Install, maintain, and operate weapons fire control systems, radar equipment, and computer systems used in naval combat operations.
ASVAB AR+MK+EI+GS: 222 OR AR+2MK+GS: 230 (temporary 226 alternative noted; verify after September 30, 2026)
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Fire Controlmen operate and maintain the computerized weapons and radar systems that defend a ship. Work involves system alignment, diagnostics, component replacement, and continuous operational testing. Watchstanding in combat systems spaces is a core duty, monitoring and operating sensors and fire control equipment. The systems are complex and highly integrated, so troubleshooting spans hardware, software, and networks. Documentation and configuration management are rigorous.
You learn radar theory, computer systems, digital electronics, and integrated weapons system operation. Fault isolation across hardware and software boundaries becomes a core professional skill. The rating teaches precise alignment and calibration procedures. You gain familiarity with networked combat systems and their data flows. Nearly all Fire Controlmen hold a security clearance.
The job builds disciplined analytical thinking across complex, interacting systems. You develop precision and the patience to follow long diagnostic procedures correctly. It teaches responsibility, since the systems you maintain are the ship's defense. Fire Controlmen tend to become technically confident, methodical people. You also gain comfort with technology that blends mechanical, electronic, and software elements.
Defense contractors hire Fire Controlmen directly for systems maintenance, integration, and test roles at strong salaries. The clearance plus combat systems experience is a valuable and scarce combination. Industrial automation, robotics maintenance, and controls engineering are natural civilian parallels. Many veterans move into field service engineering, which pays well and values this profile specifically. Adding an engineering or computer science degree opens systems engineering tracks.
Published personal accounts with source links. Each describes an individual experience, not a typical assignment or a guarantee of your own experience.
“Whenever anyone hears ‘Fire Controlman’ they immediately assume that we are a brother rate to Damage Control.”
“But we don’t put out fires; we’re the ones who get to push the ‘fire’ button.”
“I am a CIWS Phalanx Close-In Weapons System) tech, but we also have NATO Sea Sparrow techs, radar techs and ACDS (Advanced Combat Direction System) techs. Each type has their specialty, but we are all family. Everyone has each other’s back.”
“Most people who have asked me about my rate think we’re engineers or we’re firefighters, but we are so much more than firefighters.”
“We combine key aspects of an array of different rates to operate our equipment to provide a multitude of fire control support whether it is offensive or defensive through an ever-changing plethora of missions. We’re the rate that puts the war in war ship.”
“What FC training typically looks like is we go to our ‘A’ school and we go through a two-month long course called ATT or Apprentice technical training, a course about circuitry and electronics.”
“Right now, as you’re hearing the alarms go off, that is us doing DTE or detect to engage.”
Quotes are from U.S. government public-domain news stories (DVIDS, army.mil and other official sources). Individuals and units are named as reported at time of publication.
You begin the day in the combat systems spaces running operability tests on the weapons fire control and radar systems. Your work involves maintaining and repairing the computers, radars, and directors that aim the ship's guns and missiles, troubleshooting down to the circuit card. During drills and live fire you keep the combat system tracking and engaging, coordinating with the operators in CIC.
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 Sailors, including those in support roles—not guaranteed admission or awards. Individual eligibility, assignment, selection, available training or competition places and successful qualification apply.
Assignment-dependent qualification and insignia earned aboard a qualifying surface ship or afloat staff—not automatically awarded for this rating.
For enlisted Sailors in an eligible surface assignment, including support ratings. Complete the command's current qualification standards, assessments and approval process. A shore or submarine assignment alone does not establish eligibility; confirm current enrollment rules with the command.
Assignment-dependent aviation qualification and insignia; support Sailors may qualify at authorized aviation commands.
Requires a qualifying aviation assignment or an authorized support-command arrangement, required in-rating technical qualifications and command approval. Current enrollment and pay-grade prerequisites must be checked; this is not a promotion or a badge awarded just for holding this rating.
Restricted to qualifying expeditionary assignments; recognizes tested field and unit-specific proficiency, including support duties.
