Navy · GM
Navy Gunner's Mates maintain and repair guns, missile launchers, and their electronic and hydraulic control systems. That transfers directly to electronics and industrial-maintenance technician roles, plus armorer, quality, and defense-contractor careers.
There's no one-to-one civilian crosswalk for GM—the Department of Labor doesn't map a single job title to it. These are the specific civilian roles Gunner's Mate experience genuinely maps to: what each pays, what it involves, and why it fits.
$66,680/yr mediantypical $42k–$101k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Repair, test, adjust, or install electronic equipment, such as industrial controls, transmitters, and antennas.
Why it fits: Your Gunner's Mate experience maps directly onto the maintenance, repair & installation side of this role.
$72,800/yr mediantypical $46k–$105k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Apply electrical and electronic theory and related knowledge, usually under the direction of engineering staff, to design, build, repair, adjust, and modify electrical components, circuitry,…
Why it fits: Your Gunner's Mate experience maps directly onto the engineering & technical design side of this role.
$61,270/yr mediantypical $38k–$92k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends.
Why it fits: Your Gunner's Mate experience maps directly onto the maintenance, repair & installation side of this role.
$71,530/yr mediantypical $46k–$122k
Typical entry: Bachelor’s degree typically expected
Analyze, test, troubleshoot, and evaluate existing network systems, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), cloud networks, servers, and other data communications networks.
Why it fits: Your Gunner's Mate experience maps directly onto the it, cybersecurity & data side of this role.
$45,850/yr mediantypical $32k–$72k
Typical entry: High-school diploma plus short on-the-job training
Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications.
Why it fits: Your Gunner's Mate experience maps directly onto the manufacturing & production side of this role.
$46,700/yr mediantypical $31k–$73k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of a building in repair.
Why it fits: Your Gunner's Mate experience maps directly onto the maintenance, repair & installation side of this role.
$62,790/yr mediantypical $42k–$101k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Execute or adapt procedures and techniques for calibrating measurement devices, by applying knowledge of measurement science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and electronics, sometimes under the…
Why it fits: Closely related to your Gunner's Mate occupations on the engineering & technical design side—a natural next step.
$65,080/yr mediantypical $44k–$105k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Build, install, test, or maintain robotic equipment or related automated production systems.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Gunner's Mate occupations on the engineering & technical design side—a natural next step.
$79,160/yr mediantypical $47k–$100k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Install, adjust, or maintain mobile electronics communication equipment, including sound, sonar, security, navigation, and surveillance systems on trains, watercraft, or other mobile equipment.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Gunner's Mate occupations on the maintenance, repair & installation side—a natural next step.
$77,830/yr mediantypical $50k–$114k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Operate, install, adjust, and maintain integrated computer/communications systems, consoles, simulators, and other data acquisition, test, and measurement instruments and equipment, which are used…
Why it fits: Closely related to your Gunner's Mate occupations on the engineering & technical design side—a natural next step.
$77,420/yr mediantypical $47k–$107k
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Install, inspect, test, adjust, or repair avionics equipment, such as radar, radio, navigation, and missile control systems in aircraft or space vehicles.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Gunner's Mate occupations on the maintenance, repair & installation side—a natural next step.
$119,200/yr mediantypical $77k–$180k
Typical entry: Bachelor’s degree typically expected
Research, design, develop, or test electronic components and systems for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use employing knowledge of electronic theory and materials properties.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Gunner's Mate occupations on the engineering & technical design side—a natural next step.
Roles selected from the O*NET occupations that fit Gunner's Mate experience; the Department of Labor doesn't publish a one-to-one crosswalk for this code. Pay is BLS OEWS (May 2023). See the O*NET crosswalk.
Adjacent and stretch fields where your experience gives you a credible starting point.
$66,680/yr medianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (representative)
Why it fits: Maintaining electro-mechanical weapon systems transfers to electronics and systems technician roles.
What it takes: ETA/OEM certs; document systems and test equipment.
Explore this route →$58,970/yr medianBus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists (representative)
Why it fits: Mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical troubleshooting maps to industrial maintenance.
What it takes: PLC/OEM training helps.
Explore this route →$37,070/yr medianSecurity Guards (representative)
Why it fits: Weapons expertise supports armorer, range, and security roles.
What it takes: State licensing; ASIS credentials help.
Explore this route →$81,140/yr medianOccupational Health and Safety Specialists (representative)
Why it fits: Ammunition and explosives safety fit regulated ordnance and hazmat roles.
What it takes: ATF/DOT and OSHA requirements apply.
Explore this route →$45,850/yr medianInspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers (representative)
Why it fits: Precision and inspection discipline support quality roles.
What it takes: ASQ or metrology training.
Explore this route →Why it fits: Weapons-systems expertise supports defense programs.
What it takes: Search by system; a clearance is an asset.
Explore this route →Use the level that reflects what you actually did—not rank alone. Two people with the same code and very different experience should not submit the same résumé.
Lead with hands-on tasks, tools, equipment, qualifications, safety discipline, and the conditions in which you performed. Do not inflate supervisory scope.
Add team leadership, training, inspections, work allocation, quality control, readiness, and the people or assets you directly supervised.
Emphasize multi-team operations, schedules, resource forecasting, safety systems, policy enforcement, advising leaders, and organization-level results.
A translated title isn't enough. These four moves turn Gunner's Mate experience into evidence a civilian hiring manager can act on.
List the systems, vehicles, equipment, and tools you personally operated as Gunner's Mate—plus qualifications, certifications, and the recurring high-stakes tasks you owned.
Sailors led, dollar value of equipment you were accountable for, workload, readiness rates, and safety or quality outcomes. Scope beats adjectives.
For any target role, name the license, degree, or software it requires and start now—your GI Bill and credentialing assistance can cover most of it.
Recruiters rarely search “GM.” Search job boards by the equipment, skills, and outcomes above as much as by “Gunner's Mate.”
You don't have to make this jump alone. These programs exist specifically to move service members into civilian careers—most are free, and several pay you while you train.
Train or intern with a civilian employer during your last ~180 days on active duty—at full military pay.
Earn a paycheck while you train for a trade or technical role; USMAP can credit the military training you already have.
Corporate fellowships and hiring events that place transitioning service members and military spouses.
Free career training and nationally recognized certifications for service members, veterans, and spouses.
VA-funded high-tech training (IT, cyber, data, software) that does not touch your GI Bill entitlement.
Free local career centers plus certification and state-by-state license finders for any field.
How to use this: Treat these as targets, not limits. Your exact duties depend on your assignments, so lead with what you actually did—and remember that regulated careers require their own license, certification, or degree.