88K MOS (Watercraft Operator): 4 civilian careers O*NET links to it, with pay.
The civilian occupations O*NET's Military Crosswalk relates to Army 88K, each with its BLS median pay and a TryHired career page where we have one.
88K is the Army enlisted military occupational specialty Watercraft Operator. O*NET's Military Crosswalk links it to 4 civilian occupations. Among the civilian ones with a BLS wage, the May 2025 national median ranges from $40,240 (Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand) to $92,460 (Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels). O*NET gives 2 of them its Bright Outlook designation (occupations expected to grow rapidly, to have many job openings, or that are new and emerging). A crosswalk link is a related occupation, not a guaranteed job or an equivalent license.
Civilian occupations related to 88K Watercraft Operator
In O*NET's order. Pay is the BLS national median annual wage, May 2025. Bright Outlook is O*NET's designation.
| Occupation | O*NET-SOC code | Median pay (BLS, May 2025) | Bright Outlook | TryHired guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sailors and Marine Oilers | 53-5011.00 | $51,520 | ||
| Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels | 53-5021.00 | $92,460 | Ship Captain | |
| Motorboat Operators | 53-5022.00 | $47,520 | Yes | |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 53-7062.00 | $40,240 | Yes |
The Defense Manpower Data Center's own record for 88K maps it to: Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels.
What a crosswalk match means, and what it doesn't
O*NET's Military Crosswalk Search combines several official sources: the Defense Manpower Data Center's crosswalk of military occupation codes, an enhanced analysis commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor with the Department of Defense under the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, a RAND study of Army knowledge, skills and abilities, and the services' Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (COOL) sites. A listed civilian occupation is one O*NET relates to the military job's training and work. It is not an equivalence, a promise of a job or a statement that you meet the civilian job's requirements: many of these occupations need a state license, a certification or a degree that the military job alone does not provide.
Turning 88K experience into a civilian job
Start with the civilian titles above whose work you already did most of. For each one, check its licensing and certification requirements in your state, then rewrite your service record in that occupation's language: the systems, procedures and results a civilian hiring manager recognizes, not unit names or acronyms.
Disclosure: TryHired makes HIRED, a paid job-search program, so we have a conflict of interest when we mention it. Every list on this page is free to use without buying anything.
Questions people ask
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How this page is built
The civilian occupations on this page are exactly the ones O*NET OnLine's Military Crosswalk Search returns for the code, in O*NET's order, read on Nov 3, 2026 (O*NET site updated October 6, 2026). Official military titles come from the Defense Manpower Data Center file O*NET distributes. Pay is the BLS national median annual wage for May 2025. Where O*NET lists a specialty that BLS does not survey on its own, the figure is the BLS figure for the broader occupation and is labelled with that occupation's name.
- Duties, entry requirements and training: this page does not describe them; see your service's official job description.
- Your fit: a crosswalk relates occupations, not people. Your rank, specialty training, clearances and credentials change which civilian jobs fit.
- Pay: national medians for civilian workers in each occupation, not offers and not adjusted for your location or experience.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, O*NET OnLine Military Crosswalk Search, read Nov 3, 2026. Military Crosswalk Search by U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- O*NET Resource Center, Military crosswalk data (source: Defense Manpower Data Center).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates (public domain).