Lead combat engineer units in mobility, counter-mobility, and survivability operations. Plan and execute demolitions, construction, and obstacle operations.
Officer - College Degree Required, Engineering Preferred
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Combat Engineer Officers lead Marines who build, breach, and destroy things so that a force can move or can stay. You commission, complete The Basic School with the rest of your officer class, and then train in the engineer field before taking a platoon. Work ranges widely: demolition and breaching, obstacle planning, bridging, fortifications, route clearance, and basic construction and utilities projects. Garrison duties include training plans, explosives safety, equipment accountability, project estimation, and leading a platoon of tradesmen who know their work well. In the field you plan an engineer effort, resource it, and then answer for whether it was done safely and on time.
You learn demolitions and explosives safety, obstacle and breaching planning, horizontal and vertical construction basics, bridging, and utilities support. Project management comes with the job: estimating materials, sequencing work, managing equipment, and reporting progress honestly. Leading technicians and heavy equipment operators teaches you to supervise skilled trades without pretending to be one. Engineer reconnaissance builds practical judgment about soil, slope, water, and load, which is applied civil engineering. You also learn risk management in a literal sense, since your plans put explosives and heavy machinery near people.
Working around explosives and heavy equipment every week makes you rigorous about safety until it becomes pure instinct. You develop a builder's satisfaction in tangible results, which shapes how you judge your own work afterward. The job grows practical decisiveness, because a construction problem in the field will not wait for a perfect answer. Leading experienced tradesmen teaches respect for expertise and the confidence to lead without being the most skilled person present. You also build resourcefulness, since engineer projects always turn out to be short some material you counted on.
Construction and engineering management is the natural destination here, and former combat engineer officers land there routinely. Project engineer, superintendent, and construction manager roles at general contractors value documented experience running crews and equipment safely. Utilities, energy, and heavy civil companies hire officers from this background into operations and safety leadership positions. Federal agencies and defense contractors employ engineer officers in facilities, infrastructure, and program management work. A civil engineering or construction management degree on the GI Bill, or an MBA, accelerates all of these paths considerably.
Your morning starts by walking the engineer equipment line and reviewing the day's mobility tasks with your platoon. You spend the day planning demolitions, breaching obstacles, and directing survivability digs or route clearance while coordinating closely with the maneuver units you support. Much of the work happens in the field alongside heavy equipment, with time back in the CP updating the obstacle overlay and mission timeline.
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 1302 Combat Engineer 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 combat engineer units in mobility, counter-mobility, and survivability operations. Plan and execute demolitions, construction, and obstacle operations.
Combat Engineer Officers lead Marines who build, breach, and destroy things so that a force can move or can stay. You commission, complete The Basic School with the rest of your officer class, and then train in the engineer field before taking a platoon. Work ranges widely: demolition and breaching, obstacle planning, bridging, fortifications, route clearance, and basic construction and utilities projects. Garrison duties include training plans, explosives safety, equipment accountability, project estimation, and leading a platoon of tradesmen who know their work well. In the field you plan an engineer effort, resource it, and then answer for whether it was done safely and on time.
You learn demolitions and explosives safety, obstacle and breaching planning, horizontal and vertical construction basics, bridging, and utilities support. Project management comes with the job: estimating materials, sequencing work, managing equipment, and reporting progress honestly. Leading technicians and heavy equipment operators teaches you to supervise skilled trades without pretending to be one. Engineer reconnaissance builds practical judgment about soil, slope, water, and load, which is applied civil engineering. You also learn risk management in a literal sense, since your plans put explosives and heavy machinery near people.
Construction and engineering management is the natural destination here, and former combat engineer officers land there routinely. Project engineer, superintendent, and construction manager roles at general contractors value documented experience running crews and equipment safely. Utilities, energy, and heavy civil companies hire officers from this background into operations and safety leadership positions. Federal agencies and defense contractors employ engineer officers in facilities, infrastructure, and program management work. A civil engineering or construction management degree on the GI Bill, or an MBA, accelerates all of these paths considerably.
Officer - College Degree Required, Engineering Preferred. 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: 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.