DISCLAIMER: as mike nears his upcoming deployment, we ask that for his safety and the safety of all troops serving that all family and friends refrain from posting information specific to his deployment (dates, times, locations, etc) anywhere on the internet.
as mike approaches his third year of service in the usmc and first combat deployment, we assume many friends and family have questions about his roles and responsibilities in the corps. we'll start from the beginning. mike's primary military occupational specialty is a logistics officer (also known as an 0402). what exactly does that mean? for mike, it means that over the course of a career in the marine corps, there are literally dozens of jobs he could do. the official usmc description of a logistics officer reads:
"logistics officers plan, coordinate, execute and/or supervise the execution of all logistics functions and the six functional areas of combat service support (css): supply, maintenance, transportation, general engineering, health services, and services... they perform duties of embarkation officer, maintenance management officer, motor transport officer, landing support officers, and are responsible for administrative and tactical unit movement of personnel, supplies, and equipment by all modes of transportation."
The Oshkosh MTVR is the USMC's primary logistics vehicle and can haul
seven tons of cargo off-road.
sounds diverse, doesn' t it? it is. no young logistics officer can possibly learn everything they need to know in school, so when they hit the "fleet" they must learn from the enlisted specialists that work for them. for example, one of mike's first direct reports was a motor transport maintenance chief with 18 years of experience. the marines that fall under logistics officers include (but are not limited to) truck drivers, truck mechanics, maintenance admin clerks, embarkation specialists (who supervise loading and schedule movement of supplies, personnel, and cargo), ammunition technicians, armorers (weapons maintenance technicians), cooks (yes they still have cooks in the military!), and landing support specialists (known as "red patchers " because of the distinctive marks they wear on their uniform) who support the maintenance and control of transportation throughput systems: the port, terminal, beachhead or the LZ.
A CH-53 with external load. Red patchers will be found on the receiving end.
as you can see from the jobs above, the primary focus for a logistics officer is transportation, followed closely by maintenance. the supply (think procurement, not distribution) and engineering areas of combat service support actually have their own officers (supply officer "3002" and combat engineer officer "1302"). those functions relate closely to logistics, however. health services in the usmc are provided by the navy.
it is often said that the logistics officer's base of knowledge must be an inch deep and a mile wide, as it is their job to see the big picture of combat service support for the main effort of the marine corps, the infantryman on the ground.
now that we've given you a general description of the logistics field, we'll focus on mike's job specifically. mike is currently with 2d battalion, 8th marine regiment, known simply as "2/8". 2/8 is a light infantry battalion composed of around 1000 marines and sailors. in the infantry, the battalion level is the smallest level of command with combat service support specialists.
an infantry battalion rates four logistics officers, one captain and three lieutenants. they include the s-4 (battalion logistics officer, normally a captain but often a senior lieutenant), the s-4a (assistant logistics officer), motor transport officer (who commands the battalion's motor-t platoon, you call we haul!), and maintenance management officer. additionally, the battalion has a supply officer that operates independently, but for all intents and purposes is considered part of the "shop".
after spending his first eight months as the motor-t officer, mike recently moved into the s-4a position. in his current billet he oversees embarkation and transportation scheduling, ammunition, the armory, and performs a plethora of other duties to support the battalion's training and operations. a large part of his job is coordinating support from external support units because at Camp Lejeune the infantry battalion has very little support equipment "organic" to itself.
The up-armored John Deere TRAM is one of the more versatile pieces of equipment in the USMC.
in combat, mike will perform many of the same duties, albeit in a more austere environment. his primary focus will be ensuring that the battalion's dispersed forward positions are being supported across the functions of css.
we hope this post has answered any questions you might have on what mike does for a living!
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