Requires assignment to a command authorized to administer EXW and completion of its general and unit-specific personnel qualification standards and approval process. Published NSW program evidence establishes this route, not that every Navy unit offers it. Confirm current command authorization and prerequisites.
Sources reviewed . Confirm current course and badge requirements with official school guidance and your unit.
For Navy FC Fire Control Technician, 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 referenceThe Navy directs enlisted Sailors to rating-specific Learning and Development Roadmaps (LaDRs), and officers to their community managers and officer career-progression guidance. Rating conversion and commissioning are separate application paths, not automatic promotions.
Navy career planning: LaDRs, officer progression, and commissioningService-level application reference—not a verified next step for this listing
Limited Duty Officer (LDO) and Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) appointments require separate applications and program-specific qualifications. The reviewed active-duty page contains FY28 cycle requirements, not Reserve eligibility. Its 1 October 2026 application deadline has passed; this is not an open application offer or a verified designator match for this listing.
Navy active-duty LDO/CWO applicant requirementsSpecialty-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.
Install, maintain, and operate weapons fire control systems, radar equipment, and computer systems used in naval combat operations.
Fire Controlmen operate and maintain the computerized weapons and radar systems that defend a ship. Work involves system alignment, diagnostics, component replacement, and continuous operational testing. Watchstanding in combat systems spaces is a core duty, monitoring and operating sensors and fire control equipment. The systems are complex and highly integrated, so troubleshooting spans hardware, software, and networks. Documentation and configuration management are rigorous.
You learn radar theory, computer systems, digital electronics, and integrated weapons system operation. Fault isolation across hardware and software boundaries becomes a core professional skill. The rating teaches precise alignment and calibration procedures. You gain familiarity with networked combat systems and their data flows. Nearly all Fire Controlmen hold a security clearance.
Defense contractors hire Fire Controlmen directly for systems maintenance, integration, and test roles at strong salaries. The clearance plus combat systems experience is a valuable and scarce combination. Industrial automation, robotics maintenance, and controls engineering are natural civilian parallels. Many veterans move into field service engineering, which pays well and values this profile specifically. Adding an engineering or computer science degree opens systems engineering tracks.
ASVAB AR+MK+EI+GS: 222 OR AR+2MK+GS: 230 (temporary 226 alternative noted; verify after September 30, 2026). 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.
Navy enlisted occupational standards, NAVPERS 18068F, July 2026, Appendix B (rating enumeration) · 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.
Bonus-listed — Navy, as of 2026-09-27. Max bonus $15,000Published amount: $15,000Max bonus $15,000 is a display ceiling, including unconfirmed figures and illustrative estimates, not a confirmed offer. Separate programs are not added together.
Latest source review — 2026-10-25
The October 2 CNRC message, effective for initial classification/reclassification after October 3, supersedes the August message and confirms the Navy.com source rates. Funding is stated through December 11, 2026; individual contracts remain unverified. Most source rates cover October–December FY27, while named special-operations and nuclear programs cover October–September FY27. Its shipping table lists MU $10,000 and Nuclear Field $20,000, differing from the website's older up-to-$25,000 shipping headline. The table's FY27 window is October 1, 2026–September 30, 2027; the surrounding prose has inconsistent year wording. Elevated-PST bonus remains $20,000. The $140,000 headline includes loan repayment, not cash signing bonus alone. AECF/AV-to-rating mapping conflicts remain unresolved.
Historical amounts are retained. A displayed maximum is not a guaranteed payment. Confirm current written contract terms.
Bonus range review — 2026-10-10
Conditional planning range: $0–$15,000. $0 means no eligible or available bonus; the upper endpoint is from the listed program amount, not a likely payout or guaranteed offer. Historical/expired amounts do not verify a current offer. Do not add separate programs without written stacking authorization. Existing source dates and eligibility conditions remain controlling. Additional program amounts, when available, are explained in their own comments.
Published enlistment program: $15,000.
A listed program does not guarantee a bonus, job assignment or an available slot. Confirm your exact contract, component, ship date and eligibility with a recruiter.
Navy.com enlistment bonus listDeployment 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.