Army MOS · IT & Cyber

51R Systems Automation Acquisition and Engineering

Current service use not established

This code is listed in the directory. Inclusion alone does not confirm current service use.

Overview

A Systems Automation Acquisition and Engineering officer manages Army automation systems from requirements and research through development, acquisition, and disposal. The officer evaluates technologies, develops testing plans and engineering specifications, and advises contracting officers on computer, software, hardware, and systems engineering matters.

Core Skills

Operational requirements translated into engineering specifications
Competing computer technology tradeoff assessment
Computer system efficiency test planning
Technical contract oversight for systems acquisition

Civilian Career Paths

Career associations are editorial assessments of the cited evidence, not an official crosswalk unless the evidence explicitly says so. O*NET supplies civilian occupation information, not proof of a military match. Related experience does not confer civilian qualifications. Tasks and tools below describe civilian work, not military training.

Computer Systems Engineers/Architects

Translating operational requirements and architectures into engineering specifications, evaluating competing technologies, and planning system tests directly support civilian systems engineering.

How to prepare: Build a civilian-facing case study using a public or hypothetical system, showing requirements, component tradeoffs, architecture decisions, and acceptance tests.

What the civilian work involves

Communicate with staff or clients to understand specific system requirements.
Investigate system component suitability for specified purposes, and make recommendations regarding component use.
Direct the analysis, development, and operation of complete computer systems.

Civilian tools and software (examples)

Atlassian JIRA

Software Developers

Experience developing software and firmware acquisition specifications and computer-system test procedures transfers to software requirements analysis and validation.

How to prepare: Implement a small C++ application from a written requirements specification and document its validation tests to demonstrate hands-on programming ability beyond acquisition and engineering oversight.

What the civilian work involves

Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.
Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to design systems and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces.

Civilian tools and software (examples)

C++
Atlassian JIRA

Notes & Sources

Evidence for this guidance (3 documents)

Army COOL MOC feed: 51R Systems Automation Acquisition and Engineering
[1] data/authority/army-codes.json entry 51R (OSD COOL feed, fetched 2026-07-25); DB rank officer, authority codeType officer
Supports: Operational requirements translated into engineering specifications, Competing computer technology tradeoff assessment, Computer system efficiency test planning, Technical contract oversight for systems acquisition, Computer Systems Engineers/Architects (O*NET 15-1299.08), Software Developers (O*NET 15-1252.00)
O*NET: Computer Systems Engineers/Architects
[2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data
Supports: Computer Systems Engineers/Architects (O*NET 15-1299.08)
O*NET: Software Developers
[3] O*NET 30.3 occupational data
Supports: Software Developers (O*NET 15-1252.00)

Defense contractor jobs for 51R

Descriptions may be summarized for clarity. Verify all information with your branch career counselor or official military documentation before making career decisions.

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