Is 1371 (Combat Engineer) a Good MOS?
United States Marine Corps · Military Occupational Specialty
Quick Facts — 1371 (Combat Engineer)
AIT / Training
9 weeks
Training Location
MCES, Camp Lejeune, NC
Career Field
Engineering
Verdict: Not enough data
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Score Breakdown
About 1371 Combat Engineer
Constructs, alters, repairs, and maintains buildings, roads, and other structures. Performs demolitions. Employs and defeats mines and booby traps. Provides mobility, countermobility, and survivability support to infantry operations. One of the few MOSs that combines construction skills with combat arms mission.
9 weeks
MCES, Camp Lejeune, NC
Engineering
Recruiter vs. Reality
What the Recruiter Says
Combat engineers are the Swiss Army knife of the Marine Corps — you'll blow things up, build things up, and clear the way for infantry to maneuver. Demolitions, mine warfare, construction — it's the most versatile MOS in the 13 field. Plus the civilian construction and engineering skills are immediately transferable.
What It's Actually Like
You will dig fighting positions, fill sandbags, and do a LOT of manual labor that nobody else wants to do. The demolitions training is genuinely fun, and breaching operations are what you trained for. But most of your time is spent on working parties, construction projects, and being the unit's manual labor force because "engineers can build stuff." The skills are real — welding, electrical, carpentry, heavy equipment — and the civilian trades pay well. Just know that "combat" engineer means you're infantry-adjacent, not infantry-lite.