Protect the marine environment through pollution response and investigations, vessel and facility inspections, environmental compliance, and marine-safety work.
ASVAB VE+AR: 109
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Marine Science Technicians handle port safety, environmental response, and marine inspection duties. Work includes inspecting vessels and facilities, investigating pollution incidents, and overseeing hazardous cargo operations. You respond to oil and chemical spills, coordinating cleanup and documenting the incident. Container and facility inspections require detailed knowledge of regulations. Reports and case files must withstand legal scrutiny because enforcement action may follow.
You learn marine environmental regulations, pollution response, and hazardous materials handling. Vessel and facility inspection procedures are trained to an enforcement standard. The rating teaches incident command structure and response coordination. You gain sampling, documentation, and evidence handling skills. Container inspection and cargo safety add technical depth.
The job builds thoroughness, because inspection findings and pollution cases are legally consequential. You develop professional confidence dealing with industry personnel who may not welcome you. It teaches clear, defensible writing. Marine Science Technicians tend to become careful, credible, detail-driven professionals. You also gain comfort operating in industrial and maritime environments.
Environmental compliance, health and safety, and hazardous materials management roles hire directly from this background. Port authorities, terminals, and shipping companies employ compliance and safety specialists with exactly this experience. Environmental consulting and spill response firms recruit for the regulatory and response skills. Federal agencies including EPA and state environmental departments are natural destinations. Certifications in occupational safety or environmental management raise earnings meaningfully.
Your day begins reviewing pollution reports and inspection schedules at the marine safety unit before heading to the waterfront. When a spill is reported you respond to the scene in protective gear, sampling the water, documenting the source, and coordinating cleanup contractors. Other days you inspect vessels and facilities for environmental compliance, then write investigation reports back at the office.
No suitable exact-MOS or related career-field video has been verified for this page yet. No unrelated video or search-results page is substituted.
$43,902–$74,948
2026 basic pay only; the same grade and service time pay the same across jobs. Promotions are assumed, not promised. Excludes allowances, bonuses and special pays.
For Coast Guard MST Marine Science Technician, official service-wide guidance and any exact feeder-list matches are distinguished below from unverified specialty-specific requirements. Ranks are not separate jobs, and these possibilities are not guaranteed promotions or available contracts.
Examples of higher service ranks
These are service-wide rank names, not a verified promotion ladder for this specialty. Examples are not exhaustive; appointments sharing a pay grade are not additional promotion steps.
Official military rank referenceThe October 2026 Reserve Servicewide Examination announcement makes advancement conditional on rating/pay-grade qualifications and command recommendation, with rating-specific examination exceptions. Its scope is Reserve E-5 through E-7, not every grade or active-duty cycle. It does not establish a promotion ceiling for this listing.
Coast Guard October 2026 Reserve advancement examinationService-level application reference—not a verified next step for this listing
Officer Candidate School is a separate competitive commissioning pathway open to Coast Guard enlisted members. This general program does not establish individual eligibility or a transfer to any particular officer specialty. Warrant appointments have separate requirements; no rating-to-warrant feeder match is asserted here.
Coast Guard Officer Candidate SchoolSpecialty-specific advancement, senior assignments, and eligibility for a different personnel category have not been verified for this listing. No feeder eligibility or automatic transition to another specialty is implied.
Advancement depends on current service rules, performance, required education, qualifications, selection, and authorized positions—not simply years served. Confirm current requirements with an official recruiter or career counselor.
Related military jobs below are for exploration, not promised progression or confirmed transfer paths.
Sources reviewed 2026-10-03. This is a partial evidence review, not verification of every advancement route for this specialty. Source retrieval dates do not replace policy effective dates.
Career-field mappings, not automatic qualifications. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024 national medians). O*NET links explain each occupation; military experience does not guarantee a job or salary.
Protect the marine environment through pollution response and investigations, vessel and facility inspections, environmental compliance, and marine-safety work.
Marine Science Technicians handle port safety, environmental response, and marine inspection duties. Work includes inspecting vessels and facilities, investigating pollution incidents, and overseeing hazardous cargo operations. You respond to oil and chemical spills, coordinating cleanup and documenting the incident. Container and facility inspections require detailed knowledge of regulations. Reports and case files must withstand legal scrutiny because enforcement action may follow.
You learn marine environmental regulations, pollution response, and hazardous materials handling. Vessel and facility inspection procedures are trained to an enforcement standard. The rating teaches incident command structure and response coordination. You gain sampling, documentation, and evidence handling skills. Container inspection and cargo safety add technical depth.
Environmental compliance, health and safety, and hazardous materials management roles hire directly from this background. Port authorities, terminals, and shipping companies employ compliance and safety specialists with exactly this experience. Environmental consulting and spill response firms recruit for the regulatory and response skills. Federal agencies including EPA and state environmental departments are natural destinations. Certifications in occupational safety or environmental management raise earnings meaningfully.
ASVAB VE+AR: 109. This is the catalog's listed requirement, not an individual eligibility decision. Confirm the current standard and any exceptions with the service.
This specialty can be pursued through an initial enlistment, subject to eligibility and available contracts. Confirm the current status of this specific classification with an official recruiter.
Catalog sources consulted: 2026-09-26. This is not an entry-by-entry verification date. No record-specific verification date is recorded. Occupation audit evidence reviewed: 2026-09-26; this does not re-verify every requirement.
Official branch occupation evidence
Occupation identified. This occupation was identified in the cited source. This does not verify requirements, benefits, or a current opening.
Official occupation evidence · reviewed 2026-09-26
Confirmed. Catalog evidence is not an inventory of open contracts.
No dated public inventory confirmed a currently open recruiting contract for this role. This does not mean there are no openings. Confirm current eligibility and offers with an official recruiter.
Advertised — Coast Guard, as of 2026-09-28Deployment likelihood: Moderate*
* Estimated. Rank progression and specialty-pay eligibility are illustrative assumptions. Deployment likelihood, when shown, is inferred from similar specialties in the branch and career field, not a published specialty deployment rate.
Descriptions may change. No military role is free from risk of injury or death, including non-combat work. Catalog review dates do not establish current openings or re-verification of every requirement.
Recruiting signals reflect what each branch published on the dates shown. They are not offers, and they do not mean a contract is open for you. Eligibility depends on your ASVAB scores, medical qualification, security clearance eligibility, and ship date. Confirm everything with an official recruiter. See our Disclaimer and Terms.