Collect, process, and analyze geospatial intelligence data using advanced imagery and mapping technologies.
ASVAB CL: 110 or GT: 110
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Geospatial Intelligence Specialists build the maps, terrain models, and spatial products Marines use to plan and to move. You work in mapping software most of the day, pulling elevation data, imagery, and survey information into products a commander can actually read. Requests are constant and specific: line of sight from a hilltop, a route study for a convoy, a beach gradient for an amphibious landing. Aboard ship or in a deployed command post you produce under time pressure with whatever data you can reach. The billet is more technical and sedentary than most Marine jobs, though survey work gets you outside and every Marine still qualifies with a rifle each year.
You learn geographic information systems, coordinate systems and datums, digital terrain analysis, cartographic design, and geodetic survey fundamentals. Turning raw spatial data into a clear product is design work as much as technical work, and you are held to both standards. The training covers database management and quality control, because a map with a bad coordinate is worse than no map at all. You also learn to question the person requesting a product to find out what decision they are actually trying to make. A high level clearance and experience with classified data sources round out the package.
Precision becomes a personal value once you understand that a coordinate you typed determines where something lands. You grow patient with iterative work, since a good product usually takes several passes and some honest feedback from the person who asked for it. The job builds service mindedness, because everything you make exists for somebody else's decision rather than your own satisfaction. Explaining spatial concepts to Marines without your training sharpens your ability to teach, to simplify, and to confirm you were understood. Deadlines that arrive without warning teach you to prioritize calmly instead of working faster and sloppier.
Geospatial work is one of the cleanest civilian translations in the Marine Corps, and the demand is broad. GIS analyst and cartographer positions exist in local government, utilities, transportation planning, environmental consulting, and surveying firms. Federal geospatial agencies and their contractors hire veterans from this field regularly, and a clearance shortens the process considerably. Remote sensing and spatial data science are growing quickly, and your military work is genuine portfolio material. A GI Bill funded degree in geography, surveying, or data science builds directly on what you already know.
Your morning starts at the geospatial workstation loading fresh imagery and terrain data for the area of operations. Throughout the day you build maps, analyze terrain and infrastructure, and produce geospatial products that support mission planning. You spend hours in mapping software, collaborating with imagery analysts and planners to shape the common operating picture.
Related career-field video—not specific to Marines 0261.
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.
$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.
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 0261 Geospatial Intelligence Specialist, 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.
Collect, process, and analyze geospatial intelligence data using advanced imagery and mapping technologies.
Geospatial Intelligence Specialists build the maps, terrain models, and spatial products Marines use to plan and to move. You work in mapping software most of the day, pulling elevation data, imagery, and survey information into products a commander can actually read. Requests are constant and specific: line of sight from a hilltop, a route study for a convoy, a beach gradient for an amphibious landing. Aboard ship or in a deployed command post you produce under time pressure with whatever data you can reach. The billet is more technical and sedentary than most Marine jobs, though survey work gets you outside and every Marine still qualifies with a rifle each year.
You learn geographic information systems, coordinate systems and datums, digital terrain analysis, cartographic design, and geodetic survey fundamentals. Turning raw spatial data into a clear product is design work as much as technical work, and you are held to both standards. The training covers database management and quality control, because a map with a bad coordinate is worse than no map at all. You also learn to question the person requesting a product to find out what decision they are actually trying to make. A high level clearance and experience with classified data sources round out the package.
Geospatial work is one of the cleanest civilian translations in the Marine Corps, and the demand is broad. GIS analyst and cartographer positions exist in local government, utilities, transportation planning, environmental consulting, and surveying firms. Federal geospatial agencies and their contractors hire veterans from this field regularly, and a clearance shortens the process considerably. Remote sensing and spatial data science are growing quickly, and your military work is genuine portfolio material. A GI Bill funded degree in geography, surveying, or data science builds directly on what you already know.
ASVAB CL: 110 or GT: 110. 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.
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.
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: 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.