Lead artillery units in fire support operations. Plan and coordinate indirect fire missions for ground combat operations.
Officer - College Degree Required
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Field Artillery Officers direct the guns and the fires that support Marines on the ground. After commissioning and The Basic School you train in the artillery field and then serve as a fire direction officer, a platoon commander, or a forward observer with an infantry unit. Days split between technical work on firing data and target lists and the leadership load of running Marines, equipment, and training plans. In the field you occupy positions, verify safety, check computed solutions, and answer for rounds that land kilometers from anyone who can see them. The responsibility is heavy and immediate, because an artillery error is not recoverable.
You learn gunnery theory, ballistics, survey and positioning, target acquisition, and the fire support planning that ties artillery to a maneuver plan. Safety certification teaches an uncompromising approach to procedure, checks, and independent verification. Coordinating aircraft, mortars, naval gunfire, and cannons in the same airspace is a complex systems problem you solve regularly. Leading a firing platoon builds personnel management, maintenance oversight, and accountability for expensive and dangerous equipment. Briefing a maneuver commander on what fires can and cannot do sharpens your technical communication considerably.
Owning a system where mistakes are lethal builds a permanent respect for procedure and for double checking your own work. You develop mental composure, because computing accurately while several people shout into a radio is the real test of the job. It grows genuine confidence in mathematics and process as tools for controlling chaos rather than abstractions from a classroom. Leading Marines through long, tedious, physically hard gun line work teaches you to sustain morale without theatrics or speeches. You also learn to take responsibility publicly and immediately when something goes wrong, a habit most people never build.
Nobody hires civilians to command howitzers, so the value here is the record and the specific habits of mind. Municipal police, sheriff and state patrol agencies, and federal law enforcement hire artillery officers regularly, with veterans' preference points applying. Operations management in manufacturing and construction suits someone used to running technical crews and hazardous equipment on a schedule. Defense contractors and training organizations hire former artillery officers as fire support instructors, simulation designers, and observer controllers. Graduate school on the GI Bill, especially business or public administration, is a common and effective pivot.
Reveille brings you to the firing battery to review the fire support plan and confirm gun positions with your section chiefs. Your day revolves around processing fire missions, coordinating with forward observers and the fire direction center, and refining targets so rounds land accurately in support of the infantry. You move between the guns, the FDC, and the operations map, always tracking safety and ammunition on hand.
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.
$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 0802 Field Artillery 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.
Lead artillery units in fire support operations. Plan and coordinate indirect fire missions for ground combat operations.
Field Artillery Officers direct the guns and the fires that support Marines on the ground. After commissioning and The Basic School you train in the artillery field and then serve as a fire direction officer, a platoon commander, or a forward observer with an infantry unit. Days split between technical work on firing data and target lists and the leadership load of running Marines, equipment, and training plans. In the field you occupy positions, verify safety, check computed solutions, and answer for rounds that land kilometers from anyone who can see them. The responsibility is heavy and immediate, because an artillery error is not recoverable.
You learn gunnery theory, ballistics, survey and positioning, target acquisition, and the fire support planning that ties artillery to a maneuver plan. Safety certification teaches an uncompromising approach to procedure, checks, and independent verification. Coordinating aircraft, mortars, naval gunfire, and cannons in the same airspace is a complex systems problem you solve regularly. Leading a firing platoon builds personnel management, maintenance oversight, and accountability for expensive and dangerous equipment. Briefing a maneuver commander on what fires can and cannot do sharpens your technical communication considerably.
Nobody hires civilians to command howitzers, so the value here is the record and the specific habits of mind. Municipal police, sheriff and state patrol agencies, and federal law enforcement hire artillery officers regularly, with veterans' preference points applying. Operations management in manufacturing and construction suits someone used to running technical crews and hazardous equipment on a schedule. Defense contractors and training organizations hire former artillery officers as fire support instructors, simulation designers, and observer controllers. Graduate school on the GI Bill, especially business or public administration, is a common and effective pivot.
Officer - College Degree Required. This is the catalog's listed requirement, not an individual eligibility decision. Confirm the current standard and any exceptions with the service.
A civilian can pursue this specialty through an officer accession path, subject to eligibility and assignment. 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.