Calculate firing data for artillery missions, operate fire control equipment, and coordinate artillery fire support.
ASVAB GT: 105
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Fire Control Marines run the fire direction center, the crew that turns a call for fire into firing data for the guns. Your working space is a vehicle or shelter full of computers, maps, radios, and charts, and the tempo arrives in bursts. You receive a mission, check it against safety and clearance requirements, compute a solution, and send commands to the gun line within seconds. Between missions there is constant preparation: updating weather data, verifying survey, maintaining charts by hand as a backup, and rehearsing. Field exercises mean long hours, night shifts, and moving the whole operation on short notice.
You learn ballistic computation, gunnery procedure, coordinate and grid work, meteorological corrections, and how to check another Marine's math before rounds go out. Both the digital system and the manual backup method are taught, so you actually understand why the numbers come out the way they do. Radio procedure and message discipline become automatic, since ambiguity in a fire mission is dangerous. You learn safety certification, clearance of fires, and the procedures that keep friendly units and aircraft out of an impact area. Working in a crew where roles rotate builds cross training and supervision skill.
Being the last check before something irreversible happens builds a standard of accuracy that outlasts the uniform by decades. You develop speed without carelessness, which is a specific and surprisingly trainable combination that most jobs never demand. Night operations and rotating shifts teach you how to stay sharp at the hour when your body badly wants to quit. The crew environment builds directness, because catching a peer's error politely and immediately is simply part of the job. You also gain real confidence with applied mathematics under pressure, which changes what you believe you can learn.
There is no civilian job called fire control, and the field is straightforward about that. Emergency dispatch, operations centers, and utility or pipeline control rooms hire people used to fast, procedural, high consequence work. Law enforcement and fire service careers are common, and veterans' preference points help with federal and state applications. Defense training contractors employ former fire control Marines in simulation centers and as instructors on the same equipment. The mathematical confidence you built makes a technical degree on the GI Bill far less intimidating than most veterans expect.
You begin in the fire direction center reviewing the fire support plan and calibrating the fire control systems. Your day is spent computing firing data, processing fire missions, and relaying commands to the guns to keep rounds accurate. Much of the work is at the FDC plotting targets and cross-checking calculations under time pressure.
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.
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 0844 Field Artillery Fire Control Marine, 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.
Calculate firing data for artillery missions, operate fire control equipment, and coordinate artillery fire support.
Fire Control Marines run the fire direction center, the crew that turns a call for fire into firing data for the guns. Your working space is a vehicle or shelter full of computers, maps, radios, and charts, and the tempo arrives in bursts. You receive a mission, check it against safety and clearance requirements, compute a solution, and send commands to the gun line within seconds. Between missions there is constant preparation: updating weather data, verifying survey, maintaining charts by hand as a backup, and rehearsing. Field exercises mean long hours, night shifts, and moving the whole operation on short notice.
You learn ballistic computation, gunnery procedure, coordinate and grid work, meteorological corrections, and how to check another Marine's math before rounds go out. Both the digital system and the manual backup method are taught, so you actually understand why the numbers come out the way they do. Radio procedure and message discipline become automatic, since ambiguity in a fire mission is dangerous. You learn safety certification, clearance of fires, and the procedures that keep friendly units and aircraft out of an impact area. Working in a crew where roles rotate builds cross training and supervision skill.
There is no civilian job called fire control, and the field is straightforward about that. Emergency dispatch, operations centers, and utility or pipeline control rooms hire people used to fast, procedural, high consequence work. Law enforcement and fire service careers are common, and veterans' preference points help with federal and state applications. Defense training contractors employ former fire control Marines in simulation centers and as instructors on the same equipment. The mathematical confidence you built makes a technical degree on the GI Bill far less intimidating than most veterans expect.
ASVAB GT: 105. 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.