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Marine Corps MOS · Support

0161 Postal Clerk

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

A postal clerk accepts, sorts, manifests, and dispatches personal and official mail for Marine Corps Military Post Office operations. The clerk provides postal retail services, handles registered mail, coordinates deployed addresses and unit mail routing, and supports forward deployed forces.

Minimum ASVAB: CL 95

ASVAB policy: Not policy-reviewed · coverage unknown · as of 2026-10-19

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: navmc-1200-1l-fy26 (source date 2025-03). Policy applicability has not been established.

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Core Skills

  • Registered mail handling for sensitive items
  • USPS money order issuance and cashing
  • Deployed address coordination and mail routing
  • Command fund application for official correspondence

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.

Postal Service Clerks

Military postal retail experience with postage, USPS money orders, and registered mail directly overlaps civilian postal counter work.

How to prepare: Practice weighing sample parcels and calculating postage by weight, destination, and service using current USPS rates.

What the civilian work involves
  • Weigh letters and parcels, compute mailing costs based on type, weight, and destination, and affix correct postage.
  • Obtain signatures from recipients of registered or special delivery mail.
  • Answer questions regarding mail regulations and procedures, postage rates, and post office boxes.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • NCR Advanced Store

Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

Sorting, dispatching, routing, and delivering military mail transfers directly to internal mail distribution and outgoing-mail processing.

How to prepare: Seek hands-on practice with a postage meter to adapt military postage experience to civilian mailroom equipment.

What the civilian work involves
  • Verify that items are addressed correctly, marked with the proper postage, and in suitable condition for processing.
  • Sort and route incoming mail, and collect outgoing mail, using carts as necessary.
  • Affix postage to packages or letters by hand, or stamp materials, using postage meters.

Notes & Sources

Evidence for this guidance (3 documents)
  1. NAVMC 1200.1L (FY26, in force): MOS 0161

    [1] MOS 0161 section "a. Summary"; cached text line 26244; NAVMC 1200.1L signed 2025-03-07, in force until 2026-10-01

    Supports: Registered mail handling for sensitive items, USPS money order issuance and cashing, Deployed address coordination and mail routing, Command fund application for official correspondence, Postal Service Clerks (O*NET 43-5051.00), Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service (O*NET 43-9051.00)

  2. O*NET: Postal Service Clerks

    [2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Postal Service Clerks (O*NET 43-5051.00)

  3. O*NET: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

    [3] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service (O*NET 43-9051.00)

Defense contractor jobs for 0161

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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