30-50 men) and run missions, but a very small minority will act in positions at the TOC (Tactical Operations Center, what civilians would call Headquarters). For example, he may be assigned there as a fire support liaison officer. Or as a Executive Officer (XO), who is kinda a work monkey for the Company Commander (a Captain in charge of a Company i.e. two to four platoons). With the Army and combat deployments you never, ever, EVER truly know what your mission will be or what job you will be performing until you get to country and start doing it. He could spend an entire deployment eating seven flavors of ice cream every day and watching satellite TV in an air conditioned office. Or he could lead a platoon in daily foot patrols in mountains where we are DESPERATELY outnumbered (I've been there - Kunar Province, Afghanistan).
So, if your son wants it, being detailed to FA is a good thing. The Army is just that - a fighting Army, an Army at war, and at the end of the day we need men who will fight, who will close with and destroy the enemy. Everything else is important - COIN, logistics, support, etc - but NOTHING can ever replace the man willing to lead and fight in combat. I suspect your son is like many of us - he wants to do his part, not just wear a shiny uniform or pay for a college degree. I hate marching, I hate uniforms, and I would have *never* made it in a peace time Army - I am here for the men and for the fight. Some days it kills me inside (as a medic, I am the one who has to deal firsthand when things go down the shitter), but to not to show up would be an even worse burden to carry my whole life - the what if?, the why not me?. If your son wants to answer these questions before he decides to ride out a desk career (in the Army Signal or in civilian life), it's probably important for him to do this now.
I hope this helps. Despite the hardship, there is NO other place or NO other thing I'd rather be doing now, and you will hopefully get the same feelings from your son. I know how hard it is on my mother. Sometimes, I think it's harder on her: I get the comradery, the sense of accomplishment, the medals and the paycheck. All she gets is to worry. So, I hope a little information will help put you at ease. Feel free to email through these boards if you have any other questions.
-Clint E, SPC.
3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division Afghanistan 2006-2007
1/150th ARS, 30th HBCT, Baghdad Iraq 2009-2010
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