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Army MOS · Medical

68H Optical Laboratory Specialist

Current service use not established

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

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Overview

An Optical Laboratory Specialist assembles spectacles using presurfaced single vision lenses. This specialist surfaces multivision lenses, assembles multivision spectacles, repairs and fabricates spectacles, and supervises optical laboratory personnel.

Minimum ASVAB: GM 98

ASVAB policy: Not policy-reviewed · coverage unknown · as of 2026-10-18

Program scope has not been reviewed.

Policy applicability and coverage of the program's score routes have not been reviewed. Shown-route arithmetic is not an eligibility decision.

Source: smartbook-611-21-ch10c-fy2025 (source date 2025-12). Policy applicability has not been established.

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Core Skills

  • Spectacle assembly with presurfaced single-vision lenses
  • Multi-vision lens surfacing and spectacle assembly
  • Optical laboratory personnel supervision

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.

Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians

Your military experience surfacing multi-vision lenses and fabricating, assembling, and repairing spectacles directly overlaps civilian ophthalmic laboratory production.

How to prepare: Compare your lens-surfacing and spectacle-assembly experience with a target lab's equipment, then request hands-on orientation for unfamiliar edging or grinding machines.

What the civilian work involves
  • Set up machines to polish, bevel, edge, or grind lenses, flats, blanks, or other precision optical elements.
  • Inspect, weigh, and measure mounted or unmounted lenses after completion to verify alignment and conformance to specifications, using precision instruments.
  • Shape lenses appropriately so that they can be inserted into frames.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Eyeglass design software

Notes & Sources

Evidence for this guidance (2 documents)
  1. Army COOL MOC feed: 68H Optical Laboratory Specialist

    [1] data/authority/army-codes.json entry 68H (OSD COOL feed, fetched 2026-07-25); DB rank enlisted, authority codeType enlisted

    Supports: Spectacle assembly with presurfaced single-vision lenses, Multi-vision lens surfacing and spectacle assembly, Optical laboratory personnel supervision, Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians (O*NET 51-9083.00)

  2. O*NET: Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians

    [2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians (O*NET 51-9083.00)

Defense contractor jobs for 68H

Predecessor codes

Historical codes with documented links to 68H. Each history page explains the change.

91H1Optical Laboratory Specialist91H2Optical Laboratory Specialist91H3Optical Laboratory Specialist91H4Optical Laboratory Specialist

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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