Is 0671 (Data Systems Administrator) a Good MOS?
United States Marine Corps · Military Occupational Specialty
Quick Facts — 0671 (Data Systems Administrator)
AIT / Training
18 weeks
Training Location
MCCES, Twentynine Palms, CA
Career Field
Data Systems
Verdict: Not enough data
Based on 0 community reviews from verified service members
Score Breakdown
About 0671 Data Systems Administrator
Installs, configures, administers, and maintains servers, workstations, virtualization platforms, and information systems across Marine Corps networks. Manages Active Directory, Exchange, SCCM, and enterprise services on both classified (SIPR) and unclassified (NIPR) networks. Handles system imaging, patch management, backup and recovery, and endpoint security. This MOS was created when the old 0651 (Data Network Specialist) split into 0631 (network infrastructure) and 0671 (systems and servers). The 31s handle the pipes — the 71s handle everything that runs on them.
18 weeks
MCCES, Twentynine Palms, CA
Data Systems
Recruiter vs. Reality
What the Recruiter Says
You'll be the systems backbone of the Marine Corps — managing servers, Active Directory, virtualization, and enterprise services that the entire MAGTF depends on. The certs you'll earn (Security+, Server+, eventually MCSA or cloud certs) are the same ones Fortune 500 companies require. Cleared sysadmins with hands-on operational experience start at $80-100K+ on the civilian side, and the demand has not slowed down. This used to be part of 0651 — the split means you specialize deeper in systems instead of trying to be a network admin and a sysadmin at the same time.
What It's Actually Like
The 0651 split into 0631 and 0671 was overdue — the old MOS was trying to make one Marine a network engineer AND a systems administrator AND a help desk tech. Now 31s own the network infrastructure (switches, routers, tactical data links) and you own everything else: servers, workstations, Active Directory, Exchange, imaging, patching, backups, virtualization, and whatever enterprise service the Corps decides to bolt on this fiscal year. Your daily life is sysadmin work — building out server racks in a server room on garrison, or running a COC's entire IT infrastructure out of a tent in the field with generators and tactical satellite. You will learn more from breaking things and fixing them under pressure than from any course. The training pipeline at MCCESS is decent but moves fast — if you don't have some IT aptitude going in, you'll be drinking from a firehose. Security+ is mandatory for your job (DoD 8570 baseline cert), and your command will usually send you. The civilian translation is strong — every company needs sysadmins, and cleared ones with Secret or TS/SCI are in constant demand. The frustrating part: you're responsible for everything working, but you rarely get credit when it does. When the Colonel's email is down, you are the most important person in the building. When it's working, you're invisible. Welcome to IT.