The United States Army uses a complex system to classify enlisted personnel by Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) and commissioned officers by Areas of Concentration (AOC). MOS are specific jobs within career management fields, with alphanumeric codes that reflect the changing nature of the military. Women and disabled individuals may have limitations in certain MOS. The Marine Corps also uses the MOS system, while the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard have their own classification systems.
The United States Army uses a complex organizational system to classify enlisted men and women by Military Occupation Specialty (MOS). An Army MOS is a specific job within the complex command structure of the United States Army, ranging from playing bugle for the Army Band to parachute rigging for the Quartermaster Corps. Commissioned officers in the Army are classified under Areas of Concentration (AOC), rather than the MOS system, although the two systems are very similar.
The Army divides specialties by “career management field,” a reference to a broad category like “engineering” or “military intelligence.” Within each career management field, individual military occupational specialties can be found. The whole system is accompanied by a series of codes, so someone with the Army’s MOS 98P, for example, is a multi-sensor operator in military intelligence. These alphanumeric codes are designed to be flexible as specialties are added and dropped to reflect the changing nature of the military. The MOS and AOC codes have also been simplified so that similar codes are used for enlisted persons and commissioned officers in the same field.
According to the Army, as of 2008, Infantry, Field Artillery, Air Defense, Aviation, Special Forces, Armor, Engineering, Signals, Military Police Corps, Special Branch Advocate Judge, Military Intelligence, Army Band, Psychological Operations Civil Affairs, Civilian Branch Adjutant, Finance, Public Affairs, Chaplain Branch, Mechanical Maintenance, Medicine, Chemical Warfare, Recruiting and Maintenance, Transportation, Ordnance Branch, Quartermaster Corps, and Electronics Maintenance are all career management fields. Within each of these fields, people have a number of potential careers to pursue.
Jobs in the military are quite diverse, with people typically choosing or being placed in the specialties for which they are best suited. In addition to soldiers, the military also needs doctors, accountants, supply managers, and so on, and many of these jobs offer training that can be used in both the civilian and military worlds. Individuals can also develop an Army MOS as a lifetime career, earning military rank in the process.
There are some limitations in the Army’s MOS system. Women, for example, cannot serve in certain combat positions and as a result, not all Army MOS are open to them. Other positions require people to be able-bodied, so someone who becomes disabled as a result of military service can be moved to a different Army MOS if he wishes to continue serving. All MOS typically require the ability to relocate where needed. The Marine Corps also uses the MOS system, while the Air Force refers to “Air Force Special Codes” and the Navy and Coast Guard use “ratings”.
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