• Officers in the United States Marine Corps serve in a variety of careers -- from law and aviation to infantry and support.Marine Corp Memorial image by dwight9592 from Fotolia.com
  
  Commissioned officers in the United States Marine Corps make up the leadership that drives and directs all operations -- from the battlefield to headquarters. Officers serve in nearly every occupation the Marine Corps has to offer in order to lead and direct those under their command. Upon completion of training and earning their commission, Marine officers are assigned a job in one of these categories.
  
  

Ground

• Marine Corps tradition holds that every Marine is a rifleman first. In accordance with this, the USMC offers a wide variety of jobs to officers on the ground. This category includes infantry, armor and artillery officers, who take charge of Marine Corps ground units and lead them on the battlefield. Many non-combat positions are available to officers in the ground category. These include adjuncts, who take care of the services' administrative requirements, public affairs officers, who serve as journalists and spokespeople within the USMC, and intelligence officers, who process critical information and pass it on to the battlefield. In all, there are 15 different ground careers for Marine officers that range from aircraft and vehicle maintenance to law enforcement.
  
  

Air

• While the Marine Corps' primary mission may be on the ground, it does conduct combat activities in the air. Commissioned officers can apply to become pilots and operate one of the many types of aircraft in the Corps' inventory. Pilots can fly fixed-wing aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet, rotary aircraft (helicopters) or tilt-rotor aircraft like the V-22 Osprey. Marine officers also serve as Naval Flight Officers, who do not fly but serve as crew members in the air who manage aircraft systems and weaponry.
  
  

Law

• Officers in the Marine Corps can serve as Judge Advocates, who provide legal services to personnel and to the service itself. Judge Advocates practice in a wide variety of areas including fiscal law, environmental law, international and operational law, family law and criminal law. In order to be a Judge Advocate in the Marine Corps, officers must hold a law degree from an American Bar Association-approved law school, score 150 or better on the Law School Admissions Test and be under the age of 30.