Is 3531 (Motor Vehicle Operator) a Good MOS?

AIT / Training

6 weeks

Training Location

Fort Leonard Wood, MO

Career Field

Motor Transport

What the Recruiter Says

Drive the vehicles that move the Marine Corps. Motor vehicle operators transport personnel, equipment, and supplies across every environment, developing commercial driving skills with CDL licensing pathways and experience in tactical wheeled vehicle operations.

What It's Actually Like

You are a professional driver of vehicles that were not designed with driver comfort as a primary requirement. The MTVR — Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement — is a magnificent machine that will ford water, climb grades that look impossible, and haul loads that seem unreasonable. You will drive it in convoys, at night, under blackout conditions, with NVGs that compress depth perception in ways that take time to adapt to. Convoy operations involve a specific kind of sustained alertness that is exhausting in ways distinct from other forms of military exhaustion. The route clearance convoy in a threat environment is a different experience entirely. Your CDL is the real and immediate civilian credential, and the transportation industry needs drivers with military truck experience. The hours are long, the maintenance accountability is real (PMCS on a 7-ton is not optional), and the infantry will make comments about the motor pool that you will learn to metabolically convert into motivation. You move everything. Without you, nothing moves.