Conduct reconnaissance and surveillance operations. Lead ground intelligence teams in gathering battlefield intelligence.
Officer - College Degree Required, Security Clearance
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Explore entry-level paths in Marines.
Ground Intelligence Officers are the intelligence specialists who live with the infantry rather than behind a headquarters desk. You commission, complete The Basic School, then go through the ground intelligence course and infantry officer training, which is a demanding start by design. Tours alternate between running a battalion intelligence section and leading a scout platoon, so a week may hold terrain analysis in the morning and patrolling in the afternoon. You brief company commanders, plan reconnaissance, debrief patrols, and turn what Marines saw on the ground into something usable. Field time is real, with the weight, the weather, and the miles that come with an infantry battalion.
You learn ground reconnaissance planning, terrain and weather analysis, patrol debriefing, and how to build an enemy picture out of fragments. Leading a scout platoon teaches small unit tactics, communications, fire support coordination, and how to keep a dispersed team alive and reporting. The intelligence training adds collection management and assessment writing on top of that tactical foundation. You are cleared to a high level and learn how compartmented reporting reaches a rifle company in a form it can use. Commanding Marines in the field also builds the practical logistics sense that keeps a platoon fed, watered, and supplied.
Doing analytic work while carrying a rifle builds a rare combination of physical and mental toughness. You develop judgment about incomplete information, because a patrol leaves on your read whether or not you feel ready. The job grows credibility from the front, since Marines believe an intelligence officer who has walked the ground they are walking. Long field problems teach endurance and the ability to keep thinking clearly when you are tired and cold. Responsibility for a platoon in dangerous terrain builds a decisiveness that stays with you permanently.
No civilian job looks like this one, so the honest translation is about the assets you carry out rather than the title. Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies recruit heavily from this community, and a clearance plus a field leadership record is exactly their profile. Defense firms hire former ground intelligence officers as instructors, exercise planners, and analysts supporting the units they came from. Executive protection, international risk advisory, and corporate investigations are other established routes. Many use the GI Bill for graduate work in security studies or an MBA and pivot into general management.
You begin at the recon or scout section, checking optics, radios, and route cards before pushing your teams forward to observe named areas of interest. The bulk of the day is spent controlling reconnaissance and surveillance patrols, plotting enemy dispositions, and relaying time-sensitive reporting back to the battalion. Late nights are for consolidating collection results and planning the next insert with your team leaders.
Related career-field video—not specific to Marines 0203.
No suitable exact-MOS video was verified in the recorded search. This does not establish that none exists.
Related field: Marine intelligence — CI/HUMINT perspective. Source occupation: Marines 0211.
A counterintelligence/human intelligence Marine describes his journey of lateral moving and his experiences in the 0211 job field on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, June 28, 2022. CI/HUMINT Marines detect and/or deny espionage, terrorism, sabotage and subversion by an adversary, and collect information through interpersonal contact. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl. Colton K. Garrett)
Official publisher description and direct video page checked; playback not independently watched. Checked 2026-10-25. This assignment may not reflect every posting in this career.
$77,814–$144,392
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.
Possibilities for serving Marines, including those in support roles—not guaranteed admission or awards. Individual eligibility, assignment, selection, available training or competition places and successful qualification apply.
Earned skill levels: tan, gray, green, brown and black belt. Applies across combat and support specialties.
Belts require documented training, sustainment and performance testing under authorized instructors. Higher belts have additional prerequisites, including applicable grade and professional-education requirements; neither promotion nor elapsed service awards a belt. Confirm the current requirements for the next belt with your instructor.
Sources reviewed . Confirm current course and badge requirements with official school guidance and your unit.
For Marines 0203 Ground Intelligence Officer, 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 referenceMarine NCO grades are E-4 and E-5; staff NCO grades are E-6 through E-9. At E-8 and E-9, first sergeant/sergeant major and master sergeant/master gunnery sergeant have distinct leadership roles. Warrant and commissioned officers are separate career tracks. This service-wide structure is not a verified promotion ceiling for this MOS.
Marine Corps ranks and career-track distinctionsService-level application reference—not a verified next step for this listing
The FY27 regular warrant program requires technical and professional qualifications for the requested warrant MOS and selection. A listed warrant destination does not establish an enlisted feeder match. The February 2026 deadline has passed; this announcement documents a selection route, not a currently open opportunity.
Marine FY27 regular warrant selection announcementSpecialty-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.
Conduct reconnaissance and surveillance operations. Lead ground intelligence teams in gathering battlefield intelligence.
Ground Intelligence Officers are the intelligence specialists who live with the infantry rather than behind a headquarters desk. You commission, complete The Basic School, then go through the ground intelligence course and infantry officer training, which is a demanding start by design. Tours alternate between running a battalion intelligence section and leading a scout platoon, so a week may hold terrain analysis in the morning and patrolling in the afternoon. You brief company commanders, plan reconnaissance, debrief patrols, and turn what Marines saw on the ground into something usable. Field time is real, with the weight, the weather, and the miles that come with an infantry battalion.
You learn ground reconnaissance planning, terrain and weather analysis, patrol debriefing, and how to build an enemy picture out of fragments. Leading a scout platoon teaches small unit tactics, communications, fire support coordination, and how to keep a dispersed team alive and reporting. The intelligence training adds collection management and assessment writing on top of that tactical foundation. You are cleared to a high level and learn how compartmented reporting reaches a rifle company in a form it can use. Commanding Marines in the field also builds the practical logistics sense that keeps a platoon fed, watered, and supplied.
No civilian job looks like this one, so the honest translation is about the assets you carry out rather than the title. Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies recruit heavily from this community, and a clearance plus a field leadership record is exactly their profile. Defense firms hire former ground intelligence officers as instructors, exercise planners, and analysts supporting the units they came from. Executive protection, international risk advisory, and corporate investigations are other established routes. Many use the GI Bill for graduate work in security studies or an MBA and pivot into general management.
Officer - College Degree Required, Security Clearance. This is the catalog's listed requirement, not an individual eligibility decision. Confirm the current standard and any exceptions with the service.
This is an additional qualification added to another specialty, not a job you enlist into. 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
NAVMC 1200.1L, FY26 Military Occupational Specialties Manual (effective October 1, 2025), chapter 1 · reviewed 2026-09-26
Confirmed. Catalog evidence is not an inventory of open contracts.
This is an additional qualification added to another specialty, not a job you enlist into.
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.
Deployment likelihood: Higher*
* 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.