Is 68H (Optical Laboratory Specialist) a Good MOS?
United States Army · Military Occupational Specialty
Quick Facts — 68H (Optical Laboratory Specialist)
AIT / Training
14 weeks
Training Location
JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, TX (METC)
Career Field
Medical
Verdict: Not enough data
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Score Breakdown
About 68H Optical Laboratory Specialist
Fabricates, surfaces, edges, and inspects prescription eyewear and protective-mask optical inserts for Soldiers, Family Members, and other DoD beneficiaries. Operates surfacing generators, lens edgers, lensometers, and frame-fitting equipment at MTF optical labs and at joint optical fabrication facilities.
14 weeks
JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, TX (METC)
Medical
Recruiter vs. Reality
What the Recruiter Says
You will fabricate prescription eyewear and protective-mask inserts for the force — every Soldier who needs glasses gets them because of 68H. You will earn ABO and NCLE civilian opticianry credentials that translate directly into a $40-60K+ civilian opticianry career with no further schooling required, and you will work normal hours in a clinical setting away from the line. Optical labs do not deploy as combat slots, the work is technical and rewarding, and the post-service crosswalk into LensCrafters management, private optometry practices, or a VA civilian optical lab is one of the most direct in the Army.
What It's Actually Like
You will spend most of your career standing in front of a surfacing generator and an edger in a windowless lab on the back side of the MTF, cutting plastic and polycarbonate lenses to a Rx written by an optometrist you have never met, for a Soldier who will pick up his glasses at the dispensing window and never know your name. The work is real opticianry — surfacing, edging, mounting, inspection — but the volume is relentless and the lab is usually two-deep on a good day and one-deep on a bad one. The civilian credential path is genuine: ABO (American Board of Opticianry) and NCLE (National Contact Lens Examiners) are real credentials that civilian opticians pay out of pocket for, and you can sit both inside your contract if the lab NCOIC supports it. The honest read: this is a small, niche MOS (a few hundred Active Duty 68H force-wide) with low deployment tempo, capped promotion timelines because the structure is small, and a post-service market that is real but narrow — opticianry in the civilian world tops out lower than nursing or radiologic tech. Pick this MOS if you want a clean clinical bench job with a usable credential, not if you wanted to be Doc.