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Marine Corps MOS · Engineering

1371 Combat Engineer

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

Combat Engineers conduct engineer reconnaissance, emplace obstacle systems, breach urban and explosive obstacles, clear routes and areas, and perform mine and countermine operations. They employ demolitions and military explosives, construct roads, trails, landing zones, survivability positions, base camps, and combat outposts, repair nonstandard bridges, and fight as provisional infantry.

Minimum ASVAB: MM 95

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

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Core Skills

  • Nonstandard bridge construction and repair
  • Expedient road and landing zone construction
  • Survivability position design and construction
  • Military demolitions and explosive obstacle reduction

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.

Carpenters

Expedient vertical construction, base-camp construction, and nonstandard bridge repair provide transferable experience for structural carpentry work.

How to prepare: Bring your existing qualifications and documented construction projects to a carpentry employer or apprenticeship program for a practical assessment of layout, framing, and plan-reading skills.

What the civilian work involves
  • Measure and mark cutting lines on materials, using a ruler, pencil, chalk, and marking gauge.
  • Assemble and fasten materials to make frameworks or props, using hand tools and wood screws, nails, dowel pins, or glue.
  • Study specifications in blueprints, sketches, or building plans to prepare project layout and determine dimensions and materials required.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Drawing and drafting software

Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

Road, base-camp, and expedient horizontal construction experience provides a foundation for concrete construction, a trade explicitly linked to MOS 1371 in the military classification manual.

How to prepare: Ask a concrete contractor to assess your documented construction experience and any existing concrete qualifications, then identify gaps in formwork, finishing, and curing knowledge.

What the civilian work involves
  • Check the forms that hold the concrete to see that they are properly constructed.
  • Set the forms that hold concrete to the desired pitch and depth, and align them.
  • Monitor how the wind, heat, or cold affect the curing of the concrete throughout the entire process.

Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

Military demolition, breaching, and explosive obstacle reduction experience overlaps directly with civilian blasting work.

How to prepare: Have a blasting employer and the relevant state authority assess your existing qualifications and documented demolition experience against OSHA's construction-blaster qualifications, including method-specific competency, explosives-law knowledge, communication, and physical-condition requirements. State requirements differ: New York requires three years of training and experience under a certified blaster's direct supervision before its written examination, so ask how your records are evaluated; employment involving authorized explosives possession also carries ATF reporting and applicable background-check requirements through the license or permit holder, distinct from business licensing and acquisition permits.

What the civilian work involves
  • Place safety cones around blast areas to alert other workers of danger zones, and signal workers as necessary to ensure that they clear blast sites prior to explosions.

Notes & Sources

Evidence for this guidance (7 documents)
  1. NAVMC 1200.1L (FY26, in force): MOS 1371

    [1] MOS 1371 section "a. Summary"; cached text line 33346; NAVMC 1200.1L signed 2025-03-07, in force until 2026-10-01

    Supports: Nonstandard bridge construction and repair, Expedient road and landing zone construction, Survivability position design and construction, Military demolitions and explosive obstacle reduction, Carpenters (O*NET 47-2031.00), Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers (O*NET 47-2051.00), Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

    [2]NAVMC 1200.1L MOS 1371: Related SOC titles · MOS 1371 section "e. Related Standard Occupational Classification"

    Supports: Carpenters (O*NET 47-2031.00), Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers (O*NET 47-2051.00)

  2. O*NET: Carpenters

    [3] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Carpenters (O*NET 47-2031.00)

  3. O*NET: Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

    [4] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers (O*NET 47-2051.00)

  4. O*NET: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

    [5] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

  5. OSHA 29 CFR 1926.901: Blaster qualifications

    [6] Construction blasting, paragraphs (a)-(e). Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

  6. New York Department of Labor: Blasters Certificate of Competence

    [7] Blasters Certificate of Competence; Explosives Licenses. New York example only, not universal national requirements. Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

  7. ATF explosives licensing and employee-possessor reporting requirements

    [8] 27 CFR 555.41(b)(1)(i)-(iii) and 555.57(b)-(c), official 2026-09-21 XML snapshots retained. Individual employment and the employer business license are distinct.

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

Defense contractor jobs for 1371

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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