Military Jobs: Your Future Career in the Armed Forces

Administrators keep databases and information about everything in their service branch, from personnel to equipment to funding. Positions within this military specialty include:

• Accountants
• Lawyers and legal affairs
• Maintenance tracking
• Supply and transportation logistics
• Warehouse management

A unique job category within the armed forces, those with combat specialty roles train and work specifically within warfare-related activities. These can include:

• Infantry
• Artillery
• Special force units, such as the Army Rangers or Navy SEAL teams
• Tank and armored vehicle operators

Those with a construction military specialty position are responsible for building and repairing necessary infrastructure — including bridges, airfields and buildings. Some possible jobs in this specialty include:

• Crane operator
• Carpenter
• Plumber
• Electrician

Service members with this career specialty maintain and repair the electronic equipment used by all military personnel. Those in this category can specialize in repairing certain classes of equipment, including:

• Aircraft electronics
• Computers
• Communications
• Weapons and targeting systems

Just like in the civilian world, the military needs those with technical and scientific skills. Positions in this category include:

• Engineers of all kinds, such as civil, structural and electrical
• Scientists in many fields, such as environmental, statistics and disease-control
• Intelligence gatherers

The military needs those whose primary work is to heal both service members and their families. Available roles in this specialty include:

• Medical doctors
• Nurses
• Phlebotomists
• Laboratory and equipment technicians for X-rays, ultrasounds, etc.
• Pharmacists

Even the military has a human resources department, just like civilian organizations. After all, every branch’s most important resource is its service members. Jobs in this specialty can include:

• Personnel specialists, who coordinate tasks relating directly to service members like training, assignments and promotions.
• Recruiting specialists, who provide information about their specific branch of the armed forces to recruits.
• Training specialists, who teach service members the skills they need to succeed. For example, your instructors at basic and advanced training had either a permanent or temporary assignment in a human resource specialty.

Like the electronic repair positions discussed earlier, this military specialty also includes the operation and repair of equipment – but specifically industrial equipment and machinery. Roles in this specialty include:

• Welders
• Metalworkers
• Survival equipment specialists
• Engine, nuclear reactor and water pump operators

Service members who work in this military specialty help advance their branch’s marketing and public relations goals. They speak to the civilian press to share accurate information about their branch’s activities and goals to the general public.

Military units and installations need protective services personnel, just like a civilian city. Roles in this specialty include:

• Firefighters
• Military police
• Detectives
• Guards

To keep fighting forces fit and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, each branch maintains personnel as support staff, whose sole focus is the morale and personal well-being of service members. Roles in this military specialty include:

• Religious program specialists
• Cooks and food service staff
• Counselors who provide non-medical services

Each branch needs to be able to transport goods and personnel wherever they’re needed in the world, which is where transportation specialists and material handlers come in. Some jobs in this category include:

• Aircrew
• Forklift operators
• Quartermasters
• Boat and truck operators

A unit can’t deploy if its vehicles and heavy equipment don’t work, which is why the military trains special mechanics to repair and maintain its fleet of machinery. Careers in this specialty include:

• Aircraft mechanics
• Automotive and heavy equipment mechanics
• Heating and cooling mechanics
• Marine engine mechanics
• Mechanics who repair equipment at power plants and stations

In addition to some of the common jobs held by service members, the military also offers unique career options that may not have crossed your mind. These include:

• Entomologists, who study, track and treat bug infestations at installations worldwide.
• Musicians, who play in service bands such as the “The President’s Own” Marine Corps Band for both fellow service members and the general public on either temporary or full-time assignments.
• Multimedia illustrators, who design the graphics and illustrations used in military publications.
• Veterinarians, who care for the military’s service animals — including horses, dolphins and dogs.
• Photographers, who record the events happening in military life both at home and abroad. In fact, some of the images you’ve seen on Military OneSource feature their work.

Note that these and other unusual military careers may not be available for service members in every branch. For example, only the Army employs veterinarians, but they support every branch’s working animals.