12B Career Guide
12B: Combat Engineer
Career transition guide for Army Combat Engineer (12B)
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Top civilian roles for 12B veterans, with average salary and market demand data.
Construction Manager
Skills to develop:
Heavy Equipment Operator
Skills to develop:
Demolition Technician
Skills to develop:
Mine Safety Inspector
Skills to develop:
First-Line Supervisor of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers
Skills to develop:
Salary estimates from VWC career data
Hidden Strengths
Cognitive skills your 12B training built — and where they transfer.
System Modeling
Understanding structural engineering for both construction and demolition, calculating explosive charges, and assessing terrain for obstacle emplacement
Thinking about how structures work and fail — the engineering mindset behind construction management, structural inspection, and civil engineering
Resource Optimization
Building fighting positions, obstacles, and infrastructure with limited materials and equipment under time pressure
Delivering construction results with constrained resources — valued in project management, facilities maintenance, and disaster recovery
Rapid Prioritization
Assessing and breaching obstacles under fire while determining safe routes and methods in seconds
Making critical engineering decisions under time pressure — applicable to emergency management, construction supervision, and field engineering
Degraded-Mode Operations
Completing engineering missions with damaged equipment, improvised materials, and under hostile conditions
Solving engineering problems with creative improvisation — the practical problem-solving mindset behind field service, maintenance engineering, and startup operations
Non-Obvious Career Matches
Construction Project Manager
SOC 11-9021Planning, executing, and supervising construction projects under strict safety standards and timelines — you've done this in the hardest conditions possible. Commercial construction is the same job with better tools.
Environmental Remediation Technician
SOC 47-4041Your experience with hazardous materials, site assessment, and controlled demolition translates directly to environmental cleanup and remediation work.
Building Inspector
SOC 47-4011Understanding how structures are built AND how they can be taken apart gives you a unique perspective for code compliance and structural safety inspection.
Training & Education Equivalencies
Combat Engineer One Station Unit Training (OSUT), Fort Leonard Wood
Topics Covered
- •Demolitions
- •Mine and countermine operations
- •Route clearance
- •Construction and rigging
- •Bridge building
- •Earthmoving equipment operation
- •Combat engineering reconnaissance
Certification Pathways
Ready to Certify
Partial Coverage
Focus on construction-specific standards and fall protection requirements
Construction contract administration, cost estimation, and building codes
Recommended Next Certifications
Technical Systems Translation
Military systems you've used and their civilian equivalents for your resume.
| Military System | Civilian Equivalent |
|---|---|
| ENFIRE (Engineer Fire Control) | Obstacle planning and geospatial engineering software |
| TERRABASE | Terrain analysis and geospatial information systems |
| TCMS (Theater Construction Management System) | Construction project management and scheduling platforms (Primavera, MS Project) |
| JDLM (Joint Demolition Logistics Module) | Materials tracking and demolition planning databases |
| Blue Force Tracker (BFT) | Real-time GPS fleet and asset management systems |
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