0811, 0814, 0842, 0844, 0847, 0861: A Plain-English Guide to Marine Corps Artillery MOS Codes
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Occupational Field 08 is the Marine Corps' field artillery field. If you've only ever seen it from the outside, the numbers look interchangeable — 0811, 0814, 0842, 0844, 0847, 0861. They are not. Each one is a different job on a different piece of the same fire mission, and most of them are trained at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where the Marine detachment sits alongside the Army's artillery school.
Here's what each code actually means, in the order a round moves through the system.
0861 — Fire Support Marine
The eyes. Fire Support Marines plan, observe, call for, adjust, and coordinate artillery, rocket, and naval surface fire support. This is the Marine Corps' forward observer, and the pipeline is its own animal: the Marine Artillery Scout Observer Course (MASOC) at Fort Sill, plus fire support coordination training on the West Coast. If you've read our breakdown of JTAC vs Forward Observer vs JFO, the 0861 is where the Marine side of that conversation starts. Gear for the role lives in Fire Support & Close Air Support.
0844 — Field Artillery Fire Control Marine
The math. 0844s run the fire direction center: they take the call for fire, turn it into firing data, and pass it to the guns. Same job the Army's 13J does, same reason FDC still drills manual gunnery when the computer quits — which we covered in Charts and Darts.
0811 — Field Artillery Cannoneer
The gun. 0811s emplace, lay, load, and fire the howitzer, and handle the ammunition that feeds it. It is the largest and oldest job in the field, and the one most people picture when they hear "artillery." It's also the role the Cannoneer Death Card was drawn for.
0814 — HIMARS Operator
The rockets. 0814s operate and maintain the M142 HIMARS — a wheeled launcher that shoots a single pod of guided rockets or missiles and leaves before counterfire can find it. This MOS matters more every year: under Force Design, the Corps has been trimming cannon batteries and standing up more rocket batteries, which shifts a meaningful share of the 08XX field toward the launcher. If you want the mechanical differences between the wheeled launcher and its tracked predecessor, see HIMARS vs MLRS. Designs for the launcher crews sit in Rockets and Launchers.
0842 — Field Artillery Radar Operator
The counterfire. 0842s emplace and run counterbattery radar, tracking an incoming round backward along its arc to produce a grid where it came from. One enemy round in, one target location out — which is why the Radar Death Card exists as its own design rather than getting lumped in with the gun line.
0847 — Field Artillery Sensor Support Marine
The accuracy. 0847s handle the meteorological and sensor side — atmospheric data, barometric pressure, the corrections that keep a round from drifting off a solution that looked perfect on paper. Along with survey and radar, this is the target acquisition end of the house, and it's the least-understood job in the field by a wide margin. It's grouped with the rest of the Survey, Radar, and Met work in our catalog.
0848 — Field Artillery Operations Chief
The staff NCO capstone. 0848 isn't an entry MOS — it's the SNCO-level code for Marines running fire direction and artillery operations at the battery, battalion, and regimental level. You earn it after years on a gun line or in an FDC, not out of boot camp.
Officer side: 0802 and 0803
Lieutenants entering the field are 0802, Field Artillery Officer — the platoon commanders, fire direction officers, and forward observers on the officer side of the house. 0803 is the Target Acquisition Officer, the officer-level counterpart to the radar, survey, and met world.
The short version: 0861 sees it, 0844 solves it, 0811 or 0814 sends it, 0842 finds whoever shot back, and 0847 makes sure the numbers hold up. Different codes, one fire mission. Every one of them has a card in the Death Card Series.
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